Monday, March 9, 2009
Joe Buck idiot?
Well as we are in the middle of the film I feel I cannot give a definitive view on the character. All I know is that he is the worst prostitue I have ever heard of. I'm not sure if he realizes he has the worlds oldest profession backwards. He should get the money for his "good deeds" not give it away. Even Deuce Bigalow had a more succesful career. The problems with his chracter starts with his idea of even going to New York to be a "hustler" is possibly one of the stupedist decisions in all of movie history, right behind the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Episode I, and The Godfather 3 (basically that whole movie). Another interesting note about Joe is why in the hell is he so gullible, it is clear that Ratso Rizzo is a liar yet he still follows him around. It could be quite possible that by the end of the movie he makes a complete character turn around, or he could die, or maybe even a better ending in which Joe dies and Rizzo lives. Hows that for moral ambiguity. One thing that botters me is the classroom editing of the film. Upon returning home i went on youtube and watched the removed movie theater scene, and found it to be overly hyped up as this controversial scene. It had little to no effect execpt massive pitty fo Joe. I eagerly await more of the film and hope unrealisticly that no further scenes be removed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was also bothered at how much of a shmuck Joe is made out to be. We see Ratso and we immediately recognize him as a jerk. But then again, we've been living in New York our whole lives, so it could just be that we are better at identifying it than others. Joe came from Texas where perhaps people weren't as devious.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, my feelings on this film aren't as good as I expected. The constant use of flashbacks and cut shots is a little distracting to me. I just get the feeling that I'm watching a very amateur film.
At first I didn't think Jon Voigt was doing a very good job, because he seemed a little like he didn't know what he was doing. Then I realized his character really did not know what he was doing, so it fit pretty well. I'm enjoying Dustin Hoffman's performance so far, the little amount of it there was.
I'll have to wait for the rest of the movie to pass full judgement, but at this point I'm mostly unimpressed.
I read your post and I will withold comment until we watch the whole thing. I agree about the censorship. It is not a decision I made without considerable thought. I'm glad the edited scene is on YouTube. I encourage everyone to watch it on their own.
ReplyDeleteI think that there could be more than meets the eye with Joe Buck. At first glance he is the typical southerner stereotype, but his checkered past (at least it seems that way from the flashbacks) must've taught him something about the ways of the world.
ReplyDeleteRemember that scene showed Joe Buck and his girlfriend being raped, so there must have been something bad back in Texas.
Very nice comments Rob. I must admit that I was struck by the stupidity and naivety of Joe Buck. I feel that he is in over his head and made the rash decision of coming to New York without realizing that he knew nothing of the city and clearly knew nothing about what a "hustler" was. Maybe as he spends more time in NY he will learn the ropes, but right now he is doing a poor job. I do think Jon Voight is portraying the innocence of Buck quite nicely though.
ReplyDeleteI probably should have watched the "deleted" scene before making my previous comments, but now that I have, I believe that the scene was not overly vulgar or inappropriate, and believe that our class could have handled the content but I understand Mr. Bennett's need to avoid any controversy by showing the scene. That said, I am glad I saw the scene and personally believe that graphic violent scenes are equally if not more inappropriate than this.
ReplyDeleteI am glad i was able to see the scene because i would feel that i was missing out, but I completely understand Mr. Bennett's reasoning behind the deletion.
ReplyDelete