Post by Boz on Nov 13, 2006 15:06:07 GMT
In the film Nowhere, our main character Dark inhabits a strange, disturbing and erotic world filled to the brim with sex and drugs, music and television, pain and pleasure, death and destruction. Dark and his friends experience the trials and tribulations of this world, although many of them seem to take a fairly carefree attitude to their circumstances as well as their surroundings. It is clear that director Gregg Araki intended to make some sort of social comment when one considers the fact that the world portrayed within the film is filled with omnipresent forms of media, whether it be TV or radio, music or movies.
Television represents the most prevalent example of media information relay in the film, perhaps commenting on the ever-lasting presence of it. We see many characters seemingly living their lives in front of the TV, as well as couple of them dying there. The style of the film itself somewhat seems to add to the television message. We see teenage characters in what at first appear to be very stereotypical situations that we may often find them portrayed in television programs about them, but then once we are provided with dialogue, in depth character development, and context for the scene, as well as the topics of discussion, we come to see that Araki is perhaps making a mockery of these stereotypes; using them to comment on society’s perception of teenage life as a whole.
Another heavily present element of the film is violence, which is sometimes paired with drugs. Violence brings about the simple and quick resolution to some of the conflicts in the film, but leaves only complex situations and problems for the characters to deal with. In the world in which the characters in the film inhabit, violence is ever-present, much like television and media influence. This clearly sets up and represents some sort of parallels and connections between the two, and not only in the strange world of the film, but in the real world as well.
The strange nature of the world in the film may also be a comment on the way Araki feels teenagers may look at the world. Whether or not this is a depiction of reality or not is never clearly addressed or explained. It could be that Araki surrounds his teenage character’s thoughts with notions of sex and violence to indicate exactly how the normal teenage human thought processes actually work. Things such as this are flashy and attractive to teenagers, but perhaps only in their imagined forms. As we can see at the end of the film, when Dark is confronted with a real instance of violence, he is horrified and immediately attempts to stop it. This act of violence may set itself apart in Dark’s mind because of the extremely senseless nature of the act itself, but when you really think about it, most everything that occurs in Dark’s life is senseless; it contains no meaning, and Dark seems well aware of that.
Early on in the film, we are revealed Dark’s obsession with death, and perhaps even the pain that leads up to or reminds one of death. Dark is wrought with odd sexual fantasies, containing both men and women, as are most of the characters in the film. At one point, one character states that they feel it’s necessary to spread as much love and sex around to everyone they possibly can while they are still young and attractive, so as to leave a lasting impact of some sorts and gain acceptance and attention from others while they are still able to easily do so.
This idea comments on not only the frivolous pursuit of sex itself in real teenage life, but all of an adolescent’s activities. The teenage years are a time of our first stages of maturation, and new beginnings in our thought processes and physical dimensions. Teenagers, in life and in the film, may be feeling a certain sense of lost innocence, confusion, and terror, as well as a sense of enjoyment with their newfound attitudes, looks and ideas.
Television represents the most prevalent example of media information relay in the film, perhaps commenting on the ever-lasting presence of it. We see many characters seemingly living their lives in front of the TV, as well as couple of them dying there. The style of the film itself somewhat seems to add to the television message. We see teenage characters in what at first appear to be very stereotypical situations that we may often find them portrayed in television programs about them, but then once we are provided with dialogue, in depth character development, and context for the scene, as well as the topics of discussion, we come to see that Araki is perhaps making a mockery of these stereotypes; using them to comment on society’s perception of teenage life as a whole.
Another heavily present element of the film is violence, which is sometimes paired with drugs. Violence brings about the simple and quick resolution to some of the conflicts in the film, but leaves only complex situations and problems for the characters to deal with. In the world in which the characters in the film inhabit, violence is ever-present, much like television and media influence. This clearly sets up and represents some sort of parallels and connections between the two, and not only in the strange world of the film, but in the real world as well.
The strange nature of the world in the film may also be a comment on the way Araki feels teenagers may look at the world. Whether or not this is a depiction of reality or not is never clearly addressed or explained. It could be that Araki surrounds his teenage character’s thoughts with notions of sex and violence to indicate exactly how the normal teenage human thought processes actually work. Things such as this are flashy and attractive to teenagers, but perhaps only in their imagined forms. As we can see at the end of the film, when Dark is confronted with a real instance of violence, he is horrified and immediately attempts to stop it. This act of violence may set itself apart in Dark’s mind because of the extremely senseless nature of the act itself, but when you really think about it, most everything that occurs in Dark’s life is senseless; it contains no meaning, and Dark seems well aware of that.
Early on in the film, we are revealed Dark’s obsession with death, and perhaps even the pain that leads up to or reminds one of death. Dark is wrought with odd sexual fantasies, containing both men and women, as are most of the characters in the film. At one point, one character states that they feel it’s necessary to spread as much love and sex around to everyone they possibly can while they are still young and attractive, so as to leave a lasting impact of some sorts and gain acceptance and attention from others while they are still able to easily do so.
This idea comments on not only the frivolous pursuit of sex itself in real teenage life, but all of an adolescent’s activities. The teenage years are a time of our first stages of maturation, and new beginnings in our thought processes and physical dimensions. Teenagers, in life and in the film, may be feeling a certain sense of lost innocence, confusion, and terror, as well as a sense of enjoyment with their newfound attitudes, looks and ideas.