Let’s be the film “Ordinary People” (1980)

I'm the rainbow sticker on Lazenby's Subaru. Don't get excited. He's not a fag!

I'm the Christmas tree brought home by Conrad and Calvin, and decorated by same. Beth will deem me "Very Nice."

I'm the hospital Buck never would have BEEN in.

I’m Conrad’s speedos.

Don't we talk about Ordinary People an awful lot around here?

I'm 2023 version. Conrad's a bipolar nonbinary.

I'm woke feminists trying to cancel this film because MTM is depicted in a bad light.

I’m the waitress who serves Dinah Manoff and Timothy Hutton in the restaurant.

I'm Calvin's love and courage in putting his son's well-being first, and sacrificing his marriage to do so.

I'm the look at that ass, that was flat as a pancake.

Buck would have never done this, or that. Well mom I would have never died in a boat accident.

I'm Conrad's sheepskin jacket - the pride of Carter-era fashion that Beth probably bought at Marshall Fields.

Weren't we just the film "Ordinary People" like two weeks ago? Can't we be something different for once? Just throwing that out there.

I'm the escalator at the mall, just before Christmas. "It's madness, isn't it? It gets worse every year."

R13 We tried to do a thread on "Melvin and Howard," but nobody gave a shit.

Make a thread then, R13! (I’m being sincere, not bitchy!) 🙃

I'm Barbara Thorndike one of Beth Jarrett's best friends though I don't make any appearances in this movie.

I'm the impeccable proto-preppy costume design that should have gotten an Oscar nomination.

Not a layered blazer, crewneck sweater, straight-leg pant, suede jacket or shade of beige out of place on anyone.

I'm Pachelbel's Canon

It's a sea of beige. Did people really dress like this in 1979?

The most vivid costuming was Dr. Berger's cozy gray cardigan.

Yo most people do not remember this film except us gaylings on DL. But its one of my favorites. I relate to the Conrad character so much.

Also this film beat Raging Bull at the Oscars.

It’s so nice that Judd Hirsch got another Oscar nomination this year, 42 years after his nod for this film.

I'm the new shirts I got you. I put them on your bed.

I'm the supposition that therapy cures everything and people who don't want therapy are unhealthy and part of the problem.

I’m Buck, so named because that’s how much they paid the actor to be in the flashback scenes.

I’m the Dataloungers who don’t know how to respond to Let’s Be threads.

I am the North Shore Chicago suburbs, filled to the brim with the spiritually sterile and totally unfeeling materialistic cunts.

I'm the only pet the Jarrett's ever had.

I'm Lake Michigan

I'm the best, last year Karen (Dinah Manoff) will ever have.

I had a psychiatrist like Dr. Berger.

[quote]Make a thread then, [R13]! (I’m being sincere, not bitchy!) 🙃

Well, I wasn't being bitchy either, but now I am!

I'm Buck who would never start a thread like this!

I'm the kiss Conrad gave his mother, reflecting hope and his willingness to get better...but (sadly) received with coldness by a mother who would rather be anywhere but there at that moment. (That reaction reminds me of how good Mary Tyler Moore was in that role.)

This story about a wealthy Chicago suburb in 1980 doesn't center the BIPOC experience enough to be taken seriously.

I’m goddamn Spain and goddamn Portugal.

That’s Conrad’s psychiatrist. He’s [whisper] a Jew.

I’m the matched set of Oldsmobile sedans. Nicer than Chevy, younger than Buick, but not as highbrow as a Cadillac. Perfect for modest but comfortable Americans in the year of the Reagan Revolution.

[quote]]I'm woke feminists trying to cancel this film because MTM is depicted in a bad light.

Oh, you mean you're the Academy Awards, right?

I'm Karen's drama club that is doing A Thousand Clowns this year

I'm Trig which I'm not sure if I took.

I'm the napkin rings put away with such care.

R36= Barbara Thorndyke

R26 Buck would have never been a matter of fact cunt.

I'm Conrad's history of lying

I am Elizabeth McGovern’s tight sweater.

R20 Earth tones (and Earth Shoes) were endemic to the 70s. Disco era fashion was a little rebellion to the omnipresent oak, mushroom, and fern aesthetic. The 80s were an all out riot of color after the oppression of beige, brown and taupe.

Early 80s still looks very much like the late 70s.

Not sure where you grew up, R47. I was in high school in the early 80s and boys were wearing pink shirts influenced by The Preppy Handbook, and some “edgy” kids were adopting punk and new wave styles. Cheerleaders wore red, yellow or blue Fair Isle sweaters.

