TROPICO ANALYSIS

[SweetLikeCinnamon 344]

I don't get why people are saying it lacked a plot line. It was rather obvious to me,  for the most part lol. They fell from grace, hard, and did a bunch of dumb shit. Then they repented, hence the baptism scenes and then the end does get kinda sketchy. I don't get the whole alien thing. They should have just floated it up into a bright light and the the who scene fades to black. 

 

 

I would have liked the film to be more intense tbh. I think a murder scene or scenes of them doing hardcore drugs would have made it more intense during G&M. Then the lead up to Bel Air could have been them trying to live a better life but some shit happens and they both die or are killed by whatever, and the Bel Air scenes could have been like a Limbo between earth and heaven, and after she is done singing they float up to heaven, into a bright light, instead of some alien spaceships....idk.

 

I still think it is better than Ride tbh. 

[whitman 1,286]

Tropico it's just like what she said: it's an surrealistic project, you just need a little imagination to fully enjoy it. I really liked how they used the songs as dialogues to make the story move forward and it really works mostly of the time, but on the other hand I think the poems were kinda unecessary  sometimes- because they summarize all what the  images represent and since this is supposedly cinema it's completely redudant. It doesn't really bothers me since the themes she works through the movie are not that easy to represent visually, just like she said it was the best she could do.

[whitman 1,286]

I get the whole plot of TROPICO but... WHAT THE FUCK ARE ALIENS DOING THERE?! Look extremely fake.

 

To be fair: John Wayne, Marilyn and Jesus sounded pretty much like aliens not really Gods while they speak.

[bdelrey 222]

How about we talk about Lana's pole dancing  SEXY!!!   also the whole gods and monsters part felt like i was watching i know who killed me apparantly lana and lindsay shared their dancing moves during their sleepover

[BLOODSHOT 3,029]

How about we talk about Lana's pole dancing  SEXY!!!   also the whole gods and monsters part felt like i was watching i know who killed me apparantly lana and lindsay shared their dancing moves during their sleepover

Except the sleepover never happened...

[Coney Island King 25,991]

I dont get the lack of plot comments either, the plot is obvious and the 3 sections dont feel seperate at all.

[Coney Island King 25,991]

I think Shaun Ross ruined it for me. He can't act and he just disturbed me the entire time. I didn't understand a thing going on... I get that it's the Tale of Redemption, but I need to see how that applies to Lana. Otherwise it just seems like a badly acted, weird short movie. Is this about her time in Alabama? Idk I need to speculate. I think I should've watched in chunks.

 

The whole time I thought the two strippers with Jack's party.. I thought one of them was Lana even Perez Hilton commented on "Lana's" rack in the scene.. but I guess it's not her?

Its a work of fiction, its not about Lana.

[MermaidTrailerHeaven 454]

Lana is a better actress than Shaun Ross is actor

[diegomaukm123 9]

I just saw It...

 

It's a very differnt video (or film) obviously the plot or the history it's based in Lana's life, and if we want to analyze her private life we would never end... Visually Body Electric was the best, Gods and Monsters and the whole latino/chicano theme it's wonderful, I really believe that she is a Chola Girl, Bel Air It's a good end.

 

The important issue it's to focus in the main theme, every life has 3 stages: Every beggining could be beautifil or ended up in tragic. Second Stage: The doom and crazines lead us to drak places (both real and mental) and Third State: Every life ends pacefully and te transition to a better place...

[urbannoize 1,596]

Definitely gonna rewatch it when I have the time to, but rn I really agree with what @@TrailerParkDarling said. She shouldn't have worked with Mandler; maybe Woodkid would've been a better choice. BJ and BTD were iconic videos in my opinion and perhaps Woodkid could've made the video more subtle? Like in Tropico the symbolism and the general storyline was v obvious. If it was Woodkid-directed then maybe there would've been more space to interpret what the video meant. But then of course Lana did say she worked really well with Mandler so ~idk~ 

Woodkid i could definitely see redoing Tropico. & Visually it wouldve definitely been heavier in terms of how he decided to execute the symbolism.

