Distasteful

Rating: 3/10 (8 June 2007)

"Knocked up" had some funny moments and I laughed occasionally but I left the movie feeling very disenchanted. This is another California movie. It is all about this materialistic, drug ridden, shallow, selfish, youth obsessed, crude, rude and distasteful California lifestyle. I would not want to meet any of the people portrayed in this movie in real life. In fact I have to deal with this type in real life, the self-obsessed, cell phone gabbing, SUV driving bores. I think we are bombarded with this stereotype so often in the media that we start to believe that that is the way to be. I found the so-called adults in this movie to be immature and obsessed with instant gratification. If they didn't get what they want immediately then they had grounds to act crude and childish. Leslie Mann's character was distasteful. She was a foul mouthed child. Her husband, played by Paul Rudd, griped about not being able to do what he wanted so he was forced to lie to get some free time. Of course his free time meant dumping his kids on his wife. They lived in a sumptuous house and he drove a Mercedes sports car. Of course because of a spat he had to take off to Las Vegas with Ben to cavort with strippers and indulge in psychedelic mushrooms. Did they have any appreciation for their lifestyle? No. I saw them being angry at not being instantly gratified and entertained. Really how many of the audience would have the time or money to indulge in this behavior. My neighbor works two jobs and struggles to send his children to State Colleges. I don't see him portrayed in California movies. Katherine Heigl played her role well but her character's success was based not on talent or hard work but on her good looks. How Californian. Seth Rogen's character was crude, crude, crude. He played it well. I could almost smell his character's acrid body odor. This movie will be a hit with the lucrative 18 to 25 crowd. That is a scary thought that this portrayal of boorish, self-involvement would resonate with a group of people. I noted that more drug related killings happened in Philadelphia recently. Drugs and the violence they breed are a problem because there is a ready market for the product and lots of money can be made from it. This movie glorified drug use. Is there no social consciousness? Do we rate social consciousness by how much the box office pulls in this weekend? I wasn't alone in my dislike. People got up and walked out on this movie. I go to see movies often and it is rare to see people disgusted enough to walk out. This was a morally objectionable movie.