Falling Down: Society and an Obsolete Man's Life (Video Essay) 

A good breakdown of the propaganda cleverly woven into the film... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q8IlXA4ArPg.html

@@joebaseball17 I appreciate the comment and the words. I have seen this video before and there were things I don't agree with. First, I'll begin with the good stuff. 1. The video is well edited and has quality mic narrations. 2. BlackPilled is correct about the theme of debt or economic hardship in the film. Many businesses are closing, and people are out of work (including Bill Foster). 3. BlackPilled is also correct on the fact that the film makes a racist mockery of Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee only knows the color white before claiming he knows no colors. Now here are bad arguments that video makes. 1. BlackPilled falsely states we don't learn the details of the Foster divorce. While the details are vague, there are enough details to point to the divorce. Beth Foster divorced Bill because of his extremely controlling behavior and horrendous temper. In the home movies, he forces his wife to place his crying daughter on the horse. Later on, the pier (still home movies) he is frustrated that she isn't happy after he just angrily scolded Beth for not cooperating. It's emotional abuse or at the very least very controlling behavior. 2. BlackPilled claims that the movie is about the plight of white Christan males of America. He feels they are demonized, and the neo-Nazi scene is best representative of the propaganda in the film to him. This whole line of thinking is ridiculous. There are symbols of Jesus because Bill believes he is ridding the world of what he doesn't like and his sacrifice to his daughter at the end. The problems Bill experiences aren't unique to white Christan males either. Everybody has been unemployed, frustrated, burnt out, had a terrible day, separated from the things they loved, feeling without a purpose and feeling lonely. 3. BlackPilled says no one will remember Bill once he's gone. Think about it, will all the people Bill had negative interactions with just suddenly forget him?? No, not even anytime soon. People and events like that aren't going to be forgotten quickly after they occur. Nor will Bill's family nor Prendergast. It's because of Bill that Prendergast decides to stay on the police force. Prendergast realizes he can still make a difference and enjoys his work. 4. BlackPilled says that Beth is afraid of Bill's toxic masculinity. That's not true, she's afraid of his lack of awareness/carelessness of how he treats herself and Adele. You can see the home movies how very controlling he is and that he's hypocritical. Bill's hypocritical as he believes in freedom of speech while he operated his house under very controlling practices. "It's my way or the highway" perfectly describes Bill's rules at home and how he cannot deal with things not going his way in the film too. 5. Blackpilled feels that Prendergast is powerless against women. First, Prendergast is trampled on by everybody for the first bits of this film. He eventually stands up for himself and goes about solving his issues with people to gain their respect. For his wife, he establishes the boundaries that are very much needed between them. For his boss, he insults him with profanity to also gain his respect. 6. BlackPilled believes Prendergast's maleness is obsolete. This is perhaps the dumbest thing he argues for. Prendergast is the only one to see the link between these random crimes and one suspect's description. Prendergast has a way with connecting with people. He is able to talk to Angie and learn that the bag of guns Bill has are from the drive by shooting. Prendergast also is able to discuss with Bill Foster's mother and learn about Bill more as a person. Prendergast is the one who guns down the suspect and is congratulated for it. To say he is obsolete in this story is absurd as he's the hero. 7. BlackPilled argues that the film defends the status quo, which makes me wonder if really invested himself in this movie. This film and its character Bill make several critiques on society. The critiques of vigilantism- is self-justice really worth seeking with this level of destruction? How should we act to fix our problems, in this case primarily disrespect? Is this how we should treat people? 8. BlackPilled employs the Jewish question towards to Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, and Joel Schumacher. He uses a poor analysis of a BBC interview of Schumacher to add to his propaganda. In this case, he frames it as Schumacher being afraid of Christianity when it looks more like Schumacher feels like an outsider. I've looked into the guy and he's pretty extreme in his beliefs. If you want evidence, I can send you some. Overall, BlackPilled does a clever use of framing and lying about Falling Down. He makes a couple good analysis points but ironically sells the film as propaganda for nihilism, anti-male and arguably antisemitism sentiments.

