Safe Spaces

An interesting look at the intersection of millennial culture and academia. Justin Long and his character's family are an interesting study.

For me, watching and enjoying a movie requires that I either (1) like some of main characters or (2) like the story or (3) find the cinematography interesting. Most good movies all three are satisfied.

For this movie I wasn't able to find any of those. While I generally like Justin Long, here as an Adjunct Professor teaching writing, in this movie I didn't like him at all. The dialog is generally uninspired and bland. And I had forgotten how annoying Fran Drescher's nasal delivery is.

I had moderately good hopes for this movie but I found it to be mostly a waste of time. Life is too short to watch too many mediocre movies.

I watched it at home on DVD from my public library.

Some of my favorite films are the ones that don't have much ostensible plot movement at first glance. I like films where characters just meander aimlessly as they work through certain social issues, or reevaluate their place in their own lives, and really, that's what this film is all about. It's about taking a temperature reading in the current political climate and deciding if it's time to make a meaningful and purposeful change in the way we live our lives. Josh (Justin Long, "Drag Me to Hell") is not a bad guy, though he does has his issues; he's a bit self-centered, he thinks he can fix everyone's problems for them and attempts to do so, and sometimes he just won't shut up enough for other people to get a word in. At the same time, Josh is trying. He makes a honest effort to connect with his family as his grandmother lies dying in the hospital, even going out of his way multiple times to try to convince his father (Richard Schiff, "Seven") to visit her, though his relationship with her over the last years has been strained (Grandma is mom's mom and the parents are divorced). Through these sequences we begin to get a sense of who Josh is and what he truly believes, and we also get passing interactions with minor characters that gently play on the import and sometimes uncomfortable social issues and how he as a white, straight, cisgender male plays into those issues. He approaches certain situations with as much gravitas as he can, but in the end, sometimes, he just finds himself at a loss for what to do. Many of the situations Josh finds himself in don't seem to really have an obvious answer as to what truly is 'The Right Thing' to do, and when he feels at a loss he feels as if he needs to fix it, when, in the end, all he really needs to do is listen, understand, and try to sympathize with the people he may have inadvertently hurt or offended. Beyond making a few important points, this film is also really funny. The theater in which I saw this movie was mostly full, and the crowd seemed to absolutely eat the humor up. Most of the jokes arises from uncomfortable or awkward situations, but there are plenty of great character chemistry moments, one liners, jokes that were previously set up and executed flawlessly, and though many of the jokes revolve around hot issues, none of it ever feels forced, crass, or ill-conceived; it feels real and honest. I think the reason I enjoyed this film so much is that it doesn't really claim to have any answers. It just asks that you open your ears and mind to the changing climate, and shut up for a while, at least long enough to hear the other voices and opinions around you. Overall, "Safe Spaces" was a very enjoyable, very 'woke' comedy that feels right at home in 2019.

This is not a comedy.

This is a rare and honest look at the Millennial / Gen Y & Gen X. It is disturbing to say the least, and shows modern liberal American society in all it's dark glory. It was hard for me to watch this film, because I actually wanted to hit (yep) some of the characters in the movie for their over sensitivity and detachment from reality.

In real life - as Gen X will hopefully soon learn - there are no safe spaces. The only coherent character in the film was of Justin Long - a decent human being being forced to the corner by literally everyone around him. It is shocking to see how the liberal academia are behaving now. and I feel this was a good representation of what is going in colleges and universities around USA at the moment (Berkeley, anyone?).

Gen Y & Gen X had it too good now for too long. Their entitlement and self importance is over shadowing any effective processes that can be achieved - if given the chance - at any college or university classroom. These kids are unchallenged because of too much emotional safety regulations some pompous academics decided to implement in schools all over America. I always considered myself to be a left-wing liberal before understanding that I am actually now being moved to the center-right by these people. Young Americans are being thrown into smaller and smaller social groups, branding everyone else as their enemy for some reason. Yes, social media and smartphones have a lot to be blamed for, but not just. It is their parents and sometime their grandparents who forgot somewhere along the way that kids need to be constantly challenged intellectually in order for them to develop a meaningful and proactive life choices. The safety net that the liberal left has flanged across America will come tumbling down one day in such a crashing noise that we will probably feel the tidal waves of it until the end of this century.

10 years ago, when I became vegan, I thought I was doing the right thing, in line with my generation. Now I feel that the liberal-left agenda has been pushed too far. Only time will tell where it leads us.

This film is disturbing mirror into current American social trends. It is recommended viewing, if you have the stomach for it.

Justin Long is one of my all time favourite actors, and I would basically watch any film he is in. I am grateful to the writer / director of this film, Daniel Schechter, for giving him the opportunity to shine in this role,

This is a great comedy that reminds a little bit of standup comedy. The scenes would be hard to do in standup because they involve a setup with circumstances and other characters - but it resembles standup in that each scene and the dialogue almost completely make up the substance and humor of the film. You have a well-intentioned millennial named Josh played by Justin Long who despite his best efforts simply cannot avoid putting his foot in his mouth. A large part of the humor deals with overly-sensitive and politically correct people, who Josh simply cannot avoid enraging - this comes out through taboo topics like sexual abuse, overly protected children, sexual philandering, and death. It's just hilarious to watch each scene spiral out of control with Josh coming out with mud on his face looking like the aggressor or bad guy, even though his intentions are good. He tries so hard to deal with each situation but just falls on his face and can never say the right thing, even when nearly one else has no problem doing so. So this dynamic is the setup for comedy; a series of blunders. I can see it compared to Woody Allen, mainly in Josh's hasty dialogue and frantic, victim mentality. But it's a little different, probably more like Amy Schumer - this is a little more of satire with dark, awkward, and deadpan humor. Josh has no redeeming qualities to speak of whereas Woody Allen's early characters seemed to be more cunning and find a way out on top. You won't get much of a story but if you like this type of humor you will be laughing out loud.