Is Tracy Flick (ELECTION) evil? *May be spoilers for ELECTION*

[urbanlegend23]

I've watched ELECTION about 6 times and its one of my favourite films. I was wondering what you thought of its main character, Tracy Flick. Is she evil, or just a girl trying to be successful? I'm somewhere between the two...I thought Matt Broderick was the really evil one in the movie though. I can't entirely decide. What do you guys think?

[FeverDog420]

Election should have been the real sequel to Carrie, and not that that stupid Rage flick. Who else is more ostracized in high school than a snooty know-it-all who signs up for every school club? It would have been awesome if she released her fury in a more visceral manner than just on those banners.

Anyway, neither main character in Election is entirely good nor evil. Nobody's perfekt, right?

[thingsgoinon]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by FeverDog420:
Election should have been the real sequel to Carrie, and not that that stupid Rage flick. Who else is more ostracized in high school than a snooty know-it-all who signs up for every school club? It would have been awesome if she released her fury in a more visceral manner than just on those banners.

Anyway, neither main character in Election is entirely good nor evil. Nobody's perfekt, right? </font>


Jesus fucking christ ,if thats the attitude of mainstream America, then I hope to god the fucking terrorists blow everything the fuck up, because all hope is indeed lost..

[Dossipeni]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by thingsgoinon:

Jesus fucking christ ,if thats the attitude of mainstream America, then I hope to god the fucking terrorists blow everything the fuck up, because all hope is indeed lost..</font>


Do you not think thats a little harsh to say for American not accepting a movie

[FeverDog420]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by thingsgoinon:
Jesus fucking christ ,if thats the attitude of mainstream America, then I hope to god the fucking terrorists blow everything the fuck up, because all hope is indeed lost..</font>

Um, have you ever gone to a public high school? Most kids are annoyed by a perky know-it-all who joins every club for no reason other than to pad his/her college transcripts.

Have you seen Election? Try commenting on the topic of this thread and dropping the sour attitude, mkay?



[This message has been edited by FeverDog420 (edited 07-25-2002).]

[BakeTheMooCow]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by thingsgoinon:

Jesus fucking christ ,if thats the attitude of mainstream America, then I hope to god the fucking terrorists blow everything the fuck up, because all hope is indeed lost..</font>

I've never been disgusted by a post on this message board, until today. What the hell's the matter with you?

[Mike]

I loved ELECTION, it was one of my favorite movies of 1999 and one of my favorites of all time.

I also loved the character of Tracy Flick (one of my all time favorite characters).
I don't think she was evil. She worked really hard to get where she was and she deserved to win.

A lot of people that I've watched it with thought she was a bitch, but I think people should look at themselves before they decide she's a bitch. When you want something really bad, there's no telling what you would do to get it.

I think there's a little bit of Tracy Flick in everyone...

[Benny]

Help! My sister acts exactly like Tracy Flick, and she's not even in High School yet! Anyways, I think there was no real "good guy" in ELECTION. Tracy and Mr. McCallister both did some downright bad things. Sometimes, you feel sorry for a good guy when they do a bad thing in a movie, but you could not in this movie, and that's one of the things I love about it. The only real good guy was Paul, but he wasn't even the main character.

[herculeez]

I hated this movie. It is possibly one of the worst movies i've seen in a long time. The charater association was not very well established in my opinion and you just can't get comfortable with any of the characters. The whole competitiveness was just plain absurd and the movie had no feel to it. In m opinion, it was poorly put together, hence the reason i cannot comment on whether Tracy was evil or not...i just couldn't relate to her. This is just ONE of the movies flaws.

And Thingsgoingon?
The little contraversial statement you made there?
Well done, no-one has actually had the nerve to say sometime like that on this board...very amusing http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif

[movielover-9]

I really can't say if Tracy Flick was evil or not. She was just an average overachiever. Tearing down the campaign posters for Paul was kind of bad, but Mr. McCallister did some things that were bad too[cheating on his wife, casting out two of Tracy's votes]. But I don't think anyone was bad. Election was sort of a political satire/redemption tale set in a high school.

[CrowTRobot]

Election does use high school as an analogy for the american government. You're supposed to be annoyed with Flick, because part of the point is that to get ahead and succeed in AMerican politics, you have to kiss ass, you have to sell yourself out, and nice guys (like mcallister, until he loses it) just don't make it. Being nice won't get you elected. YOu have to be cutthroat, which is part of the problem with our democratic republic, although i'd be hardpressed to find abetter way to run things.

[thingsgoinon]

Wow, that was the stupidest fucking thing I ever said in my life. Apologies to all, I had about a pint of Old Grandad in me last night, I remember writing it, but have no idea why the hell I was so flamed...that was stupid....I certainly have no great love for my society as a whole, but I absolutely can't see where in this thread what should have pissed me off so much. Whoo...no more whiskey......

Special apology to Feverdog, who seems to have been the target of that aimless rant.



[This message has been edited by thingsgoinon (edited 07-26-2002).]

