This brilliant video recently appeared in my feed; I was enticed to view it and was compelled to watch more of your creations. Such keen insights, novel takes and technical accomplishment. I saw Being There in a theater when it was released, and a few times again in that era. Over the years I have rewatched it several times, it remains haunting and powerful. Your scholarship, passion and eloquence are priceless. Best wishes
@007EnglishAcademy
Жыл бұрын
Being There is my favourite film ever. I've seen it so many times. But I have never seen it with as many insights as you have. Thank you.
@obsessedwithcinema
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for your kind note. It is always gratifying to hear that viewers found a given video to be either informative or useful. It took a while to produce this one, but I think it holds up. People are watching, which is the main idea, I suppose.
@iainherridge6253
10 ай бұрын
@@obsessedwithcinemayes, your analysis is quite brilliant!
@yzu259
2 ай бұрын
Hello. To whoever reads this: I regret to say that the owner of this channel took his own life last year. There will be no more new videos on this channel. It truly breaks my heart to write this... Mark, the person behind Obsessed with Cinema, was a good friend of mine for years. Every now and then, I visit this channel, hoping a new video will appear, but of course, it never does. I'm glad, however, that so many people enjoy his insights and analysis. He put a lot of effort into making these videos. He is greatly missed.
@nostalgiccameralife
Жыл бұрын
I always thought the policeman's response to Chance was just him giving lip service to a crazy old dude. Like he's about to tell the guy to go screw off, but then looks at his clothes and decided to just tell the guy it'll be taken care of so he'll go away. Now that it's been pointed out, I think that particular moment may be a nod to class consciousness over race, as the scene makes it very obvious that the cop is taking notice of what Chance is wearing, he is not simply seeing a white face and responding with immediate deference.
@dotsyjmaher
Жыл бұрын
Absolutely..it was about to be ageism BUT those fancy clothes might spell trouble for the self serving cop in a city that WORSHIPS pin striped suits NO MATTER WHAT COLOR THE HEAD STICKING OUT OF THE SUIT IS.
@e-122psi3
Жыл бұрын
It's interesting not just for the subtlety but the dual layer of it. One could argue that the black characters see through Chance, but they still similarly only see him as THEY want to, which due to the heirarchy of the film, is more cynical. The gang of kids insist Chance must be affiliated with some rival they know, despite being the few people Chance actively contradicts, and while Louise knows what Chance really is, she is completely focused on the unfairness on HER side of things, she doesn't recognise Chance as someone she brought up and has by some miracle found a good place in life despite her neglect, she only recognises him as some idiot who got a hand out she never would, even using vulgar insults that these days would be considered intolerent. Notice also that Louise found residence in a home not just with other black people (which could be considered out of her control given the class stance in the movie), but people who are essentially clones of her, all nodding and grumbling in agreement with whatever she says. It shows she has fell into the same need for familiarity as the white characters. It's actually interesting how the film has it there subtlely, clearly as a flawed outlook, but it's not really played in a sinister way. The Rands fall into the same trick with Chance, but they're not bigoted per se and their hearts are largely in the right place, and they do more to nurture Chance than his previous caretakers did, who just saw him as a brainless no-hoper because of his condition. It's not like Eve would likely just leave Chance on the road if she saw through him, just how he has unwittingly intergrated himself leads her to go the extra mile since he gives a aura of being familiar and trustworthy to her, almost an animal instinct and how species and packs accept one another. Even Louise, while not exactly sympathetic, is rather relatable, she's just done with things and has problems of her own. She just wants solice with people she can relate to. It makes the parable more effective since it's clearly not just the flaw of villains or 'incompetent fat cats in Washington', it's a mental trap that people (and living beings as whole) commonly fall into without even knowing it.
@valmarsiglia
10 ай бұрын
I've long thought that Louise's statement "All you have to be is white in America" as the thesis statement of the whole film, or at least one of them. The line is funny because it's true.
@ChrisTCAP
6 ай бұрын
Though I fully get why Louise makes that statement, ie the rise of Chance from a dependent 'little boy' minded adult, I feel she'd not have stated that with such enforcement if she'd not have minded Chance for all those years.
