Doom Generation

The Doom Generation is an art film trying to please the audience that its making fun of. It has gratuitous violence and is pretty much a soft core porn. The dialog is poor at best. But these are the things that make it a "good" film. The movie is basically taking to task generation X, I mean there is after all a character named "X" who leads the two other "innocent" characters down the road to hell. The gratuitous violence is suppose to highlight the characters apathy toward fellow human beings. In the string of murders and violence that ensues the only time the 3 of them show remorse or concern is when they hit a dog on the road. They end the dogs suffering and bury it! And Amy says something to the effect of "Life Sucks".Out of all the human death they only show concern for themselves and the effect it will have on them, i.e. getting caught, but they all suffer for the poor dogs death. The sex, voyeurism, partner swapping etc. are just examples of more apathy and general selfishness-if it feels good do it. But your not even sure if it feels good because towards the end when the climax of violence is happening nobody seems overly upset that the sex has taken such a bad turn. Maybe Perry Farrel's earlier cameo is to get you to keep in mind the Jane's addiction lyric "... sex is violence"? Any way I could ramble on maybe I'm so brimming with insight because the first time I saw it I was high and then on finally re-watching it I was truly frightened by how many friends I have fit the film's stereotypes

A quirky comedy (?) that takes a dark turn at the end. I can't quite tell if The Doom Generation is good or bad. Regardless, I quite enjoyed this wonky ride of a movie.

It contains very questionable acting and pacing but this movie is undoubtably entertaining and begging to be endlessly quoted. That dark ending really comes out of nowhere with very little build up. But it showcases that we live in a society, mannnn.

When all is said and done I can't quite say this is a masterpiece but I also can't say I didn't enjoy myself. A cult classic indeed, and one that kinda needs to be seen to be believed.

I write this because I read a harsh critic from a fellow watcher here and I don't really understand his opinion.

this movie is highly surrealistic, and in its on way very truthful - regarding the fact that it shows the story through the eyes of these overcharacterized stereotypical teens. being an eastern European guy, I think I can say that this movie requires the watcher to step out of his usual westernized filters he's watching films through, and try to be as objective a listener as possible. I must disagree with the opinion that this movie has to be taken seriously - this is a weird kind of entertainment, weird in a positive way like those C-trash horrors that are so bad you start to collect them on your shelf. araki may not be the brightest star in independent film-making, but he's reasonably strong and original.

I recommend this to mature people who don't think that knowing high arts requires them to deny their childhood classics or spider-man. watch it with much self-irony and have a good time. :)

Some films divide audiences immediately. 'Eraserhead', 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls', 'Night Of The Living Dead'. 'The Doom Generation' is one of those movies! I don't know of anyone who has seen it that has a luke warm response. You either love it or hate it, and I love it!

Gregg Araki makes unique movies. Self conscious, self parodying, INTELLIGENT trash. His world is not really our world. It's an exaggerated, surreal version of "reality". Sexy, violent, pop culture bombarded, dream-like, impossible to forget or ignore. 'The Doom Generation' is clever, ironic, disturbing fun.

Personally, I think his next movie 'Nowhere' is his masterpiece, but this is almost as good. Plus we get lots of Rose McGowan flesh on display - not a bad thing! Her performance as Amy Blue ALMOST makes her the 1990s version of Tura Satana! She will never knock off Tura's crown as Queen of Sleaze, but she seems to be having a hell of a lot of fun trying, and I have a hell of a lot of fun watching her!

One of my personal favorite films is this tale of a road adventure between a teenage couple and a guy they pick up, leading to lots of sex, gory violence and bizarre events. This one is quite a dark movie, with lots of death and tragedy, but at the same time a brilliant look at the whacked-out characters involved in these harrowing situations. Director Gregg Araki seems to have a knack for these types of movies. His next film was the even better NOWHERE. Definitely Recommended.