The film definitely is impactful for having a character who faces a lot of the challenges of an ordinary life. I think the film has aged well because it represents change. It shows a changing America, wether that’s an increase in prices, an emphasis on our own lives rather than others, and overall a culture change. A lot of the issues in the film only seemed to have gotten worse, which is also part of its great aging. Well thought out comment of yours, thanks for the reply.

True for Foster and Fleck it was culmination of bad experiences going beyond a day; but the bad day they had caused them to snap. I do think of some of the other innocent people also had really bad days because of their actions. Thanks for your comment!

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That's something quite true; concerning that the audience realizes that there's something wrong with the society depicted here. There is a theme of debt which I would argue is more economic hardship over capitalism but that's something to consider too. Concerning Foster he's not your typical evil guy. Most villains aren't both somewhat sympathetic and empathetic. Foster's feelings about society are generally valid. However, most people know that we cannot solve society's issues with domestic terrorism. That's why he's the bad guy. I see people justify what he does or even outright say he's the good guy and society is the enemy, when it's more complex than that. As for the conclusion, arguably there are cliches. The general ending has been said to be similar to a classic western or even nowadays the hero triumphs over the villain at last. In this ending we see how bad treatment of others and "my way or the highway" attitude destroy a person. There's more than just that which I intend to cover later on. The climax is an end of one man and the beginning of another. Thanks for your comment, it's always enlightening to see what other people have thought of this film.

@@Adam1Gee Oh yes, the film is unequivocal about the immorality of Foster's actions by the end at the moment he abruptly turns from emboldened protest to blind rage. However, I argue that Falling Down switches to a formulaic pacing at that point - the simplistic "cop chases bad guy" cliché - and in doing so waters down the highly thoughtful observations made thus far. It's also interesting that you make a distinction between capitalism and debt. Capitalism IS debt, the latter being the systematic mechanism of wealth "creation" since the 1980s (at a conservative estimate). That's the whole point: people are obsolete in a system where labour no longer creates wealth primarily. This is a system that brutalises the individual and dissolves their communities simultaneously, as we see both in this film and in today's world. *Think about this as you ponder my point about debt: there exists around 2 trillion US dollars in circulation; the total sum of US dollars is approximately 22 trillion. The vast majority is therefore "imaginary", or in the form of debt. Scary

@@granitesevan6243 Very well said, you've given me a lot to reflect on. I don't agree that it waters the story down as Prendergast says in the finale that Bill still has a reason to live but chooses to die. Also, Prendergast realizes he can still make a difference by remaining on the police force. Prendergast can connect with people who are less forthcoming with their encounters with Bill. I think capitalism is more difference in wealth rather than debt, perhaps even disparity. I likely could be "suffering" from the Dunning-Kruger effect on this one, so I could be entirely incorrect. Thanks again for commenting!!

@@Adam1Gee I agree completely - the basic premise of human responsibility and free will is also strongly expressed at the end. The Prendergast/Foster dichotomy works well as a device in that regard. Just because we are vulnerable to the intrinsic chaos of life, doesn't mean we are doomed to succumb to it and abandon our sense of right and wrong. As for capitalism, inequality is an inherent (arguably an essential) condition of the system and always has been. However, capitalism also has entropy written into its DNA at the point where the inequality gap exceeds any reasonable value of the system. A system that artificially generates wealth via debt will accelerate these conditions of untenable inequality. One does not have to be an avowed Marxist to recognise this (I know his name alone is associated with villainy in the US...) Edit: many thanks, likewise, for engaging with all of this. I enjoyed your video immensely. It's far more thoughtful than most contributions

@@granitesevan6243 Thank you for the kind words about the video. I know next to nothing about economics. I only reference economic hardship when discussing this movie as it would be somewhat dishonest to talk about this film without mentioning it. Like I said earlier I'll cover this film in the near future as there have been many videos that get a lot wrong. Mine has faults too. Recently a video went viral for coverage of the film and most people just ate it up. Many statements were ridiculous once anyone who understood the film gave it much thought. Some good analysis was there, but not enough for the runtime in my mind. There was something I learned that when presented flashy graphics you are less likely to question it as your mind is focusing on the images rather than the words. The video I am referring to is Falling Down was propaganda. I'll go further into this in a future video.

