tiffanie_says_stay_in_your_lane

I can't really figure out the purpose of films like this. Obviously it's for entertainment, but what's the meaning ultimately? What is it that draws people in, and what do they get out of watching it, because it's really nothing but senseless violence. It also makes you wonder about the psychological makeup of the people who gravitate towards this particular style of filmmaking. I work from home, so all of my communication is done online. I don't know how we got on the topic of movies, but 6 months ago a female coworker told me that she had watched Goodfellas. She enjoyed it, which I found peculiar. I had never seen it, but I was reading about it a week or two before she mentioned it, so I had an idea of what it was like. I consider myself to be open-minded, but I thought it was strange for a woman to love watching something like that, with all of the cussing, fighting, greed, betrayal, etc., and for 3 hours. I'm a hetero-cisgender chick who likes guy movies myself, but that I just didn't understand. For some reason she grew increasingly opinionated in our conversations over time. Recently she's been acting like she's mad at me. If I say something she doesn't agree with, she won't respond to me all day. I could care less honestly. I didn't do anything to her. I'm guessing that's the type of person these films appeal to... Someone who's rude and full of themselves. They have narcissistic traits, and as a result, derive pleasure out of watching gangsters and drug lords. Plus after my experience, I don't think it's just men who are fascinated by or admire the Mafia lifestyle. I know some women have a lot of masculine energy. I feel like depending on their professional environment, that can play a role. My job is pretty competitive. There's a huge number of staff, so that propels you to work your hardest in order to stand out from everybody else. I try not to let that spill over into my personality. My goal is to harness the male characteristics that are positive. Even if I were a man, I don't think I could side with other men who engage in criminal activity, and it wouldn't matter if they accumulated a substantial amount of wealth.

The first time I watched Scarface was last summer. It came on TV, and people always raved about it so I was like okay I'll give it a try. I love crime/neo-noir. My initial reaction reaction was slight repulsion. I thought it was tedious, overly violent, sleazy, and misogynistic. For a couple of hours, we watch a Cuban immigrant (Al Pacino) rise through the ranks of the drug trade, alienating and destroying the relationships of his family and friends along the way. He strikes his own sister after following her and a guy she was dancing with into the men's restroom, because he was so mad at her for wanting to have sex with the man. Sheesh. He reacted with so much rage, that I thought she was his girlfriend when I first turned to the channel the movie was on, without having known who each character was. Then he marries another man's wife (Michelle Phieffer), and starts verbally abusing her. The language throughout the whole film is so vulgar, that I'm glad I watched it on television. After a couple of hours had gone by, they were cursing so much that the picture froze. It gets too dark as the story progresses. He treats his wife horribly, to the point of it being disturbing. He doesn't want anything out of life besides money. I turned the channel and spent the rest of my evening watching something else at the scene where they were in NYC, attempting to assassinate a world leader by driving behind him, with the man's kids in the back. I just had enough.

It came on a few other times subsequently. By that point I was less bothered by it, and actually found myself laughing. That's when I realized I was taking it too seriously. I know it's not a comedy, but let's be real: how can you watch this with a straight face? It's so ridiculous. Al Pacino really wasn't all that menacing. I don't know if it was bad acting, or if he's just funny without trying to be, but his performance was more laughable than anything. I don't care where I am - I can see a photo or something else from this movie and laugh. I saw a Scarface t-shirt when I was browsing on a clothing website and started laughing. It's just hard to take it seriously. It's now pegged as humorous in my mind. It's like a farce of the drug trade. The only positive I can identify is that it's quintessentially 80s, but I think it would've had a chance of being meaningful if the main character underwent a transformation of some kind. I'm used to police procedurals, so I like crime stories that have some type of resolution, or the people who are guilty of the crime are brought to justice.