In the Midwest, early 80s looked very much like the late 70s.

The 80s really began in earnest in 1983.

That’s nice, R48, but I stand by what I said. The look, colors, haircuts, and style of 1980 still look like the late ‘70s.

You experience with guys wearing pink shirts doesn’t change that fact.

I'm the community theatre that Beth and Calvin attend - and the actor who is getting fat.

And I'm Beth's best line:

"It's really important to try to hurt me, isn't it?"

R50 I disagree. Bright Indian cotton was also very trendy at this time. Long or longish hair on younger men was fairly standard in the 70s and by the early 80s young men who cared to be trendy were cutting their hair short. You can believe what you want.

I'm the McDonald's, I must be in Waukegan or DesPlaines becasue WE all know that there fast-food restaurants were not allowed in the North Shore.

I'm the late Quinn Redeker who's so proud of my pool.

I’m the golf course where Beth had a screaming meltdown.

I’m Jeannine Pratt’s knees.

I’m Eric Roberts. I was one of the final two choices for Conrad. Robert Redford decided to cast the actor who looked liked Mary Tyler Moore rather than Donald Sutherland and the rest is history.

I'm the swimming pool that Ward and Audrey, Beth's brother and his wife, are so proud of. They should make sure that no kids have drowned in me, before they tell Beth the definition of happy.

R57so he basically BECAME the real life Conrad, issues unchecked, therapy didn't work, and a druggie.

I'm Beth's twirling golf skirt.

I'm the nasally WASP frau, crossing my fingers for this merger.

I'm the overblown Judd Hirsch specialty role designed to appeal to the, let's say, Academy voters' Taxi sympathies.

I'm the 3 blocks away and the last to arrive.

I’m the symbolic broken plate. AND the condescending way MTM says “No” when her mother suggests “I thought we were all through with that.”

I’m the whoosh flap flap flap flap of the pigeon that was the closest the Jared’s came to having a pet.

I’m Christmas in London.

I'm Myrtle Beach & Pinehurst.

I'm Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, which immediately became THE wedding song of the 1980s after this movie.

I’m the jacking off, as in “I jack off a lot.”

I’m the dish towel MTM is holding when confronted about the socks.

I'm Lillian Gish presenting best picture at the 1981 Academy Awards and nearly calling the film Ordinary Picture - before correcting herself. You go Lil !!

I’m Meg Mundy, former model and now Mother to the Stars. I’m Mary Tyler Moore’s mom in this, Anne Archer’s in “Fatal Attraction ,” and Kathleen Turner’s mother-in-law on “The Doctors.”

I’m also the first victim in “Eyes of Laura Mars,” but everyone has to die sometime.

[quote]R71 I'm Lillian Gish presenting best picture at the 1981 Academy Awards and nearly calling the film Ordinary Picture - before correcting herself. You go Lil !!

Bette Davis was ether watching or in attendance that night, and irked that Gish was a little rambly in her intro. She began hissing, “Get her off! [italic]Get her off!”[/italic]

(Filming The Whales of August, a crew member mentioned how lovely one of Gish’s closeups was. Davis snapped, “She invented them!”)

"Don't we talk about Ordinary People an awful lot around here?"

Many gay men seem to have had a mother like Beth. I know I did.

"That’s Conrad’s psychiatrist. He’s [whisper] a Jew."

We know this because he's shlubby, messy... and is prone to ranting, talking fast and gesturing wildly with his hands.

R74 I walked into our family tv room den when my mom was done watching Ordinary People and she turned beet red; she saw herself in Beth

Later, I saw the movie and realized she had too

I’m jello and pudding.

I’m the tile that Beth had to have regrouted.

I'm the obsession DL has with a 40+ year old film that no one under 60 ever saw or remembers.

I’m Berger’s fat wife, who GETS THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS FUCKED OUT OF HER!!!!!!!!

R79 nobody, 60 or older or 60 or younger cares that you don’t care about the movie, you attention whore cunt fuck.

I just don’t see it R77.

I'm the goddamned maid who was fired. I didn't dust the living room properly.

There are no explosions, there are no superheroes, there are no car chase scenes, there is no CGI, so the movie would obviously not interest a simpleton like R79.

I’m “Beth wanted to go to the movies.”

I'm the horror at the idea of including Conrad on a family vacation.

I’m the random family member who calls for “Bill” when Karen’s Mom all but collapses on the other end of the phone.

Prince Harry = Conrad

I'm the torn pair of tighty whities Conrad keeps under the bed, for use as a cumrag. I'm crusty and have turned a shade of yellow not normally found in nature.