That's understandable and a well-balanced comment. I can't really add to it as you have worded your understanding of the movie quite well. I am considering making two more Falling Down videos. I enjoyed "Anger at Nothing", still I did disagree with things too. I have witnessed some poor reasoning how the film is this/that. Also, how people have used the film for "propaganda" or a means for spreading their own philosophies over what actually occurs in the movie. My current two videos definitely have their issues too which I intend to go after too. Thanks for your comment!

@@Adam1Gee Thanks for your kind feedback. I think I agree even less with the propaganda take (if we're referring to the same one). I look forward to what you would else you would like to say. Thanks for taking the time to do these videos. I love cinema and I quite enjoy delving into solid discussions about it.

@@minutebooks3245 Hey you are welcome, and I appreciate it!! There are arguably many "propaganda" RU-vid videos on the film, still I'm glad people discuss this film. I certainly don't have the answers, but I do have the energy to go through the various videos. It's going to be a long while before I make my magnum opus. More videos seem to keep coming delaying the inevitable. I want to do the video right, as videos I don't agree with do make good points. Do you have a favorite Falling Down RU-vid video?

There was a wider economic context. The main character is styled in a manner reminiscent of the US "golden age" from the mid '50s to the mid '60s. This was an economic period known as the, "Post War Consensus". This consensus ended in 1980 with the election of Reagan; a new economic consensus was ushered in, namely, the "Washington Consensus". This latter consensus swept away the old regulations, the "statist protectionism", regarded responsible for holding the US economy back, and opened the economy up to hostile takeovers and the asset stripping of companies. The mass redundancy of US workers and the offshoring of jobs to counties with cheap labour in South East Asia quickly followed. People like the main character in the movie - solid middle class white collar technicians, engineers, etc... - were the last domino to fall; their jobs were outsourced eventually, just like the blue collar workers that had preceded them.

Joan Didion writes about this in her book "Where I was From". It devasated entire suburban areas in Southern California. Suddenly people went from making 100k plus to being unemployed. There were probably a lot of Bill Fosters out there during that time.

In the scene when he is walking away from the bum there are posters saying world peace and world war. Him being a defense contractor isn't an accident.

That's certainly an aspect to the movie, just likely not the mian focus. Worth bringing forward, thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Hey that means a lot, thank you! I’ll eventually have a more in depth video on Falling Down relatively soon! My channel output on videos is on the slower side.

@@Adam1Gee if you do a more indepth video I'd be happy to watch keep up the good work

@@TheInfiniteMag Many thanks!

Somewhat true, life is certainly not fair and some things are outside of our control when it comes to how our lives play out. Yes it is hard to accept that your role in life will be diminished or substantially lessened as you age, become unemployed or lose purpose in life. Now both Beth and Bill Foster are dealing with economic hardship. Coloring both of their struggles as simply “black and white” would be wrong. Beth is struggling financially as she has stated that finances are tight when speaking to the police about contacting her lawyer. Raising a kid without child support and paying off a house expenses certainly isn’t easy. Beth’s financial issues aren’t highlighted as much as Foster, still that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Both her and Bill are living and only just so. As for figuring the best way through hardship Bill isn’t doing that. Destroying parts of your city is only going to sabotage any possible progress you might have with improving your life. Not only will you be wrong morally but your criticisms of free speech, inflation, store policy and construction work are undermined by your actions. He is only amplifying these issues. I thank and wish you luck as you stated you are dealing with the some tough times similar to Foster.

