Angry White Male Movie Roundup!

The Angry White Male genre (heretofore known as AWM) is a relatively new cinematic niche, having cropped up in only the past fifteen years or so, though elements of it go back much further. Basically these movies feed into that suspicion held by certain men that the world they’re entitled to is slowly fading away and becoming a thing of not-so-distant—but still out-of-reach—past. Like station wagons or the ethnic term “Oriental.” The men in these movies simmer with resentment at their reduced status in the world; are regularly belittled and emasculated in the workplace, and find themselves trapped on the wage-slave treadmill. AWM movies often invite white men to recognize the extent to which the world has betrayed them and maybe—just maybe—work for a brighter future.

 

And if this sounds like a crock, much of it is. But there is some truth to the way that the trappings of the American dream do actually trap. So as a middle-class white male (not really angry right….just had dinner…more sleepy than anything), I’m going to give a quick assessment of some standouts in this genre.

 

Falling Down (1993)—When I read the description of this film as a man’s fugue-like walk through L.A., the potential jumped right out at me. After all, wouldn’t a lone man’s quiet odyssey through that multi-cultural, fractured, and illusion-lacquered city be a wonderful statement on American society at the close of the millennium? Then I saw that Joel Schumacher was directing and I knew that it would be crap. And it’s crap. Michael Douglas, seemingly having stepped out of 1960, plays a downsized defense-industry worker whose walk through L.A. leads him into violent confrontations with angry Korean store clerks, apathetic fast food workers, skinheads, gangbangers, and, oh I dunno, Cloverfield the monster, too. Douglas’s death scene is so ridiculous it’s basically a middle-finger to the audience. Thanks, Joel, I think I will go fuck myself.

 

Can I relate? Right, because so many defense contractors lost their jobs when the U.S. dismantled its war machine in the ‘90s, and stopped spending any money on the military.

 

Taxi Driver (1976)—No need to encapsulate the plot of this one, is there?

 

Can I relate? Of course. Part of the genius of Taxi Driver is how standard male fantasies and experiences facilitate Travis Bickle’s decreasing grasp on reality. His ill-fated pursuit of Cybill Shepherd and loss of her to Albert Brooks are so painful because every guy has been in his place—staring through that window, wondering why the girl he’s crushing on is with such a tool. The movie’s blood-drenched climax is far from being the inevitable outcome of sheer madness. It’s Travis acting out the universal male rescue fantasy (not a word out of you, Ten Feet!)

 

Fight Club (1999)— Magazine-cover-handsome, underemployed white guys with gym-toned bodies rebel against a consumerist society intent on making them as vapid and banal as it is by beating the tar out of each other. Brad Pitt plays a messianic figure who delivers speeches like something out of the galleys of Susan Faludi’s book Stiffed. He rants about how these guys have never been tested the way their fathers were by war and depression and are sorrier because of it. Overpaid, underbrained men everywhere nodded their immaculately groomed heads in agreement. Then a couple years later 9/11 happened and we went to war, and all those guys had a chance to…er, never mind.

 

Can I relate? I’ve spent the past five days having heavy artillery fired at me, so, um, nope. Can’t relate to some pretty boys whining about how the nice safe world has made them soft.

 

Civic Duty (2006)—Just read my review.

 

Can I relate? No, but I think my older brother probably can.

 

Office Space (1999)—Little-loved upon its initial release, it’s developed a well-deserved cult following. Proving himself a master of observational humor, Mike Judge has crafted nothing less than a Catch-22 for anyone who has ever worked in a cubicle farm.

 

Can I relate? Good Christ yes! Not so much with this job, but in my last job (or as I like to refer to it, “my season in hell”). Remember early on in the movie how Peter’s use of the wrong fax cover sheet for his TPS reports causes a minor furor? Yeah, that actually happened to me when I used the wrong memo format (it didn’t have our organization’s logo on it…you know, because the people in the next office might forget who we all worked for).

 

Willard (2003)—A misfit is regularly humiliated at work by his evil boss and virtually everyone else. Bad luck for them that Willard can command rats to do his bidding. Wackiness ensues. Crispen Glover does his usual “I’m too fucking insane for celluloid” acting job that’s a hit with 13 year-olds.

 

Can I relate? Dude, I’m not sure I’m even the same species as this guy.

 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)—Not really an angry white male flick—Danny Kaye’s Mitty is too mild mannered for that—but one that taps at the stifled passion and imagination that lurks in the heart of many a man in a grey flannel suit.

 

Can I relate? A family acquaintance once asked me what I did, explaining “because when I think of you, I think of James Bond.” “So do I,” I replied. All men are great in their dreams.

 

Disclosure (1994)—Michael Douglas plays an exec who is sexually harassed by his boss, Demi Moore. He must fight a system rigged against him to gain justice and unravel the corporate subterfuge that threatens his job.

Can I relate? Oh yeah. There’s nothing worse than when beautiful co-workers throw themselves at me and offer me perks and promotions if I join them in carnal bliss. God, I hate that.

 

Wolf (1994)—Jack Nicholson plays a publishing exec who is fast being ushered out the door until he is bitten by a werewolf. Soon his bestial instincts are helping him climb the corporate ladder, eliminate his rival (who’s also a werewolf) and get the girl (who makes into a werewolf).

Can I relate? Are you kidding me? This is one of the most ridiculous movies ever made.

 

Mad Men (2007)—It’s a TV series, not a movie, but it airs on a channel that has the word “movie” in it. Don Draper is at the top of his game, having established himself as one of Madison Avenue’s leading ad men. He’s also got a house in the suburbs, a beautiful blonde wife (January Jones, who, incidentally, bears a disturbing likeness to my work wife), and adoring children. Yet Don feels trapped, and each day the cell becomes a little smaller. He works late, drinks with the boys, and cheats on his wife with a bohemian in the East Village. In one poignant episode, he spends the night with his mistress and some of her Beatnik friends. Don fends off their jeering barbs during a long night of smoking pot and listening to jazz. While Don gets the last word in—pointing out that his legitimacy, his “squareness” gives him greater freedom than they have—it’s clear he doesn’t feel free. He’d desperately love to be one of them, but he’s an ad man not a poet, and nothing he can do can change what he is.

Can I relate? God help me if I get married and have kids. I’ll become this guy.

 

So that’s this angry (well, irritated) white male’s round up of AWM movies. I’m sure I missed some. Post your suggestions and I’ll let you know if I can relate. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go rescue Thandie Newton from, uh, well I’ll think of something.