The Doom Generation

The Doom Generation
Directed by	Gregg Araki
Produced by	Gregg Araki Andrea Sperling
Written by	Gregg Araki
Starring	James Duval Rose McGowan Johnathon Schaech
Music by	Dan Gatto
Cinematography	Jim Fealy
Editing by	Gregg Araki Kate McGowan
Distributed by	Trimark Pictures
Release date(s)	USA October 27, 1995
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$284,785[1]

The Doom Generation is a film by director Gregg Araki. Released in 1995, it stars Rose McGowan, James Duval and Johnathon Schaech as two teenagers and a 21-year-old punk drifter who become involved in a ménage à trois. It is the second of a trilogy of films known as the Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy, the first being Totally Fucked Up and the last Nowhere. It was Araki's first movie to deal with a heterosexual relationship,^{[citation needed]} and is billed in the opening titles as "A Heterosexual Movie by Gregg Araki".

Synopsis

Teenage lovers Jordan White (Duval) and Amy Blue (McGowan) pick up a handsome drifter named Xavier Red (Schaech) while driving home from a club. Jordan gives Xavier the nickname "X". A late-night stop at a convenience store leaves the three on the run when X accidentally kills the store's owner (Dustin Nguyen). The trio hides in a motel to avoid arrest. While Jordan and Amy have sex in the bath tub, X learns from the local television news program that the store owner's wife (Margaret Cho) disemboweled her children with a machete before committing suicide, thus, he concludes, removing any possibility of the trio being caught by the police.

Later that evening, Amy has sex with X, even though they do not get along. Eventually Jordan finds out, and things become tense as the two men develop a lingering sexual attraction for one another. As the trio journeys across small-town USA, they continue to get into violent situations due to people either claiming to be Amy's previous lovers or mistaking her for such. The FBI has a meeting and declares it will find Amy and kill her (exactly the same sentiment is voiced by several other parties in the film). She is mistakenly identified by a fast food window clerk as "Sunshine" and later by a character played by Parker Posey as "Kitten".

Jordan, Amy and X spend the night in an abandoned barn, where they engage in a threesome. While Amy goes to urinate, Jordan and X are attacked by a trio of neo-Nazis, one of whom had previously mistaken Amy for his ex-girlfriend "Bambi". The gang proceeds to beat up X and then hold Jordan down as the aforementioned neo-Nazi ties up and rapes Amy on top of an American flag. The group finally severs Jordan's penis with pruning shears and forces it into his mouth. After Amy breaks free, she kills the neo-Nazis with the shears and escapes with X, leaving Jordan for dead. The film ends with Amy and X driving aimlessly on the road. X is eating Doritos and offers Amy some, but receives no response. Amy simply smokes a cigarette and continues driving as the film fades to the end credits.

Cast

The Doom Generation stars Rose McGowan, James Duval and Johnathon Schaech. Other members of the cast include Dustin Nguyen, Margaret Cho and Parker Posey. The film features cameos from a number of celebrities including Heidi Fleiss, Christopher Knight, Perry Farrell, Amanda Bearse, Nicky Katt, and gay adult film stars Zak Spears and Rex Chandler.

Response

The Doom Generation received mixed reviews, with critics often comparing the film both favorably and unfavorably to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Film website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of critics, gives the film a score of 50 percent.^[2] Roger Ebert famously gave the film "zero stars".^[3] This film has a considerable cult following. The film's anti-heroine "Amy" uses graphic language that is especially colorful when insulting "Xavier". Phrases such as "Eat my fuck", "Don't tard out on it", "You are a life support system for a cock", "Kindly pull your head out of your rectal region" became slang for fans of the movie. The phrase "That bitch. I am going to find her and then I am going to kill her" is spoken a few times in the movie by various characters. The same phrase appears in the song "A Daisy Chain 4 Satan" by My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.

References

1. ^ The Doom Generation - Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2010-05-27.
2. ^ "Tomatometer for The Doom Generation". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/doom_generation/. Retrieved 2007-06-06. 
3. ^ "The Doom Generation :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Chicago Sun-Times. 1995-11-12. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19951110/REVIEWS/511100301/1023. Retrieved 2009-10-20. 

External links

• The Doom Generation at the Internet Movie Database
• Music From The Motion Picture The Doom Generation