I just watched “Drive” a few nights ago, after receiving many, many recommendations from supposedly manly reviewers (ok, in a youtube comment thread), and wanted to register a few thoughts here in the MGTOW-sphere.
This movie has one of the best opening sequences i’ve ever seen. Too bad it ends there!
1. The main character (played by Ryan Gosling) is living a funless version of the MGTOW lifestyle, as shown at the beginning of the film (immediately after his daring escape from the police after aiding a pair of thieves in their getaway). His room is stark and empty, and he has nothing but his money to keep him company. This is a portrayal of man’s need for something more than himself, or I’m f~~~-crazy.
2. 3 minutes or less after we see the pitiful state of the Main Character (as I can’t for the life of me remember his name, it’s so unimportant to the plot), we see an opportunity (pushed) for him to become a provider (sucker) for a single (not really… surprise!) mom and her squib. You just know this s~~~ is going to go wrong she’s so f~~~ing helpless and NEEDS someone so damn much.
3. You see the plot developing with the Main’s boss getting involved with some mafiosos, and the woman’s husband (hey at least they’re married) getting released from prison. The bad boy is actually trying to turn good, but got in too deep with the wrong sort, so the Main “mans up” to protect the woman and squib he’s gotten overly-attached to. He offers his help, like a true white knight, and not like the MGTOW that we were presented with at the beginning of the film, and this is what really bothers me. He’s presented as “less than human” at the beginning of the movie, and he becomes more “human” as the film and his devotion to this bad-decision-making whore increases. The message is that men should do all they can to help stupid bitches, because they are innocent victims. If you don’t, you’re less than human.
4. And this is the worst. After several violent confrontations with the mafiosos, which he wins, he leaves a bag full of money in the parking lot, next to the last mafioso he has to deal with. Not one of them knows even his name. He could ghost. but he drives away from the bag of money, and the girl, to protect her? This was a slap in the face. I didn’t see it coming. This character, who I’ve invested an hour and a half of my life trying to understand and identify with and root for, has gone beyond the pale of stupidity. He worked hard and risked his life, nearly losing it several times, only to throw away the only reward he could have gotten for all his effort and trouble. This is what the director is saying men need to do. Sacrifice everything, expecting no reward. Do this, in order to be ‘really human” (the song that is repeated as a theme throughout the movie is about someone making the singer feel like a real human being). Disgusting and enraging.
Anyway, I felt that the film, which was full of needless tension, should still be watched by MGTOW, in order to see the level of subtle shaming that will continue to be a part of the male-hostile culture we live in. Watch it without paying for it, please, like, on cable or netflix or amazon prime. Don’t support the s~~~stain director or producer.
"All your children are poor, unfortunate victims of systems beyond their control... A plague upon your ignorance to the great despair of your ugly life!" -Frank Zappa
Shiny 4 years, 2 months ago.
