There's a television program called The
Jeremy Kyle Show that I'm kind of obsessed with because it's so fucking
awful. Basically it's one of those chat shows that has evolved from the
Victorian Freak Show in which a never ending supply of gozzy eyed fucktards
turn up to scream and drool all over each other. I hate everything about it but
I can't help but tune in because it's like looking through a gateway and into
another dimension. Imagine the bomb went off during the Cold War and we're now
living in some radioactive dystopia where buck-toothed mutants queue up to be
judged by Kyle, their Lizard king and that's kind of what it's like. I think
the point of the show is to laugh at the lives of these deficient individuals
which I obviously do... Although not because I think I'm better than them but
because sometimes something is just so awful that it has to be a joke. In the
words of The Comedian “Mother forgive me”. I watch it almost every day but that
doesn't mean I like anything about it at all. It is the purest definition of
car crash TV… in that if everybody involved were to be killed by a car the
world would be a far better place.
Roadside deaths aside though, the reason
that I can find enjoyment of this show is remarkably similar to the reason that
I enjoyed The Wolf Of Wall Street. This is the latest film to star
DiCaprio and the fifth in which he's worked with his Sugar Daddy, Director
Martin Scorsese. Based on the life of an ex-stock broker named Jordan Belfort,
the film depicts his transformation from an enthusiastic whipper-snapper into a
massive rich twat. Set during the 80's and 90's, the movie depicts the highs
and lows of too much money with particular emphasis on how the excesses of the
time seemed to turn people into demented fucking sociopaths. Fuelled by his
need for more of everything, DiCaprio's Belfort is corrupted by his obsessive
search for power, drugs and anything else that might distract him from
realising what a solid gold fucknugget he is. Despite generally positive
reviews though, the film has apparently caused some degree of controversy with
many sources claiming that it glamorises its main character and his decadent,
dick of a lifestyle. With Belfort's social life being like a scene from Caligula
and his business meetings being like a frat party I can see where the
criticism might be coming from. I can see where it's coming from but in the
same way that Jeremy Kyle's guests are meant to be human, as a theory it is
just plain wrong... And here's why!
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| Either he thinks he's Jesus or it's a 'T' for 'twat'. |
This is where The Jeremy Kyle Show comes
back into things again as like I said, I watch that show and enjoy it despite
having absolute contempt for all involved. In both cases I don't have to relate
to or empathise with the people on screen to find enjoyment. In fact the
enjoyment comes from seeing these horrendous people obliviously making absolute
dicks of themselves. For example, in The Wolf of Wall Street there's a
really funny sequence in which Belfort is off his face on drugs and so has to
crawl his way to his car. It involves him rolling down some concrete steps,
getting his foot stuck in his cars door handle and then fighting with his
friend who is equally as spaced out. It's genuinely hilarious but the joke
isn't ‘look at how great he is, I wish I was him’. The joke is look at what an absolute
tit this guy is- I hope that fucking hurt!
I suppose though that there is some defence
for the people who see it as promoting Belfort's arse gargle of a life. Aside
from what is simply on screen, I think it's clear from interviews that Scorsese
and all involved were making a film aimed at criticising the money burning,
very real bell-ends of Wall Street. However just because a film was made with
good intentions doesn't mean it can't be interpreted differently by different
people. I mean I'm pretty sure that The Terminator is meant to be about
a crazy robot who kills people but when I watch it all I see is anti-abortion
propaganda... Everybody is trying to kill an unborn child because despite still
being a foetus, it has the potential to change the world. Even though the
mother might not be ready for it due to being single, unemployed, young and
have awful hair. Anyway, so yeah, my point is that maybe people do watch Wolf
Of Wall Street and see it as being an advert for life as a mega-rich,
uber-twat but for all the reasons mentioned above that's clearly not what it
actually is. It's the difference between saying, “The film is promoting their
lifestyle” and “My personal reading of the film is that it is promoting their
lifestyle”. Their reading is just as valid as anybody else's on a personal
level but that doesn't make it a fault of the film if they see it and decide
it's made everything look quite appealing. It just means that when they see
Belfort causing all his shit they think it looks fun and then feel ashamed that
that's how they felt. If you look at a Rorschach test and see an image of your
mums gaping arse it's not that you're wrong but just that maybe it's not the
psychiatrist you should get mad at.
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| Oh good, another party scene. I hope a bomb goes off in this one. |
Finally though, it's really worth noting
just how brilliant DiCaprio's performance is as he flops about the screen with
the force and pain of a man who’s really working hard for that Oscar. Watch
also how he riles up his workers with motivational speeches as though channelling
both an annoying 'Praise the Lord Preacher' and Hitler during the Nuremberg rallies.
If you really think this is advocating his behaviour, I think you need a long
hard look in the mirror to fully contemplate your own stupidity before we never
speak to each other again! Belfort constantly comes back to proving how great a
stockbroker is by asking his minions to sell him his own pen. Shame he never tried
that with Jo Pesci in Scorsese's previous film Casino because he'd have
ended up with it being stabbed through his selfish fucking neck.