[Carrie]

Election is one of my very favorite films ever. I rented it, then went out and bought it the next day.

One of the things I love is the shades of gray regarding the characters...
I wouldn't say Tracy is evil, no not at all.

Is she an obnoxious pain in the ass?
Well, yeah... sometimes, but I actually like some parts of her personality too.

I think Broderick was really the slimy one in that film. I so enjoyed seeing him play that a-hole instead of his usual good guy roles.

It's like Ferris Bueller's all grown up and now HE'S the evil authority figure.

It's kind of a shame though.... at first appearance, Jim (Broderick) seemed to be such a nice guy, but then showed his true colors as the film went on.

Great, great movie.

[atdtennis]

She's REAL

[thingsgoinon]

Well i had wanted to see this movie for a long time, ppl have reccomended it with my views on society, and I have to say they weren't wrong. So I rented it...

Perfect and accurate representation of this society, phony selfish ppl who get ahead at all costs, with no real concern for their fellow ppl(represented by ,yes , the very evil Tracy Flick), middle of the roaders (Broderick) who, while not totally bad, still don't really see the error of their own ways (not once does he express any real remorse for the situation with his wife....as a matter of fact somehow blames her in a comment he makes) ...yet he still makes a just decision regarding the election. Tracy did not deserve to win, regardless of how hard she tried...she was a backstabbing bitch (and the use of ppl's thoughts in this movie was a great way of portraying ppl as they really are, and then as they appear to others.).PS: To any who didn't see it, that was not a spoiler, it just sounds that way http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

And that brings us to the smallest percentile (represented by Paul)....the oh so small percentage who genuinely care about ppl and are selfless in thier endeavors... only prob is, Paul is in an even greater minority, because he is one of what Tom Petty might call "the losers that get lucky sometimes" .... more often than not the good are squashed under the feet of this selfish society.

Well that is my feelings, and as Don Corleone may say " These comments I do not apologize for."

Reese Witherspoon once again floored me with her performance, this is one brilliant actress....and so young, there's alot of good stuff to come from this one.


[This message has been edited by thingsgoinon (edited 07-27-2002).]

[xirtam]

I loved this movie, it was hilarious and dark and even though there wasn't really one main character to root for it was still fun. Just the fact that we're all talking about whether someone is "evil" or not shows how detailed the characters are.

8/10

[Tuukka]

A very good film. As for the question, no, Tracy is not evil. She is certainly an obnoxious opportunist, but she is not evil. Broderick's character on the other hand was basicly full of shit. Nothing he did in the film was righteous. The big reason why he hated Tracy so much was the fact that A) He wanted to nail her, but he knew Tracy wouldn't touch him with a stick. B) He knew that Tracy was going to achieve everything he had always wanted. I can't understand why anyone would consider his character as "nice guy". There was nothing redeeming about him or his actions.

[thompsoncory]

I was actually rooting for Tracy in the movie! The so called "protagonist" (Matthew Broderick} was a complete asshole.

[thingsgoinon]

I love it when ppl prove my point.

[Tuukka]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by thingsgoinon:
I love it when ppl prove my point.</font>

I don't think anyone has proven any of your points after you posted your latest message???

[GiGi1010]

I enjoyed watching Tracy. She reminded me of several girls I went to school with, and still see today.

[Jasonite]

Evil? No...she's just an overprivileged bitch.


J

[DevNhalloween]

She was secretly evil. She knew that she'd get where she wanted in life and knew she had to bring others down in order to get it. They were both bad, but you feel for them anyways...I dunno but yeah great movie.

[reeseville]

Reese Witherspoon once again floored me with her performance, this is one brilliant actress....and so young, there's alot of good stuff to come from this one.


I know! Wasn't she just sooooo amazing! I loved her in this movie, it just proved to everyone who doubted what an amazing actress she really is. She's got incredible comic timing and I just got such a kick out of watching her play Tracy Flick. She nailed this role and she deserved all the recognition she got for this film :D :D :D

[Buck Turgidson]

There's nothing wrong w/ Miss Flick that I can't help her fix.

[Deckard]

For me Tracy Flick was the epitome of what is wrong with society today.........

self obsessed, manipulative, ammoral and above all power hungry at any cost........doesnt matter whos life you ruin, doesnt matter if your morally reprehensible as long as you suceed and make money at any cost.........To become a person devoid of sensitivity, caring and empathy but hey your happy and can sleep at night because you supposedly MADE IT.

and most disturbing of all, never take a look in the mirror to see what kind of human being you have become.

NB I love ELECTION 8.5/10 and think it is a film all should see, because these attitudes begin as a child....over achievers who dont join clubs for anything morew than personal gratification.....nothing to do with helping the community or world around you.

[johnny2blades]

I tell ya who was evil...it was the neighbor chick that he had a quasi-affair with. She blames him entirely for the affair then tells his wife? Egads man.

I don't think either one was evil...Tracy was an overachiever that went too far and Broderick...i mean, jeez....a teacher just kinda lost his mind. I mean, did you see what he was driving?

Great movie though 8/10