Excellent review! One of my favorites. I remember critically analyzing this movie/book in a college class once, and my classmates as well as myself were strongly critical of the capitalistic reality of the book and for some time I was uneasy about the consumerism and indulgent aspect of the individual- until realizing the dark reality of such a system and the character's free will in a free society is what makes for a memorable story. I think there are even more Batemans in today's world, which is scary, but it keeps me on my toes!
I haven't read the book but I've seen the film and I agree with anti-materialism not being the main theme of the story. It's more used as a plot device for monotony. It's like it doesn't care enough about materialism to make a true statement against it. It's more of a statement against sociopathy and it's relationship with lonliness and the career world, and if you were to take the vital story and put it in a different scenario/setting it would be just as poignant.
Excellent review! One of my favorites. I remember critically analyzing this movie/book in a college class once, and my classmates as well as myself were strongly critical of the capitalistic reality of the book and for some time I was uneasy about the consumerism and indulgent aspect of the individual- until realizing the dark reality of such a system and the character's free will in a free society is what makes for a memorable story. I think there are even more Batemans in today's world, which is scary, but it keeps me on my toes!
I haven't read the book but I've seen the film and I agree with anti-materialism not being the main theme of the story. It's more used as a plot device for monotony. It's like it doesn't care enough about materialism to make a true statement against it. It's more of a statement against sociopathy and it's relationship with lonliness and the career world, and if you were to take the vital story and put it in a different scenario/setting it would be just as poignant.
Loved it