JOSH COHEN - REPO MAN

Repo Man
Dir. Alex Cox
Released in 1984

In this film, Otto Maddox is young punk rocker, alienated by his friends and family. The film is about his departure from the punk scene to the intense world of repossessing cars. Otto’s ideology is that since no one cares about him, why should he care about anyone else. The people around him shape his outlook of the world. First he catches his girlfriend having sex with his best friend, and then his parents give all his savings to a televangelist. He finally befriends Harry Dean Stanton, who works for the Helping Hands Acceptance Corporation. He tricks him into helping him repo a car, then along with his co-workers, offers him a job.
The movie progresses when Otto meets a girl named Leila who works for a secret agency that has something to do with aliens. While on the run from the government, she jumps into Otto’s car. Their relationship develops but in the end, when Otto is given the chance to ride –excuse me- fly away in the green glowing 1964 Chevy Malibu from New Mexico, Leila tries to stop him, asking him, “what about our relationship?” Otto responds by saying, “Fuck that!” This clearly shows that Otto’s ideology perseveres through out the film.
The punk rock lifestyle of Otto is examined closely when his friend gets shot. His last words to Otto are, “I know a life of crime has left to this sorry fate, but in the end, I blame society. Society made me who I am.” Otto then says to his grotesquely bleeding pal, “That’s bullshit, you’re a white suburban punk, just like me.” Then, right before death comes to his friends his finals words, “.. But it still hurts!” The exchange reflects the life styles of these kids, but also looks deeper into what they really think of the world. It’s debatable on who showed a broader understanding of the world they live, because they are both right, both affected differently by the world they live in.