@ChrisTCAP
6 ай бұрын
I'd also raise the question that are the Rand's thinking of race when it comes to staff? Now as all staff are white, it slants towards racism ie why not coloured staff - though if the staff were all coloured, then that would spark the racism debate ie here's a white couple employing coloured people below them? Without knowing the stats fully at that time, the senator of the state, political party and immigration figures, its hard to comment with sound stats. Of course, a mixture is always good relevant to population of race in the country/region that time.
@ianrand9737
Жыл бұрын
Only Americans will notice this color significance, because their minds are so frighteningly conditioned to think in terms of race. Most other people won't. it would go over their heads because race either ceased to be a major issue in their thinking, or had never been a major issue in the history of the culture at all.
@ChrisTCAP
6 ай бұрын
@@Dave-bq6gyracism as a whole, or are you referring to a particular type of race?
@frankb5728
Ай бұрын
what a load of crock. there is no post racial society
@bapples
8 ай бұрын
I appreciate your deep dives into one of my favorite movies. I always thought the cop was just humoring Chance and was sizing him up as a deranged individual who could possibly pose a threat to the President.
@bmwloco
9 ай бұрын
Filmed at the Biltmore Estate and downtown, Asheville NC. In 1980, it was a great place. Now overrun by tourists.
@orangewarm1
Жыл бұрын
Your essay was excellent. I never saw all this. Your arguments make perfect sense.
@Tolstoy111
2 ай бұрын
Not all economic disparities are "privilege".
@newlam7958
Ай бұрын
I have seen this movie several times and sadly, he reminds me of what my brother is going through, mind wise. My brother was diagnosed with memory dementia 3 years ago and has the exact same personality that Chance has.
@DukeSlystalker
8 ай бұрын
Excellent analysis. Messaging is something that a lot of modern viewers look for now more than ever. But there was messaging since the birth of Hollywood and it often reinforced the status quo. Such messaging didn't get critiqued until decades later. This particular film has messaging that goes the other way, and it was part of the realization that the status quo had been reinforced by Hollywood.
@Surprisemenow
5 ай бұрын
I have a completely interesting take on Louise. . She said some not so nice things to Chance and about Chance. She raised and helped Chance but knew him as dumb and dimwitted. They set this up with her comments and then she apologizes. She didn't even offer to help Chance and left him to be homeless which is very cruel. Someone she knew since a child and she knew he was not capable of helping himself. Nor did she talk to the lawyers or estate about getting Chance help. They then set it up to were when Chance left the house the black population living in poverty and instead of bettering themselves or making the most of their situation, they instead chose threats, crime, etc... Their state of mind was this is our life and we are stuck. The man chance was living with was a white man living in a very poor black neighborhood that had a nice place that he took care of. Refused to leave when the neighborhood turned to shambles. They then show the black doctor/nurse doing very well for himself working with a wealthy man with the white employees. Someone that had a state of mind of being someone. Chance only recognized what he saw like asking the black woman to make him lunch and the black nurse/doctor if he knew Rafael. Now back to Lousie. Her state of mind is she will never achieve anything because she is blaming the white man and it's a white man's world. Instead of working to achieve something, she is just working and blaming everything on the white man. She is bitter because she wasn't given anything in life and just worked. You can see the expression on the older black man with her when she sees Chance TV . I always thought he disagreed with her opinion. Chance achieved things because he didn't have any rules, negativity, boundaries of life holding him back. Louise on the other hand the quite opposite. She was in the same situation of losing her job but she had a place to go. She started off better than Chance but because of how she thought, her blaming, her rules, her outlook, will always be stuck where she is.
@Chris-ut6eq
Ай бұрын
Same movie that I've enjoyed for decades, but with a fresh perspective that while noticed was something I never focused on. Being white has blind spots that should be delved into when uncovered.
@Lightfinger
6 ай бұрын
Your insights on this film have helped me to enjoy it even more. Thank you!
@valmarsiglia
10 ай бұрын
There's also the scene with Chance emulating one of the characters from Amos n' Andy (when he raises his hat and said "Yawza") as well as the scene with "Basketball Jones." Ashby chose the background TV shows very carefully, he considered it the real soundtrack of the film, so obviously race was on his mind.