It's sad he messed up his nasal passages for a crap film. Of course he wasn't snorting real cocaine, but to this day, it's still a mystery as to what it was. I guess he didn't ask the director or producer?? He said his nose hasn't been right ever since, and stuff falls out periodically 😆 I mean, I feel bad for thinking that's funny, but that was just a lack of common sense. If I'm expected to put something unfamiliar into my body, I'm gonna inquire as to what it is. Some famous people do the stupidest things for a paycheck. I do love films about crime, and morally ambiguous/corrupt characters, so I'm not against storytelling of this nature, but it was done with much more class back in the 40s and 50s. If you've never seen this, you're not missing out on anything. I actually look forward to it being on TV now, because I can always use a laugh.

I know I'm treading on sensitive territory here. I remember reading comments on YouTube for the scenes of Miami Vice and thought to myself wow, this fandom sounds opinionated... Let them tell it, this is the most amazing crime drama that's ever been made, and if you don't like it, then you're just not cool enough to admire it (they might as well have just said you're a loser honestly). Or they'll say you don't get it if you were born after the 80s, you had to be living during that time to experience the splendor of it, the fashion and vibrancy of the period. Fair enough - that might be true for some, but I don't really buy that reasoning, because I primarily watch movies and TV shows from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and I was born in the early 90s. If the characters are multidimensional, the acting is realistic, and the set designs don't look too shabby, then I can get absorbed, no problem. I'm so tired of this whole my-generation-was-better-than-yours attitude. Every decade had its problems. If you were a kid in the 80s, of course you'd miss it now. Your whole life just consisted of going to school and running home to watch your favorite show. That didn't mean it was a carefree time for everyone. There's always been poverty and famine someplace or another. Also I was scanning the reviews on here, and I noticed the use of some derogatory terms, mostly implying that a man is homosexual if he looks or acts a certain way, so I was like hmmm... Seems like a bit of a chauvinistic group. If I get turned off by a fandom, that's even more reason I won't like the show.

This is the only crime drama I've almost fell asleep on. Not much really happens besides detectives James Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) combating the narcotics ring in South Beach. It's highly masculine. The series offers nothing else for the opposite sex, or really anyone who appreciates a quality detective story. Seems like a guy thing if you ask me. The show doesn't revolve around anything else besides exotic cars, and women sunbathing or walking around in bikinis. I'm not a lesbian, so that doesn't phase me. The music is placed at the weirdest of moments, which makes a scene that's supposed to be serious actually quite laughable. The only positive I can get out of it, is Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas were both incredibly good-looking, but I can't think of anything else I like. I would be down with taking a mental vacation by looking at a couple of hot guys for an hour, but the acting and soundtrack just annoyed me too bad.

Maybe the whole point of Miami Vice was to showcase the cars, fashion, and women. The episodes addressed various social and political issues, but most of the fans don't seem to remember anything else besides the aforementioned: pastel suits, Lamborghini's, and sexy girls. That's quite shallow. Case in point of why it's just a male fantasy. Only way I can see a woman watching this, is if her boyfriend or husband wants to see it, and if you're that woman, trust me, you are gonna be crazy bored!

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a copycat show. Who can't see this is nearly identical to Mannix? Discovered it on Pluto TV one day, which led me to read up on it, and I wasn't convinced that it's special. It's not unique, groundbreaking, or intriguing. It's all been done before. It's just the same show with a few slight changes. A Polish American private investigator who works for himself, is a military veteran, and has a list of proverbs from his culture memorized, which he appropriately uses for the context of every situation. He's also skilled at using hand-to-hand combat, a ladies' man, and fiercely athletic. He lives in Boston, so an east coast city. Obviously the weather is much different from LA, but nonetheless, it's like potato patato. I'm a huge fan of Mannix, and Banacek will never be on the same level in terms of the acting, script, and characterizations. George Peppard didn't even have Polish ancestry. At least Mike Connors was Armenian American, like his character, so can't get any more realistic than that... I could see a person being entertained by this if they had never seen Mannix, but after watching that, this is like a really poor imitation. No wonder it only lasted for two seasons. Take my advice and watch Mannix instead.