I resent an awful lot of what S.F.W. represents. Most of all I resent the implication that I should find value in a film in which all characters are so patently hateable.
Dirty slacker Cliff Spab (Stephen Dorff) and Spoiled Rich Girl Wendy Pfister (Reese Witherspoon) find themselves immersed in unrequested media attention after being the lone survivors of a tense convenience store siege.
During the 38 day ordeal – which was streamed to the media by the terrorists and broadcast nationwide – Spab in particular found an audience with his charismatic (sic), irreverence and greasily handsome looks. His pessimistic So Fucking What? (y’know) becoming a call to arms for people across the globe… who… I dunno… don’t give a shit?
While the previous paragraph should be read with at least one raised eyebrow, the next should be prefaced by a giant 72 font ALLEGEDLY:
Allegedly; Spad emerges an anti-establishment hero, gifted with an off the charts likability quotient and endorsement value. Everyone wants to get some Spab in their lives. For his part Spab only wants to sink some beers, listen to some metal and go back to not adding value to society.
For a film that ponders what damage the media can do to people who don’t seek attention, I ask this: why are we the audience expected to care about a guy who doesn’t care, but more importantly scarcely deserves any sympathy anyway? Much less understanding!
This is a film that thinks everyone should see every cocky, overly self-confident young adult douchebag as they see themselves, somehow worthy of all our love and respect despite wilful resentment of all others and a determination to do nothing.
I was this guy at some point in my life – many people go through the unfortunate phase of thinking the world owes them a favour – but I sure as hell didn’t deserve any kudos for my disenfranchisement. This film believes dysfunction to be marketable, and further wants the lead slogan to be a statement of apathy.
S.F.W. fails because it believes in its own message, that a piece of shit like this should be put on a pedestal and worshipped. I only hope it grew up and eventually saw what a worthless and undeserving stain it was when ‘it’ was a kid…
Final Rating – 3 / 10. Think Pump up the Volume without a single positive aspect, likable quality or coherent message. So Fucking What indeed.