@veramae4098
9 ай бұрын
Bless Peter Sellers. He was perfect. P.S. I remember Amos and Andy. (71 yrs. old) They were criticized as stereotypes and their TV series cancelled, but to this child they were just very funny. I'd love to be a billionaire so I could give it away.
@valmarsiglia
8 ай бұрын
@@KOALA876 Good to know, thanks!
@clivebroadhead4857
9 ай бұрын
The brilliance nay radiance of Sellers contributes mightily to the classic. No reference to the 'Last Poets' shows the ignorance of the presenter related to actual resistance of African Americans highlighted by the director. And that Ashby et al are white themselves does not detract from the power of the parable.
@GrandTheftWatto
7 ай бұрын
Chance is not worthless though. He's well equipped to be a gardener - nothing more. While the white world clearly misjudges him, so does the black: Chance has something to offer the world.
@lucasriley1968
Ай бұрын
I very much enjoyed this analysis! Thank you. However, I'm not sure I entirely agree with the assertion that "Everything about him [Chance] is inferred from his whiteness." While I do agree that his race is part of the dynamic of how he's perceived, I think an awful lot about Chance is also inferred from his very limited responses and self-admissions. Essentially, his silence. But that the reactions of others to him would change radically if he were a minority is no doubt true, and it's a take on this movie that hadn't occurred to me, even though it's one of my favorites and I've seen it a dozen times. I guess I now need to watch it a 13th time! Thanks again for the analysis.
@j.wporter1309
6 ай бұрын
Excellent analysis. I always felt race played a role in this story but now I have a video that articulates it for me.
@MrCanadatom
4 ай бұрын
The blacks in the film don't have the social cues to recognise Chance, the way the white characters do. As an audience we also recognise that Chance is an idiot, because we're not powerful people either. This isn't about race, its consensus bias. The black characters have their own equally blinding biases, as do we we all. If there's anything unsettling in the message, its that the rich and powerful really do live on their own planet
@hhairball9
8 ай бұрын
Again, thank you for another very insightful and entertaining video!
@daviddriver4716
4 ай бұрын
So looking at the two cultures, which one would you rather be part of?
@davidryle
Жыл бұрын
Some of the words at Ben Rand's funeral eulogy on welfare class versus the wealthy were another source of information on the character.
@Leon-zu1wp
8 күн бұрын
The quotes at the end are actually a twist for us. We all assumed Rand was a stringent conservative but his quotes show someone who is more left leaning than we thought. A further example of how we did to Rand what others do to Chance.
@Peh-heeeeeggy-Hill
Жыл бұрын
Hi - I'm looking into doing a research project for sociology using this movie. Would it be possible for you to reach out to me? I'd like to use this video as a source.
@obsessedwithcinema
Жыл бұрын
Very flattering. Feel free to use what might be useful. I wish you luck in your course. Please keep in mind that this aspect of racial inequality was mostly a theme introduce by Ashby. Kosinski doesn't do much with this, at least in his 1970 novel.
@lauriethomasmd3760
Жыл бұрын
Wow. I’m blown away by your insights. Wow.
@msp5138
Жыл бұрын
Translation: Yes, I am white...lol
@obsessedwithcinema
Жыл бұрын
You are undeniably very kind and such a nice note always makes the long hours of editing a little easier to endure. Thank you for your interest in this channel.
@RK-um9tu
Жыл бұрын
I have strongly critized your videos about this movie for ignoring race. So I am now commending you for acknowledging the central point of this movie.
@obsessedwithcinema
Жыл бұрын
R K- Thank you for your note(s). I appreciate your heartfelt words. For the record, I shared your understandable exasperation with the dearth of material on how Mr. Ashby handled the matter of racial relations in BT. My apologies that this video took a bit longer to create than initially anticipated. The writing comes fairly easily to me, but editing and deciding which images to include can oftentimes be challenging. (Being fastidious does not make for a happy life.) I saw a piece in DeepFocusReview (about BT) that might be of interest. I googled it and it is still there.
