the groundhog day project

So there I am, watching the trailer for Falling Down and I'm wondering a few things: 1) did every trailer in 1993 have really annoying voiceover? 2) sure, the film has moments that make it a very, very, very, very were people seeing it in the theater expecting an outright comedy about "urban reality"? 3) was this the perfect companion piece for / counterpart to Groundhog Day ? and 4) is this film--or rather the main character of D-FENS (Michael Douglas) just a metaphor for America... 5) I don't mean in an obvious, Americans are angry and fed up with all the bullshit problems in the modern world... 6) hell, I don't even mean that he's a stand-in for Ameri cans at all, but rather 7) he is America itself, and Falling Down can be mapped onto a sort of moral history of America. And, I'm not that impressed with America's morals lately, so this might turn into a rant. (Mal, you can check out now, because the word "patriarchy" might show up.) My...

So, I've established a couple times now that John and Holly really shouldn't get (back) together at the end of Die Hard . But, I'll reiterate: he's still a New York cop, and she's probably got an even more important job in LA now that Takagi was killed. Ellis, too. Holly does note that his office was nicer than hers, so he was probably pretty important also. My point is that Holly giving her name as McClane at the end of the film is somewhat arbitrary. (And, a little sexist, but I don't really want to get into sexism on this, the final day of watching Die Hard .) I wonder if the movie would still be as good without it, though. (It didn't come from the book, by the way. The cop in the book was visiting his daughter, not his wife.) There are a couple details to this story that seem arbitrary. Aside from that just mentioned, there is McClane's New Yorker-ness. That is, does it matter that McClane is from out of town? I'll answer this second quest...

John McClane is "a New York Cop." His label makes him who he is. It defines him. It keeps him from moving to California to be with his wife. His wife's label: "Gennaro, Holly." (also, Genn e ro, movie mistake.) Her label paints her as a single woman, available to do business with Nakatomi clients. It also invites--even though he actually knows better--Harry Ellis to hit on her. The reality of her being married is less important to her day-to-day life than the "reality" of who she presents herself as. Goffman's presentation of self or something similar that I've referenced before... Insert that here (as I noted yesterday , I'm away from my binders and working on two devices which limits on-the-spot research.). We are who we say we are, until our actions prove otherwise. Through Die Hard , McClane remains a New York cop. Holly, on the other hand changes, giving her name as McClane at the end of the movie... which is actually rather wro...

That again. #1 - tangible... yes, John McClane is a real guy in the context of Die Hard . (1/1) #2 - central protagonist... most definitely. (2/2) #3 - outsider... McClane stayed in New York while his wife and kids moved to LA. On a visit for Christmas, he is definitely an outsider. As a cop at the Nakatomi Christmas Party, he is also an outsider. (3/3) #4 - arrives through outside intervention... not exactly, but his presence (and role as an outsider, noted above) certainly operates like outside intervention. But, I am feeling generous. (4/4) #5 - dual identity... this one works a little strangely. Gruber and his crew know who McClane is pretty early on [edit, as the movie continues, and I realize this isn't quite true], but the link between he and his wife with the maiden name thing--that makes this aspect of who he is--offering some leverage--more important. Plus, Powell knows him as Roy. (5/5) #6 - appear mundane but is special... before Powell and Gruber et al know wh...

Start with a plane landing, let us know this guy's from out of town. Nice start. Setup him taking his shoes off, so he's a little off kilter later... ( Chekhov's bare feet ?) But, let's talk commonalities. Like Lethal Weapon the year before, it's Christmas (Christmas Eve, actually, if tech guy Theo can be trusted). Got a white cop and a black cop (though a much smaller part for Reginald VelJohnson than Danny Glover). The family here is mostly absent, and definitely "broken." Of course, the marriage is as Hollywood-magically fixed as Martin Riggs' depression. (Actually, that's not fair. I suppose that John McClane has realized that he can kill bad guys in California just as much as he can kill them in New York, so moving out here now to be with his family has become something easier to do. The marriage itself actually seems relatively okay--he and Holly do seem to miss each other before they start arguing about her using her maiden name.) ...