R89 speaks from experience.

Conrad was, indeed, hot AF. No room for dispute.

I’m Carol Lazenby secretly laughing at Beth’s humiliation.

I'm the Oscar that should have gone to MTM

Buck never would have been r94.

"... no one under 60 ever saw or remembers."

Why should we have to see or hear things that happened before we were born?

(^.^) never heard of Shakespeare, MLK, Vietnam, Stonewall, Emmett Till, Marilyn Monroe . . .?

R95, if you don't like it, don't read it.

R95 types basement dwelling INCEL. Willfully and proudly retarded.

I'm watching it on Amazon Prime.

I think Dinah Manoff should have been nominated for an Oscar over Elizabeth McGovern.

That laugh. ug.

Im the career curse of the brilliant breakout performance of a teen or child star.

I really love this film. I truly do. It’s wonderful how films well made can have a universal experience. I always knew it as the film that beat Raging Bull until finally viewing it as an adult.

I’m the scrumptious French toast Conrad never tasted.

I'm the casting director who was a fan of The Doctors.

r102 Oh, darling!

this movie really hit people

my straight younger brother saw it and recalled Beth's sister-in-law Audrey going "OH, BETH!" when Beth made the crack about that perfect swimming pool her brother was so proud of.

R57 so what bitch I got to star in Celebrity Rehab for six straight seasons.

While Eric Roberts would have been an interesting choice, they needed someone meek who could play Conrad (duh, I know), The film was so fucking well cast. I want to go rewatch it for the (redacted} time.

Also, while it is eye watering how many threads we have on this, most of them are excellent. I tried to snag them in the link below. but it didn't work. Just Google Datalounge and Ordinary People.'

If you are a fan of this film, and have not yet read the book, I strongly encourage you. What is missing from the film can be found in the book and vice versa, it makes the story even that much more well rounded.

I was recently told that Beth in the book was not a cold fish and that's something Redford added.

Haven't read the book though.

Beth WAS my mother; she didn't lose a son but her husband (my dad). It changed her.

A year after my dad's death someone from his side of the family went through a life-changing surgery and my mom said years later, "why wasn't that a bigger deal? Oh. right. They were still alive."

R101- Even the NYT gave it an excellent review in 1980.

R70- I ❤️ the Littlest details you gotta loungers notice from the movie – it’s so GAY.

Sorry, I was lazy and used Siri for dictation.

r108 Beth was indeed a cold fish in the book. Not just toward Conrad or her husband, Far worse in many ways, than seen on the film. There was clearly something wrong with her. It is a great, yet disturbing read.

I’m Dr Berger’s nicotine stained office walls.

I'm Dr. Berger.

I might be Jewish.

Maybe just German.

[quote]If its starting all over again, the lying, the covering up, the disappearing for hours, I won't stand for it, I can't stand for it, I really can't!

I'm the lying, the covering up, the disappearing for hours.

I'm really a lot of fun, because Mom just can't stand it.

[QUOTE] I think Dinah Manoff should have been nominated for an Oscar over Elizabeth McGovern.

Elizabeth McGovern was not nominated for Ordinary People. She was nominated the following year for Ragtime.

I agree with though that Manoff should have been nominated for her one, very powerful scene. I believe she was just coming off of a Tony win.

Take. The. Damn. Picture.

^ Beth Jarrett, "It's really important to try and hurt me isn't it?"

I'm "I'm," which I'm donating to r117 and r118 forthwith.

I'm the Oscar that should have gone to Donald Sutherland instead of Hutton.

It hasn’t held up well at all. It is very backwards compared to today’s attitudes towards family roles and relationship dynamics.

I’m Lake Forest. My high school had a Black homecoming queen in the mid 70s when the book was written. Nobody made a big deal of it because making a big deal over something like that is not the Lake Forest way.

R116, thanks I sit corrected. Not sure why I had it in my head that she'd been nominated.

I found her the weak link in the film; the self awareness; the constant forced awkwardness.

I do like her in Downton Abbey

I’m the shock of seeing Mary Tyler Moore in a gloomy plot.

R121, even if family roles and relationship dynamics are different now than they were in 1980 (and I’m not sure I agree with you), how does that translate into the film not holding up? Why should a 1980 film mirror current attitudes?

It hasn’t held up well. It’s painfully ancient

What, specifically, is missing from it, r126? What, exactly, would you make it acceptable to your fine standards?

R127 other poster won't change; the internet is an anonymous forum where people can say anything unsupported.

Personally, I love the movie.

