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June 1994

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Subject:
From:
"Gayle F. Wald" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 1 Jun 1994 10:15:25 EDT
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Errol offers an interesting perspective on _Falling Down_.  I, too, thought
that it was interesting, particularly coming so close to the L.A. uprisings.
When I saw the film (on video, not during its general run in theaters) I
couldn't help but read it as an allegory of middle-clas white male homocidal
tendencies.  From the looks of the trailor, I feared that it would be
an apology for white middle-class resentment (the kind so often appealed to
during the 1992 presidential campaign), but i found it to be more subtle than
I originally anticipated.  Was this film supposed to offer viewers (suburban
commuting types, for example) a cathartic experience (for example, Douglass'
"spree" originates during a traffic jam)?  Was it a video game produced for
the big screen (i.e. a film that followed its (anti)-hero through various
urban war zones, as he accumulates ever bigger arsenals of weapons)?  Was
it the dweeb's response to Rambo?  A commentary on race and class in L.A.?
All of the above?  I'd be interested to hear what others think--has there
been anything published about the film?
Gayle

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