Totally unrelated, but check out my mixtape.
Hardcore is a 1979 film written and directed by Paul Schrader and stars the acclaimed George C. Scott. Yet, Hardcore is relatively unheard of by casual movie watchers these days. Why? Well, a searcher for the movie “Hardcore” would be well advised to include George C. Scott’s name in the query, lest ye want to find seedier search results.
The subject matter of Hardcore is hardcore. Two opposing worlds collide as Jake VanDorn, a conservative Calvinist from small town Grand Rapids played by Scott, must dive head-first into the deplorable and depraved underground world of pornography to find his missing daughter.
When Jake’s daughter disappears, he quickly hires a private investigator to find her and is shocked and sickened when he is finally shown a grainy movie of her having sex. His daughter is involved in Los Angeles’ porn scene. After the private investigator’s initial attempts at locating her fail, Jake makes the painful decision to immerse himself into the seedy and deplorable world to find her.
Jake is a Calvinist who believes in predestination. On his search, he meets Nikki, a prostitute and aspiring porn actress, who is willing to help Jake track down his daughter. Nikki’s is as screwed up as the world she’s living in, but she’s open to talk about her beliefs and longs for someone like Jake to save and help her. But, for as noble his quest to save his daughter, Jake doesn’t want to hear the things Nikki says or believes in. VanDorn reminds her he subscribes to “TULIP”, which is a nice way of communicating that Nikki is an un-savable, lost clause. Sadly, Jake’s only use for her is helping him save his own daughter.
For her entire life, Jake tried to protect wall off his daughter from the outside world. But, at her first opportunity she ran as far away from Grand Rapids as she could looking for what she thought was love. In Los Angeles she finds a whole town willing to use her up and spit her out, which feels like acceptance and love to her. She ends up being used by the industry like a rag- they very people she thought loved her were setting her up to die in a snuff film! Blinded by the world’s delusion, she felt loved by the people who loved her least and didn’t see how her father, a raging work-sub, loved her all along. When Jake finally does find her, he emotionally confesses his love for her and she sees it too.
Girls like Jake VanDorn’s daughter are nothing more than dollar signs and bodies to be used by Adult Film Industry.
A movie that removes itself from mainstream consideration because of its gratuitous use of nudity to accurately paint the porn scene, many themes run through Hardcore.
Jake must put aside the fact that the adult film industry disgusts his very being to infiltrate the world. He begins dressing like a gigolo and going to adult bookstores and peep shows. VanDorn feels sick to his stomach every time he has to do this and George C. Scott does a great job portraying it. On screen, it looks as though Jake feels like he’s wading into a pit of rotting garbage to find his daughter.
But because he loves her, he’s willing to do it. He’s willing to put up with the foul stench of the whole scene – the full-frontal male nudity, the come-ons from whores, and sitting through pornos while feigning interest, all because he wants to find her.
It’s a picture of redemption. Jake is willing to get filthy dirty in order to pull his daughter out of the muck and save her life. Often times, in the Body of Christ, we deal with people who seem foul and unlovable. In order to correct, reprove, and eventually redeem them, we have to wade out through the sewage to save them, often times completely submersing ourselves in it all to get a hold of them. We’re going to get mud on our boots and clothes if we want to be involved with people!
Just recently, we talked about my dealings with high schoolers that wouldn’t cooperate and complete their assignments. These two boys argued and spewed excuses all over the room. It would have been easy to ignore them and not address the problem, but it would have also been unloving. Instead, all those who had to deal with the boys got covered with a little of their spewage, but hopefully we helped redeem and sanctify these guys.
As a father, Jake had to witness a sickening sight- his daughter, porn star. Although it was her choice to run away and go into the movie business, Jake’s stern, rules-oriented approach in the home only made matters worse. Instead of emotionally connecting with his daughter, he used the fact that he was providing for her and protecting her from the cruel world as an unfitting substitute.
Jake is a warning to all current and would-be fathers that you can’t just love a family through dedication, bringing home the bacon, and hard work. A father must also connect with and support his family emotionally. Sons and daughters must actually feel loved, rather than deduce it because a roof is located overhead.
Hardcore still feels violent and shocking, yet the sub-culture has only slid further down into depravity since 1979. Then, underground movie producers planned to use Jake’s daughter in a snuff film and kill her! Men lined up waiting to shell out big bucks to see it. The horrifying thing is, as people delve into pornography appetites only grow stronger and something that seemed to satisfy lusty cravings one yesterday, doesn’t anymore today. Nowadays, women are openly objectified everywhere- in mainstream culture a woman’s worth is most often judged based on her looks.
Hardcore was made before cable television and the internet began to stream porn conveniently into houses. Now, instead of having to go out to a seedy movie theater in a shady area of town, adolescent boys can sit at their computer and call up all sorts of things to their screens with only a few mouse clicks. Porn isn’t even underground or taboo anymore, as stars like Jenna Jameson have crossed over to mainstream acceptance. Many years removed from 1979, what new, depraved ways are adult film producers thinking of to shock audiences now?!?