To me, it holds up. we still see people getting stuck in all kinds of ways.

Everyone's going to put their two cents in. That doesn't make them right. It doesn't make people who disagree with them wrong.

The Godfather insists upon itself.

R129 = Peter Griffin

I think it holds up. Timothy Hutton's performance especially. Before pretty actors just learned to read. Hutton was realistically emotionally inarticulate and confused. It's quite raw still.

I’m the shuddering inhale Beth makes when she realizes her marriage is over.

all the little moments were so powerful.

the deep betrayal Beth felt over Conrad not telling her and Calvin that he'd quit the swim team was so real.

Over the top but real.

^ not over the top but unnecessary.

She took everything personally.

[quote]I’m the breakfast that Conrad can’t eat and Mary Tyler Moore promptly throws away.

"You can't save French toast."

I’m the big Oldsmobile Delta 88 perfect for hauling that ‘very nice’ Christmas tree. Illinois plates OH 5630.

R126- Wrong 😑

It holds up very well.

I saw a movie coming home from Spain yesterday that does not hold up well. Raiders of the lost Ark from 1981 – that movie seems so silly and over the top now and I thought as a kid in the theater back in 1981.

I'm Dr. Berger's ordinary office with memories of all those guilt-ridden angsts from the countless WASPs from Lake Forest Dr. Berger has had to listen to over the years.

[Quote] I saw a movie coming home from Spain yesterday that does not hold up well. Raiders of the lost Ark from 1981 – that movie seems so silly and over the top now and I thought as a kid in the theater back in 1981.

I saw Raiders when I was 16 and was bored after 20 minutes! Utterly forgettable film. Saw Ordinary People and remember talking about the scene where Conrad finds out that Dinah Manoff committed suicide.

R134, just like my mom. That’s why I relate to the film so much.

R140 yep, mine, too.

I walked into our den/tV room and my mom had just finished watching the movie; to her credit, she turned beet red. I hadn't seen it yet and didn't realize till after why she did.

I called my Mom 'Beth' many times after that to her face. She couldn't argue.

Mine was Beth Jarrett, Lucille Bluth, and a little Miss Ellie all rolled into one.

R141, it’s too bad she wasn’t more Patsy Ramsey.

I'm the electricity the swim coach wouldn't want in Conrad's brain.

R142, I'm kinda glad she wasn't but fuck you very much for wishing me dead!

I'm the Pontiac LeMans Calvin bought Conrad that Christmas in the book. But was I featured in the movie?

I’m the neighbor’s dog, Pippin. I irritate the hell of Mrs. Jarrett. I despised that uppity cunt.

I'm A Thousand Clowns. We're doing it.

I'm rich people, not ordinary people.

I'm the broken plate. It's a clean break, so I may be able to be glued back together. I'm metaphoric.

I'm the cool lady at the party who sits on the stairs with Calvin and who isn't afraid to ask how Conrad is doing. That cunt Beth is going to put an end to this conversation right now.

I'm Mary Tyler Moore's high, screechy voice that most of her fans don't seem to notice, for some reason.

I'm the wig on Mary Tyler Moore's head during the flashback scene with Buck. I'm supposed to make her look young and vibrant.

I'm "the Dark Side" of Mary Tyler Moore that Robert Redford saw when he decided to cast her as Beth.

I’m Beth’s golf club, which swings Calvin’s balls, too.

I'm Christmas in London. I'm like something out of Dickens.

As long as Conrad's not there.

[quote] I'm the casting director who was a fan of The Doctors.

Meg Mundy and Liz Hubbard.....anyone else I'm missing?

R36 As am I and so was my psychiatrist.

I'm Pauline Kael, singling out the jail stripes on Beth's nightclothes and making sure I trash every single Redford film ever made.

Pauline Kael was/is still the world's most overrated critic.

I’m Carol Lazenby stirring the pot.

I’m Ann-Margret. My Beth Jarrett would have knocked the cinematic world on its ass AND I world have won the Oscar.

I'm the boat that Buck didn't hold on to. He let go! Buck let go!

R161 Ann-Margret could have played the trashy housekeeper.

R163 Compared to Ann-Margret's Beth, MTM would have been her dowdy judgmental spinster sister.

I’m the French toast that can’t be saved.

R164 Ann-Margret seems all wrong for the part. Is there a reason you think she should have played it? Was she considered for it, or something?

I'm the storm that killed Buck.

I’m the taupe cashmere twin set.

I'm the lying that Beth will no longer stand for.

I’m the grouting in the bathroom that had to be replaced.