@FOX007-um1wr
2 ай бұрын
I want to watch this movie. I was too young when it came out and it looks like a good movie to watch.
@padawanmage71
3 ай бұрын
I remember as a kid watching this and not getting it at all. Some years later I saw it again and wondered if all the white people who start to idolized Chance were so stu[id as to not see what was in front of them
@JohnBeeblebrox
5 ай бұрын
I really (really!) appreciate your in depth and perceptive analyses of this film and book. However...in this post, which started off in the first two thirds extremely well, you wandered off into the somewhat subjective neo-racism of "woke" politics and "The Message". Tone it down in this area and you'll continue to maintain your high quality output. Just my 2p worth and others may beg to differ...
@Steakster
Жыл бұрын
Really well done. I’ve seen comments in your other vids calling for some commentary on race. It’s not an easy topic to tackle sensitively and honestly. I believe you have accomplished this. Nicely done
@RK-um9tu
Жыл бұрын
Race is very easy topic to tackle, white people just don't want to hear the truth...
@obsessedwithcinema
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for your thoughtful note. You are a very kind person and I appreciate your steadfast support of the channel, which has been building slowly, because of the loyalty of the viewers and subscribers. As to the video itself, you are certainly correct, that editing is often quite a bit more time consuming than one anticipates. The writing began awhile back, but making it all hold together, to create cogence (or maybe it’s cogency?), was a separate challenge. Of all the videos I have created, this one is unique in that it received its first dislike almost immediately, before even a single viewer liked it. I haven’t seen that previously. I know such a video about an old movie cannot fight injustice or cure the evils of the world or make people love one another. All it can really do, I guess, is expand our appreciation of Mr. Ashby’s unique achievement, to help viewers to look at it again, but with an expanded perspective. BT functions so well on so many levels that it never fails to make me reexamine things after I rewatch it. I mentioned this in the video, however briefly, but it is important to remember that some of the confusion surrounding Ashby’s 1979 film is that so many people read the book first, before the film. Oddly, the movie looks a lot like the novel in many ways, which is why there remains confusion. Beyond a rather traditional, direct approach to exploring racial relations (e.g. Louise’s critique of what ails her country, after she sees Chance on the Gary Burns program), readers tend to see BT, the film, as (mostly) either Chance’s story alone, or a critique of network television or something about the peculiarly American phenomenon of someone becoming famous for being famous. In the end, though, it is that Langer-esque ‘presence of absence’ that really ends up becoming important.
@patriceaqa288
Жыл бұрын
@@obsessedwithcinemathank you for the video. It's arguably my favourite film of all time. I think a moment overlooked is when chance asks the black doctor if he "knows" Rafael, simply by virtue of the fact both are black. Ben responds to chance with an air of respect assuming he's focusing on some business matter
@intercept1710
Жыл бұрын
Terrific analysis.
@obsessedwithcinema
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you found it helpful.
@alisterzarkar7163
10 ай бұрын
The elevator scene is what we all have attempted to do at least once during our lifetime and failed at.
@robotarchie100
7 ай бұрын
From the days of meritocracy
@matthewakian2
23 күн бұрын
Great analysis.
@adamkosmos
Ай бұрын
I thing that Chance has schizophrenia
@user-sd6yu1xs4g
5 ай бұрын
Im very glad the hebrews are white
@brucesmith1544
7 күн бұрын
This self-hating woke garbage is truly nauseating
@thezappa7373
Жыл бұрын
My favourite film
@scottnowell4975
2 ай бұрын
Brilliant. Can one you bring me lunch?
@ealasaidkuter2642
Жыл бұрын
promo sm 🌺
@nancydillon5333
4 ай бұрын
21:09
@KRYPTOS_K5
Жыл бұрын
Woke
@ornebatmagoo7128
3 ай бұрын
Your videos are brilliant, infinitely perceptive, and make-up an invaluable resource for film buffs and scholars. Thank you. I'd add that your taste in movies -- likely a product of your age --- is appreciated. Your analyses perfectly describe what needs to be done is film is to ever regain its strength in the future.
Пікірлер: 68