I have a few times already and there are some good things in there. I disagree with many things though. He correctly says that the film makes a racist mockery of Mr. Lee. He’s also correct on the theme of debt and economic hardship. Many people are out of work in the film including the protagonist Bill Foster. Here’s a very good narrator and definitely knows how to captivate with his editing style. Here is where I’ll state what I take issue with in his video. Several times BlackPilled says that the film is about or at least Foster represents the plight of white Christian males. That’s just untrue, the issues Bill faces aren’t exclusive to White Christian Males. Everyone has been unemployed, separated from the things they love, dealt with annoying people, felt purposeless and fed up. To say that those issues are exclusively white male is ridiculous. BlackPilled has a difficult time distinguishing what the character thinks versus what the director is trying to to show. Take the convenience store scene. BlackPilled frames it as Schumacher placing the blame on a small business owner for inflation. That’s not true because that’s what Foster thinks and if one thinks about this scene we know that Mr. Lee is not at fault for such things. Inflation was at near record highs in the early nineties and Mr. Lee’s shop is fully stocked. He wants Bill to buy something likely due to bad business. He falsely states that we don’t learn the details of the divorce of the Fosters. The home movies clearly show Foster’s extremely controlling and aggressive behavior towards his wife and daughter. Bill’s behavior in these scenes is my way or the highway. He cannot accept or work out a different solution to what he cannot control. He forces his wife to place Adele on the rocking horse while both people are clearly upset and not wanting to. Later in the same home movies, he even blames his wife for being upset at the pier (her favorite place) after he yelled at her earlier. BlackPilled says she’s afraid of his toxic masculinity. No she is afraid of his lack of awareness (perhaps obliviousness) how he treats those around him. The constant putting down and controlling are that of emotional abuse. That’s why she divorced him. One of his big errors is with Prenderghast. He claims his masculinity is unneeded and that he is powerless to women. First off, Martin is trampled on by everyone. For the first bits of the film, BlackPilled is half true but conveniently neglects the arc of Martin Prenderghast. You see Prenderghast is the only one to link the series of random crimes to D-Fens while everyone else berates him for trying to solve the string of crimes D-Fens is apart of. He is able to track down D-Fens to his current home, his ex-wife’s home and later the pier. He is the one to shoot Foster dead and decides to stay on the force because he realizes he can still make a difference on the police force. We see he has a gift of connecting with people who have interacted somewhat with Foster, specifically Angie and Bill’s Mother. He goes from a disrespected pushover to a honorable cop. Martin realizes he won’t take disrespect especially from his wife and boss. He sets much needed boundaries between his wife and himself. He insults his boss with profanity in a way to earn his respect. To say Prenderghast’s masculinity isn’t needed is a lie. One of the final things I’ll poke at is how BlackPilled frames the ending. He frames it as no one will remember Foster- not his ex-wife, the public, or his child. This is one of the most dishonest things he says. Think about it, the people Bill has interacted that survived will definitely remember him. The people who witnessed a man shoot up a phone booth is not something that is a common occurrence. The people at Whammy Burger are going to remember a man who held the place at gunpoint attempting to just buy breakfast. People at the construction site will remember a man who blew up part of it on that hot summer day. As for Beth and Adele they will have the memories and the home movies. When times come Beth will explain what happened to Bill to her daughter. Bill Foster is the reason that Martin continues to stay on the force and regain control of self-respect and his own life. Thank you for watching and commenting!

