It just shows how people are brainwashed.
Supposedly they hate this movie because paedophilia is just the worst crime ever, but I'd like to know their feelings about watching a movie where a rapist does his thing and then carves up and hacks to bits the body of the woman.
Or if they mind watching some movie which has 1000 people getting killed?
To my mind they're all equally crimes against humanity, so I wouldn't complain that one or the other was "the worst film ever" just on that basis.

It's meant to make you feel ill, whilst also laughing at how messed up this rock we live in on is. Yes, you will be depressed in life. Yes, most people's brains are damaged to sh*t. This is the world we live in. Better to laugh about it when looking straight into the abyss.

The top movie critics disagree with you, possibly by a lot:
http://www.imdb.com/board/10147612/criticreviews?ref_=tt_ov_rt
Someone's at the door

how did you sympathize with the pedo? They showed him as a regular guy, unless you have an idea that pedo's are all nasty looking fat guys with shaggy beards who look like Ron Jeremy or something.
Open up your mind, it's a black comedy, doing crap that black comedies do..

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Funny as hell? I don't know about that. Some scenes are funny. Basically because they are so uncomfortable.
"Wooooullddd yoouu like a sandwich?"

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Because whether you want to admit or not, a pedophile is still a human being.

Fckin' pussy.
CG GORE IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO THE HORROR GENRE!

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woooo, you must be a beep I found this movie hilarious!

And if you're going to correct another poster's use of English, please don't use apostrophes when writing simple plurals (it's "errors" not "error's"). You might also wish to review your lackadaisical use of commas and capital letters.
I, too, found this a brilliant and funny film.

Honestly, I don't see why it's necessary that Solondz makes his movies about pedophilia and make them somewhat hard to watchor like. I would love to see him make just one movie that had nothing to do with little children getting touched.
It would make my millennium. He's an original filmmaker, but I just don't see the point because his movies would be decent without it or any of the other beep up things in his movies.

Jimmy!!!!! speaking of the handicapped in case you didn't notice when you're writing a reply on IMDB and you misspell a word or a few dozen, said word is underlined in red. So if you're going to take upon yourself and actually start a thread and chastise a film you're clearly incapable of understanding please don't be a lazy sod and correct your numerous error's. Also I would just like to say this is one the funniest films I've ever seen. It's brilliant.

SPOILER, no?
YNWA

ps. that sunbather was HOT!!!
the question is: were they fake or real?
"let's all clap hands!"
www.myspace.com/trikeaband

Why??? Please tell me why??? Does this film try and make us simpithize with a beep beep scum beep paedophile?? That's when this film went from boring to "Give me one reason not to turn this film off and burn the copy I have of it". I didn'tI stuck by itonly to feel myself feeling physically ill when we have to sit through a young boy masterbating over some sunbathersI am starting to think there is something seriously wrong with the film makers who made this film!
If I was forced to point out one good aspect of this film then I would make who ever asked me that question to watch the film again and see if they still wanted to ask me after they had seen it again.
Truely, truely, truely awful, offensive and downright, well, to bring in a english phrase, bollocks.
-that's a perfect reaction and one that solondz would love it's why the film is brilliant.

This movie gets gradually better and better after every each viewings,
At first you will find this movie very dark and disturbing ofcourse of the subjects the movie handles and you will get absolutely stumped by the illogical climax. but it all make sense if you study the characters closely and their problems. They just cannot get happiness by anything they do, it gets worse and worse. To me personally the climax was the best part.
In second the taste gets even and surprisingly humourous you will be laughing at the jokes which you didn't find funny in the first viewing and so on
I watched this movie ten times already and is easily in my top ten.

What a great movie and I didnt feel ill at all. I loved the dark humor, Dylan Baker was awesome and so was PSH. Thanks for the wonderful 134 minutes Todd Solondz!

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Wasn't impressed much by it - introducing mundane characters and then put them in situations that cultinate with something extreme and perversive - however unreal - doesn't quite cut it as a statement about the human psyche not in my book at least. There was a similar, sex-driven film ( also overhyped ) I saw recently, called You Me and Everyone We Know people might have seen as well but this one tops it in terms of the extremety and the perversity of the situations. It brings to the fore the dark side of everyone of us - didn't know that masturbation was part of that though, you learn something new every day. Still can't escape the borefest that it was. Saved by the good acting I'd give it a 5.5 out of 10.
Welcome to the Dollhouse was better. I think people like such films because they're conditioned to like them as they're supposed to be "cutting edge".
It wasn't the worst film by any means though - it was mildly funny and a silly little thing.

basically I find it entertaining and interesting to watch a movie that is stark different and completely warped from the normal day to day mainstream movie, if the majority of films were like this i probably wouldn't be a big film fan, but since there are just a couple of these incredibly painful, emotional wrenching, and mentally stimulating films it makes them great great and a full 180degree turn from the norm And about the feelings of sympathy towards a pedophile, the idea is to change your emotion or mindset just from watching something, its not saying that pedophilia is a okay, but its saying that people have serious, sick problems, problems that are difficult or even impossible to over CUM! Also dude, what kind of movies do you watch? My fair lady? Gidget? The Gnome Mobile? It's 2008 step your decency game up n****. People masturbate (especially middle school aged boys, notorious for experimenting with it too (some people don't grow out, Philip Seymour Hoffman)) and if you have a middle school aged boy he masturbates too, unless you caught him once and burned him with a pot of water like Ed Gaines's oppressive mother used too. We should be reminded of our dark side every once in awhile, cause its when we all forget about sick beep and narcissists in the world the beep hits the fans. So please Todd Solondz keep on trucking beep The End

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No, I say that because of the full spectrum of emotions the watcher goes through and honesty of the characters. Each character has some pretty hefty flaws but thats not all we are shown. Typically a rapist is shown as evil, we dont get to see the rapist as a real person. Same thing with a character that has a compulsion like obscene phone calls that character would typically be shown as just a pathetic loser.
When the credits started rolling I was not left with any feeling of dishonesty at all. Too many times I watch a good movie but it seems like a movie. At the end of Happiness I felt like I knew the characters to some extent. They didnt seem contrived.
So I guess what I meant by "something few films have" is that it showed an aspect of life in a completly honest way. Real honesty is so hard to come by in real life much less the movies that I find it to be very refreshing. The honesty is where the emotions come from which, for me at least, is what made the movie so real.I have seen movies before that bring out emotions I didnt expect but thats what the movie intended. Instead Happiness just showed real people in an honest way letting the watcher have an emotion according to who the watcher is instead of forcing a specific emotion on the watcher. I think this is very apparent just by looking at the range of reactions on this board.
And that is what I never experianced from another movie. To be honest though I havent really delved too far into indie or offbeat movies. Most of the ones I have seen seemed to be lacking or just plain boring or WAY too contrived.