The Cable Guy (In-Depth Study on Themes and Characters)
Written & Edited by: Lee Fenton
(Stars: Jim Carrey, Mathew Broderick, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Leslie Mann)
Producer(s) Judd Apatow, Andrew Licht, Jeffery A. Mueller
‘The Cable Guy’ is about the pervasiveness of media in a post-modern world. It is an exploration of anti-social tendencies, and a meditation on the disintegration of the nuclear family - after the fall of the USSR, and the subsequent end of the cold war.
This is the first role that Jim Carrey chose to step outside his comfort zone, playing Chip Douglas - a character that is more disconcerting than funny. Although he does provide some comic relief – on the whole Carrey's performance is more akin to a stalker in a psychological-thriller, a la` Single White Female (1992) or The Roommate (2011).
Ben Stiller directed ‘The Cable Guy’, a relative newcomer to Hollywood at the time. He had starred in a handful of roles but did not possess the global notoriety that he now enjoys. ‘The Cable Guy’ was a daunting picture to tackle as it was his directorial debut and happened to be a larger production, involving two of the biggest comedy stars (Mathew Broderick and Jim Carrey) of the 1990s. [1]
The critical reception to The Cable Guy was not favorable.
Most critics attacked the film for being unduly depressing, with confused tones. Others thought it was a straight up unabashed horror-movie that had the potential to ruin Jim Carrey's promising career. Some went as far to allege the film purposely deceived movie-goers by promising a classic slapstick Jim Carrey outing and instead delivered a dark-comedy with extremely unlikable characters. [2]
Well that last take is probably closest to the truth – that's also why the movie has such an intense fan base all these years later. It was ahead of it's time and not afraid to foray into areas of satire that allowed for themes that ruminate on the more disturbing aspects of modern life – instead of attempting to ignore the failings of traditionalism in a contemporary setting. Whatever your take is on nihilistic and alternative humor; movies like ‘The Big Lebowski’, ‘Pulp Fiction’, and ‘Being John Malkovich’ have shown there are a market for this experimental form of filmmaking. And the main characters being unhinged or neurotic is a trademark of this genre – it allows “outsiders” to latch onto and empathize with the people on-screen.
In contemporary times we have media pushed into our everyday lives - through technology that's integrated into everything practical and recreational. Advertising is ubiquitous in the modern world – and this really isn't news to anybody, but it wasn’t in the 90s. Three decades ago we had not reached the point we have now, which is effortless inter-connectivity that spans a global network. Therefor socially isolated people like Jim Carrey's character Chip Douglas were still a rarity. It was not the norm for someone to spend majority of their time engaging with a machine, whereas now we are so reliant upon our computers that some young men feel it makes sense to date an AI Language Model and it is even becoming socially acceptable. There was a film released recently that starred Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Pheonix called ‘Her’ and it tackled this topic quite well, providing an un-biased look at this new phenomena. Or how about the fact that drones will deliver most of what you need - in your day-to-day life - to your doorstep, enabling a person to live and work entirely at home, if they so chose. These facets of modern day life cause the theme of social isolation in a film like ‘The Cable Guy’, to really hit home.
Being a latchkey child is the new norm and most are raised by the 'baby-sitter' (film makes the point that recent generations have been raised more by television than their parents). If you only replace the TV of the previous eighty years - with the computers, and smart-phones of today. Chip Douglas IS a very disturbing character and he is meant to be. He is written that way on purpose. Ben Stiller was making a comment on the responsibility that every member of society has to lend-a-hand to their fellow human-beings and to care for one another - even when isolation of ones-self seems preferable.
Ben Stiller's film ‘The Cable Guy’ tells people not to turn away from anti-social individuals but to turn towards them, befriend them and provide a way into the light. Although it's clear he does advise caution, while doing this. The film also serves as a warning, at least half the blame falls on 'Chip's' shoulders – the movie implies he has never sought help for his issues. Instead he loses himself in delusional thinking and voyeuristic tendencies. But the film essentially says his parents, community, and others around him should have cared for their fellow human-being more - no matter what type of emotional (or social) problems they present.
This is why the other characters that populate the universe of the film are all rather superficial and devoid of substance. Even Broderick's character Steve Kovacks (our protagonist) is very unlikable, coming off as the opposite of heroic - instead appearing quite shiftless. He only seems to care about others when it affects him personally. Steve starts the movie out dealing with the fallout of having just been separated from his longtime girlfriend due to his emotional negligence.
When Mathew Broderick asks in the final seconds of the film “Wait! You never told me your real name... What is it?” it's because he realizes that he did help to perpetuate this man's descent into madness - even while becoming his friend. And now he wants their final interaction to have some earnestness to it.
Another scene that drives this home is during the climax of the film when our hero confronts Chip, who has kidnapped his fiancee, and dragged her to the top of a tall communications dish. We are unaware of what will happen between our protagonist and antagonist, as the action unfolds there is footage inter-cut of the court trial that has been taking place in the background of the film. Without getting too deep into the court case; Ben Stiller plays a dual role as two twin brothers (Sam & Stan Sweet). The latter one murdered his brother before the start of the film – and being tried for the crime in the most public of fashion. This element of the film draws strongly from real world events: the 1990s OJ Simpson trial, and the Lyle & Erik Menendes trial, even more so. When Carrey hurls himself onto the satellite dish it damages the hardware and cuts the broadcast.
In the next shot we see people roused from the mass hypnosis brought on by addiction to media, they begin to talk, and engage with one-another, some even going outside to touch grass, I assume.
And it's the perfect ending for a film that came very close to embracing nihilism. It would have been a much less optimistic film if it ended with Jim Carrey dead on that satellite dish.
Although I would have to give Ben Stiller respect for taking a chance – it would not have been the right choice. Seeing as it was already a bit too heavy a film for the audience of the 90s, safe-to-say it was a smart decision to give it the classic Hollywood ending, with that touch of ambiguity surrounding the antagonists fate. Sadly, Chip is not cured but perhaps about to start anew with the poor unsuspecting helicopter pilot. This is the classic thriller ending.
Sort of wish Stiller had opted for a more optimistic ending to the film.
Oh well.
How did it perform financially?
Interestingly enough, although the public consensus at the time was that this film was a dud, it actually performed quite adequately – clearing 102.8 million on a 47 million budget. Carrey was also paid 20 million for his role, nearly half the budget! In the end I think ‘The Cable Guy’ was a necessary step in his career that allowed for fiscal security and has gained a much more positive response from critics in the years since. So probably a win.
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[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cable_Guy#cite_note-The_Cable_Guy-3 https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/309391/the-cable-guy#overview
The film was criticized for missing the mark, misusing Carrey's talents, and being flat-out mean. While many noted that the film was going for a more thought-provoking approach than Carrey's earlier works, the consensus was that Carrey was doing the same thing, but it felt out of place in this darker film.
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/movies/homevideo/27kehr.html
Despite the critical perception that the movie was a disappointment, it made a profit in excess of its $47 million production budget.[17]