While Foster has notable qualities of patriotism and some good societal critiques he’s definitely not this infallible hero you have described him as. Sure he was abandoned by his government and estranged from his ex wife and daughter. What Bill and some of the audience don’t realize is that he is a bad guy. Not for any of his physical characteristics but of his actions. His extremely controlling and aggressive behaviors towards his ex wife and daughter are indefensible. The constant putting down of his then wife and just “my way or the highway” attitude lacks empathy and respect. The fact his mother is terrified of him and (when he’s not at home) is scarred to step foot into his room indicates more sinister things at work from him. He displays this same attitude towards people in society that refuse to comply to what he desires. He’s also a domestic terrorist amplifying the issues he’s supposed to be against.

What did I miss and how far off was I?

That's certainly true! Bill Foster definitely had emotional abuse or at the very "least" very controlling tenancies. His anger also played into this too. I mean this guy is really messed up not only from how he's acted on camera but before the story starts. I made this video not long ago and I would change significant things. My narration should've been way better and some arguments particularly how his father treated him were not great. Thanks for your comment!

@@Adam1Gee it showed he demanded his own way despite any personal costs and couldnt really empathize with his daughter, or really other human beings. from his daughters and wives reaction, i got the impression the only thing retraining him was societal convention against being abusive. strip off that veneer and you have a monster. its amazing douglass could convey this with such depth.

@@thurin84 Yes, Douglas had a brilliant performance as a maniac! I think he had some empathy but it was not enough to stop him from raging and destroying. D-Fens suffers more from a lack of awareness, but honestly the character is both complex and vague that you could argue from almost any point.

Cripes: _REALLY_ Is this *Joel Schumacher film* too bloody subtle for y'all? The man's *job* helps the U.S. military bomb innocent children overseas. His inevitable downfall as you all are picturing it is the _starting point_ of all of this. He only starts to *perceive* it in the time span this film covers but his life was s*** *before* the first scene.

Bill was not a “raging monster.” These types are made from years of destructive behavior. I think Bill was a loving man whose harshness and inability to understand intensified when he “snapped.” App people have limits. Some are given more patience and perseverance than others. I think Bill inherited a lot of dysfunction from his father.

Very true, I find that he's empathetic but has many issues. The film is complex as you have said which makes this film worthy of discussion. I have interest in covering this film again as there have been videos that are a little too kind to Bill on RU-vid. I just put out a video and need some time off to think of my future approach. Thank you for your comment.

He is stuck in the year 1965 because he said he was rolling back prices to 1965.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. That’s something I hope to improve if I do these sorts of videos on the future. My microphone I used kept cutting out which made things a bit more difficult. The narrating is definitely on me.

That’s something I certainly hadn’t thought of. He is ready to end it all to leave this world. It makes a lot of sense; he doesn’t want any more loneliness and wants life to be joyful again. He knows that this prospect is almost impossible as several factors have changed his life. Unfortunately, he worsens his future on his last day by terrorizing other people. He is just done and your analysis is grounded true to the character and the motion-picture. Life is just life I like that line as it’s very true. In our lives, to go on seems rather difficult especially with the problems we’re are juggling. Thanks for commenting.

@@Adam1Gee - thank you for answering. Life is life but the overall view of it in the movie is depressing, because it doesn't show us any other meaningful way of life. There are two great portrayals of a person's slow descent into depression and those are Falling down (1992, movie) and Roadwork by Stephen King (1981, book). Both seem to me very similar. Both are clearly misinterpreted and underrated. Both main characters have been called "edgelords" and "male chauvinists", "racists" etc. If you have not read Roadwork I highly recommend doing so. It is not "a book for everyone'. Yet the hero is almost entirely the same. I wonder if D-Fens character was directly or indirectly inspired by that book, btw. Small Metaspoiler: Stephen King's mother died and he wrote that book during his own period of grief. He later admitted he almost doesn't remember writing it.

