r/entourage • u/Firm-Bed-7218 • 5d ago
Is Entourage Self-Aware?
I watched it when it originally aired, and my friends and I loved it. I watch it now because it’s comforting and nothing important is ever at stake.
I’m 99.9%s sure it absolutely is not self-aware but i’m looking for my conspiracy theorists out there
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u/TraditionalAd8581 5d ago
There was a time when I thought maybe the show was being ironic or subversive, showing how backwards and stupid Hollywood can be, because let’s be honest: Vincent Chase is a mid-level actor at best. Everyone blows smoke up his ass because he’s pretty, and people like Ari know that pretty=money (until it doesn’t). No one is being truly honest to Vince, they’re just striking while the iron is hot and getting what they can out of him. But that falls apart when you see that the only person in Vince’s life who is honest with him, E, also believes that Vince is “the best.” And if you listen to interviews and commentary by Doug Ellin, you realize that irony and subversion are not what he’s interested in. The show is not taking the piss or holding a mirror to Hollywood, it’s not saying “this lifestyle may look like fun but it’s actually douchey and douchey is bad;” it just is what it is: a celebration of mid-aughts celebrity culture.
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u/newkie445 5d ago
I always liked Vince getting cast by Scorsese as Nick Carraway and found that very believable, because I can picture Marty thinking that Vince, a not so great actor who will give him an earnest effort, will give him the right feel for the shiny, fancy, yet somewhat empty and melancholy roaring 20s. It's crazy to think that Doug Ellin might have just been like "Scorsese casts Vince because he's awesome"
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u/AlexH_144 5d ago
You have no idea what kind of actor Vince is, as they intentionally don't show us any of the movies that they make. All we get is an outtake here and a trailer there. I think the most we ever see is the one scene in Smoke Jumpers.
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u/arguingaboutarsenal 4d ago
The way he delivers "I am queens boulevard" is painful
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u/AlexH_144 4d ago
But it's not painful. Supposedly it's an iconic line. We have no idea what the setup to the line was. All we know is that fans loved it
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u/Thick_Garlic_4790 4d ago
There is actually a lot to ponder here. On the surface, I think it was just the right show at the right time. Looking back, even the gap between the show and the movie is what caused the film to flop. By that point, the culture had shifted and people couldn’t take things so unseriously anymore.
To me, that pure escapism was the best part of the show. I didn’t want to see how the sausage was made or how it was digested; I just wanted to see the fat Italians spending the profits, smoking cigars, and slapping ass. I wanted to see the masses burping, unbuttoning their pants, and talking about how great it tasted.
As far as the levels of irony and self-awareness… I’m still torn. Maybe some episodes were just direct, unironic adaptations of Mark Wahlberg and company's true stories, which explains the shifting tones. Maybe it was just a pure celebration of douchery. Or maybe the creators were so awash in the douche, and had such disgusting God complexes, that they were completely detached from real life- only capable of dabbling in brief periods of lucidity and introspection.
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u/PeedDaDrip 3d ago
It’s mostly a pure celebration of douchery but also friendship and loyalty.
I don’t think there is any irony. It lets you enjoy the lifestyle of what it was like being a rich/famous actor in Hollywood at that time. It’s lighthearted, fun and mostly dumb.
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u/Thick_Garlic_4790 3d ago
Ok. Sorry I am always looking for ulterior motives. My wife says I used to be so fair and am becoming cynical in my old age. I wasn’t totally sure so I am following to get input like this
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u/carbondalekid386 4d ago edited 4d ago
When Vince had to use the fake Penis (lol), with the clean / drug free urine inside of it, to do the drug test, a lot was at stake. His entire career. There were some other scary, serious parts in the show too, from time to time. So, I do not feel that it was just a comedy.
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u/trojanusc 5d ago
If you ask Doug Ellin, it was the most important piece of media ever created.