Review of Disturbing Behavior (1998) by Ricardo A — 02 Dec 2013

A film that in my view was highly underrated when it came out in 1998. I think the reviews were bad because the film was basically over the heads of the mass public. The performances are good & the plot is all a bunch of metaphors for life. Basically the establishment in a conservative town tries to remake the troubled kids into right-wing loonies via the use of computerized type labotimies. This is all done in the name of the "greater good" for them. Of course it is all part of some extreme conspiracy, but the film is still very good.

The film definitely has something to say about our post-consumerist culture in the late 1990's which lead us to where we are at now in our cultural malaise. It is about society's obsession with perfection, narcissism, & very shallow values. I also see the metaphor for cultural & media brainwashing in the film, where people who claim to have all the "answers" lead other unsuspecting dopes down the "primrose" path to destruction. The popular kids are all rich, conservative, & perfect. There is no room for independent thought where in my view our nation is already at. Happiness defined by money & a list of unnumbered wants & needs created by the consumerist crowd. The film is better than a lot of these kinds of films that came out in the late 1990's. I also thought it was a better film than the "Stepford Wives" which it has been compared to. The film is underrated but still very good with a large deeper meaning & way ahead of its time.