Fuzzy, Clerks II (major spoilers!!!)

[Dan]

Fuzzykitten, I saw that you've seen Clerks II, I'm glad I finally have someone to discuss it with.

What did you think? Were you a fan of the first one/general Kevin Smith fan?

There's a lot of discussion about the ending going around. Many people think that the ending is supposed to be taken as a happy ending, but I don't think it was happy at all, in fact I was amazed that they would end it on (what I perceived to be) such a down note. First of all, I don't think Dante will ever really be happy, and he was just letting Randal make his decisions for him, and I think the very last shot, with Dante looking around, is him realizing that he is right back where he was. The fade back into black and white was pretty effective in showing that he's gone completely back to where he was. The song at the end, Soul Asylum's "Misery", was pretty poignant as well, I guess. What did you think?

I should note that I'm not complaining about that ending or anything. While it did seem out of place considering how absurd a lot of the previous hour and a half had been, it works. And, Dante's not exactly a character you root for, so it's not like you feel too bad for him. Hell, I liked Randal a lot more than Dante, so I was glad he got to do what he loved in the end. Still, as someone who feels like he's wasting his life working retail, Dante's hopeless look at the end was a little disturbing to me.

 

[fuzzykitten99]

Fuzzykitten, I saw that you've seen Clerks II, I'm glad I finally have someone to discuss it with.

What did you think? Were you a fan of the first one/general Kevin Smith fan?

There's a lot of discussion about the ending going around. Many people think that the ending is supposed to be taken as a happy ending, but I don't think it was happy at all, in fact I was amazed that they would end it on (what I perceived to be) such a down note. First of all, I don't think Dante will ever really be happy, and he was just letting Randal make his decisions for him, and I think the very last shot, with Dante looking around, is him realizing that he is right back where he was. The fade back into black and white was pretty effective in showing that he's gone completely back to where he was. The song at the end, Soul Asylum's "Misery", was pretty poignant as well, I guess. What did you think?

I should note that I'm not complaining about that ending or anything. While it did seem out of place considering how absurd a lot of the previous hour and a half had been, it works. And, Dante's not exactly a character you root for, so it's not like you feel too bad for him. Hell, I liked Randal a lot more than Dante, so I was glad he got to do what he loved in the end. Still, as someone who feels like he's wasting his life working retail, Dante's hopeless look at the end was a little disturbing to me.

I love the first one. I thought it was bizarre the first time I saw it, but the 2nd time I liked it better because I was able to catch more of the understory rather than try to understand what the movie was about like at first.

I thought the 2nd one ended on a happy note, with him marrying the mother of his baby and not the woman who everyone expected him to.

I didn't think Randal made the decision for Dante, I think that Dante agreed that while he was miserable working at the quickstop, it was some of the best times that he and Randal had together and he was comfortable there. I actually liked the fact that they bought the place and worked the very job that they were comfortable in, and they didn't have a boss to answer to and just hang out.

As someone who worked in retail, namely the fast food industry, I can tell you, while there were times I was miserable because the pay sucked, and I came home smelling of grease and big macs, I look back at that as the most fun job I have ever had. And if we could survive on my working at that low of a salary, I would go back, just because I liked the people I worked with & the ease of the job compared to what I have had recently.

I guess I didn't look too deeply into the movie itself and just enjoyed the movie for entertainment value. I don't like to analyze movies too much because it kinda takes the fun out of them.

It was definitely better than what I had expected though. THe day I saw it, I was playing hooky from work to get daycare paperwork done, and finished early so I went and saw the movie by myself.