Probably Unanswerable Questions
Were the victims properly portrayed? Should the film be judged by who likes it or by who understands it? What in the movie is real? Why would Naomi stick around? What is the gateway activity that makes a man throw everything away?
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 02:06:34Read transcript
- The tricky thematic questions have already been explored: whether the victims and what they lost were properly portrayed, and whether to judge by who likes the movie versus who understands it; Danny Porish (as transcribed), the real Donnie Azoff, rejected the film as a dishonest account and had his name removed, which is why the character is Donnie.
- The real-life machinations prompt questions about what is real versus not, the car turning from red to white, the plane crash, waking up strapped to the airplane seat or finding cops in the house after driving home, the debauched good time from his perspective versus the havoc around him; whether Naomi would stick around is answered by Margot Robbie's own comment that she was not equipped to deal with an addict and was protecting her family, a dynamic familiar from real people; and for older men who were not rich young, what is the gateway activity, texting, last call, that leads to risking family and everything.
- Asked, in jest, whether he killed a guy, the addressed host answers no and notes that, not being married, he is not confessing anything; his point is that five years after the first thing that seemed like no big deal, guys end up with two families in two states. — Ryen Russillo
- This is a very lucrative version of a familiar American tale: people get away with as much as they can afford, and he could afford a divorce, cover-ups and refurbishing the 27th floor of the Mirage, so there are no consequences; no woman starts out fine with prostitutes, but the arguments creep in, and coming home to find the butler having an orgy is a different playground.