Talk:The Square (2017 film)

This is not a satirical film.
I have only ever tinkered with the excellent articles at Wikipedia and my work and thinking has been accepted whenever I have shared my two cents. But I understand I may be facing deeper forces here -- I simply cannot understand how someone has used the word satirical to describe this movie.

I trust that the author of that perspective can share quotes from the writer and director of the movie calling it satirical. Otherwise that's just one person's perspective -- a questionable perspective that might be supported in an opinion essay but not in a Wikipedia article.

Please reply with links. Thanks.

Or if there are no objections I can get in there a delete the word. Riseley (talk) 19:12, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Okay -- I have read some articles. I confess I am stunned. I feel that "satire" is not exactly the correct word to be bandied about in relationship to this film. And yet it is being used in several descriptions out there.

My sense is that when we are told that something is satire it allows us to experience some cognitive distance from the topic. And that's wrong for this movie. The powerful thumping heart of this movie is the gorilla scene which gets "in your face." The idea being expressed is that all of the ideas in this movie are in our face - as close as this gorilla. There is exaggeration in places. Audiences are intended to feel uncomfortable in a way that satire does not allow for. Satire is about distance from the topic -- it is a label that minimizes the power of the meaning.

There is also an element of humor to most satire -- this is a humorless film in a lot of ways. And that's intentional. This movie is the most uncomfortable mirror of ourselves imaginable. I hate seeing it described with a word that diminishes its power. Riseley (talk) 19:27, 30 December 2019 (UTC)