[urbannoize 1,596]

I see it like this:

 

The Garden of Eden = Paradise = L.A. (the way she expected it to be)

 

Lana said that The Garden of Eden turned into the Garden of Evil, which is the Land of Gods and Monsters, which is L.A.

Remember the line in "Radio" where she sings: "Now I'm in LA and it's Paradise"

I think the Garden of Eden represents the way Lana imagined it Hollywood/LA to be with Marilyn, Elvis, etc. all being part of it.

She looses her innocent and childish view of it as soon as she's confronted with the truth, she basically took a bite of the truth. Her eyes were opened.

Very well said. You hit it right on the head

[lauradelxx 1,082]

I LOVED ALL OF IT WAS A MASTERPIECE TOODALOO BEL AIR WAS My FAV VISUALLY BUT GODS AND MONSTERS HAD ME ROLLING IN HEAT BC LANA AND STRIPPING AND AM I LESBIAN NOW IDK HAVE TO TALK TO MYSELF IN THE MIRROR TONIGHT BC I GOT TURNED ON SO MANY TIMES BY HER ANYWAYS NOT THE POINT BEL AIR WAS BEAUTIFUL I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT LIKE TRANSPARENT AND THE ENDING WAS WEIRD WAS IT A HALLUCINATION DID THEY DIE LIKE WHAT AND BODY ELECTRIC LIKE GIVE ME THAT BODY ELECTRIC HONAY SHE BRANG OUT THOSE MOVES AND I CAUGHT THE NATIONAL ANTHEM ESQUE PART WHEN SHE WAS DANCING WITH SHAUN IN THE LIVING ROOM/KITCHEN AND I SAW HER DRINKING COLA AND SOME PARTS REMINDED ME OF LIZZY TOODALOO I CAN LIVE HAPPILY I AM NOT OVERREACTING AT ALL I ILOVED IT 

[lauradelxx 1,082]

there is no possible way of me analyzing tropico bc I'm not even done reading the lanalysis thread 

[urbannoize 1,596]

@@Ultraviolence's analysis on TROPICO was pretty much accurate and spot on. Couldn't have said it better. & As far as my view on it, i can see and understand how she decided to use some of her favorite icons John Wayne, Elvis, Jesus, and Marlin Monroe as kind of like the God like inspiration that influence and effect her life. & Tying that into the biblical themes she grew up with, with her being raised catholic at some point. Like she really incorporated parts of her life and beliefs into this symbolic piece of art. While still communicating the themes of lost innocence, love, and redemption. & I feel like Anthony Mandler did a good job with her vision. Although, as someone pointed out, i could only imagine what Woodkid wouldve been able to do.

[Rebel 3,176]

I sort of see Aliens as her sort of moving on but IDFGI WTF ALIENS (WTF Aliens might be the answer for WTF Aliens so I sort of get it maybe)

[Hellish 488]

I think everyone needs to calm down. This was not meant to win an academy award or change the world based on its flawless script and plot-line.

This was supposed to be visually captivating, and let us see what Lana saw when she was writing Born To Die and Paradise.

[Sitar 22,207]

In the car, wtf did she throw? A copy of Paradise? The farewell?

[litewave 519]

Also, she recited some of those last stanzas in ISTBE- holiness of the human vessel and what not- the body is the soul.. I wonder if she really believes that? I get the hedonistic pov but I do wonder what she's trying to say.  

 

It seems at that point, immersed in the beauty and wonders of the body, she forgets who she is and identifies solely with the body.

[COLACNT 5,177]

i haven't read through this entire thread yet but i was wondering

 

did lana orchestrate the robbery? i mean, she probably knew about the bachelor party and told her bf about it or something. is that supposed to be the interpretation? because there were quick intercuts w/ her staring into the camera while shaun was pointing his gun at them 

[Summersault 823]

In the car, wtf did she throw? A copy of Paradise? The farewell?

I thought it was a wallet, as in getting rid of her old identification and starting over.