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The Third M?n · Posted: 09.17.2003 12:26 pm Post subject: The term "pretentious"...

...how and on what movies do you apply it? What would your definition of it be like?

matt header · Posted: 09.17.2003 3:47 pm Post subject:

When I think of the word "pretentious," I think of a movie (and a director) that considers itself superior to the audience. Most recent example: Masked and Anonymous.

the night watchman · Posted: 09.17.2003 5:10 pm Post subject:

I really can't think of a movie I would consider pretentious. I do think most postmodern literature is pretty pretentious, and by that I mean a piece of fiction that's more concerned with engaging the intellect than the emotions. I think most lit crits tend to write off story as naive. Poppycock, I say.
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beltmann · Posted: 09.17.2003 10:07 pm Post subject:

I have a list of words taped next to my desk that I refuse to use in my writing, and pretentious is on it. (No doubt all of you have a similar list posted at your station.) My problem is with its overuse; its heavy negative connotation is mined by too many writers who are unwilling to really consider what a film is trying to do. In other words, it's easy to sling "pretentious" at a movie when you're too lazy, or too disinterested to engage with the film on its intended level. To my mind, it's a slur that is used to replace more insightful analysis.

Still, some films do indeed make claims of their own self-importance--they're the ones lined up for Oscars.

Eric

the night watchman · Posted: 09.17.2003 10:12 pm Post subject:

I agree, Eric. I think "pretentious" is a stand-in for "I don't understand" (except in regards to my feelings about postmodernism Wink

).
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

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beltmann · Posted: 09.17.2003 10:22 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that's exactly how I phrase it when I talk to some of my students (I advise the school newspaper, and we have reviewers). Whenever I'm tempted to trot it out--as I was for Godard's In Praise of Love--I remind myself that the problem is likely with me, not the film. It's a good way to operate, because it forces me to be more critical of the medium as well as myself and my reactions to it. It works for me, at least.

Eric

Danny Baldwin · Posted: 09.17.2003 11:57 pm Post subject:

I always wonder if "boring" and "pretentious" go hand in hand. That's one I've never really figured out.
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Mark Dujsik · Posted: 09.18.2003 1:18 am Post subject:

I've used the word three times my entire time reviewing. Two of them were to say that there was no pretense invovled, and the other was in my review of Punch-Drunk Love to cite arguments some have against P.T. Anderson.

The big red Webster's dictionary I have has two definitions for pretentious: "1. making claims, explicit or implicit, to some distinction, importance, dignity, or excellence 2. affectedly grand; ostentatious."

In those definitions, I don't see anything wrong with a film that is pretentious. When most people say it, they mean that it makes claims to distinction, importance, etc. and doesn't back those claims up. I would say that all of P.T. Anderson's films are pretentious but Anderson has the balls to fulfill his claims.
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beltmann · Posted: 09.18.2003 2:01 am Post subject:

I've often said the same thing. The word is merely descriptive. Still, it frequently carries a connotation which essentially revises the definition to "making false or weak claims to some distinction or importance."

I think I've got the same big red Webster's, Mark.

Eric

Danny Baldwin · Posted: 09.18.2003 3:38 am Post subject:

Yeah, I'm guilty of using it negatively in my Solaris review, and maybe one or two others...but I don't exactly like it, either.
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the night watchman · Posted: 11.04.2003 11:32 pm Post subject:

Okay, I finally have an example of what I consider a "pretentious" movie. It's called No Such Thing and it's about a real-life fairy tale-style monster that finds himself in the 20th century. My problem is that it seems to be all subtext and no text, if you get where I'm coming from. It seems to be so taken with its own profundity -- and what it has to say is admittedly interesting -- that it doesn't quite have the patience to offer its audience a real story to go along with it.
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

juhsstin · Camera Operator Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Posts: 87

pretentious means "showy". acting as if he is more than he really is. i think movies can definitely be like this, but it depends on the viewer and is rather subjective. if i see a movie with an incredibly melodramatic soundtrack, cheesy overdone acting, and over-emphasized stylistic qualities AND i'm not buying into it, or feeling it or whatever; i might be tempted to call it pretentious.
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