@@Raiseflag_Surrender I have never heard of Roadwork, I’ll look into it. Bill Foster is a big part of the movie and his journey is a tragedy. However the lesser but still important story is of Martin Predergahst. He truly is the triumph as he gets his life back together and realizes his importance of remaining a cop. Bill at best is a person ignorant and/or not empathetic to the concerns of others particularly immigrants. Bill certainly fits in the “edge-lord movie space.” He is overshadowed by Mr. Bateman and Mr. Durden though. I do think this movie will stay a “silent” classic (known by few but respected) or creep into the public eye. I do think some of the edits of these characters tend to display these characters at their “best.” The video edits avoid the ugly parts that would make most people uncomfortable about these types of people. A RU-vidr said something like “too many people use these characters and their issues to romanticize loneliness, evil actions and/or depression.” I can’t remember who made the video. You are welcome for your reply and I value your thoughts posted here.

Not bad. It doesn't contrast one aspect of this I find no one considers because everyone wants to see this as a sad decline of some aspect of a bygone society, but his life/job _was_ bringing death to people. Only when things don't go the way of his preconceived notions (PNs) does he start to let that get to him. But the sinkhole of nihilism wasn't the least bit gradual. He doesn't get more nihilistic as the movie goes on. Every incident brings it out anew, but every incident attains the Same Level Of it. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it felt to me like the movie was saying "we're all of us completely okay with this so long as we have our small rewards." He *was( okay with All These Things until he finally realized there *was* no reward for himself. But because he's always intentionally turned a blind eye to it all. This movie is like little vignettes, all of which accomplish the Same Thing & might actually have been funny had they all featured different people.

Wow thank you and perfectly said. I too am surprised that people don’t understand that he’s a tragic villain. I plan to do some more videos about this film. A lot of people obfuscate Bill’s faults to others and that’s a big problem in my mind.

A man usually has one chance at a good degree and a good career…maybe two chances if the switch is earlier in life. Bill Foster was caught in the worst possible employment situation. He was extremely specialized in a career path that virtually disappeared on him. He too old to go back to school, marry another young woman and start things anew. Anyone and everyone who is faced with this will have a tremendously hard road, which may never get better.

@@robertbeckman2054 True he was in the older, “over educated and under-skilled” part in his life. I definitely sympathize with him struggling to find work. I think everyone generally deals struggles finding new jobs, especially later in life. What I find deplorable about Bill is his destruction, falsely blaming his fellow citizens that don’t have much power within the system and his lack of acknowledgement/ reflection of his own faults. The construction workers, the small business owners, the police, and even angry fellow commenters aren’t the enemies of society. That’s who Bill mostly blames throughout his rampage, not the system or people who have the power to change society on a larger scale. All of Bill’s societal critiques whether that’s inflation at Mr. Lee’s store will only get worse when you ruin the store’s merchandise. The prices will be inflated even more to pay for the damages of the previous products and to keep the business alive. It’s also realistic that the business may not survive with the early 90s recession taking its toll on business. The traffic caused by construction that infuriated Bill will only get worse when he blew up the construction site or when he abandoned his car (that causes further road buildup). It will take more tax payer dollars for the labor and time that will only delay the completion of the work site. Those are only two and that’s only part of why Bill’s actions are deplorable. Bill is largely the fault of his divorce with his emotional abuse towards his wife and daughter displayed in those home movies. He forces both of them to comply with something they are both clearly upset by. Even later in the home movies, he scolds his wife for being still upset at her favorite place (the pier) after he just forced them to do something they didn’t want to do. This behavior from Bill is shown throughout the film in the term “it’s my way or the highway.” Bill’s extremely controlling tendencies are what leads him into his point of now return. Even for a second, Bill realizes that his behavior was out of line (when he rewatches the home movies). That disappears after this realization as he still blames her and doesn’t admit to his own wrongdoings. Thanks for your comment.

True the societal issues have mostly not gone away from when this was made. A lot of people who support this guy are one bad day away from domestic terrorism. I read that when I was making this video. He is a severely flawed man with relatable struggles. That what makes him empathetic to the audience. His actions are completely unjustified and are harming more innocent lives then it was worth to benefit him short term. Who was the guy I included that encouraged murder?