History Film / GodBlessAmerica

%%* AssholeVictim: TheMovie.

%%* AuthorFilibuster: TheMovie, particularly when Frank's at work and in the climax.

%%* CuteButPsycho: Roxy!
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Roxy.

%%* GunPorn: The gun dealer scene.

%%* LittleMissBadass: Roxy. [[spoiler: And then you learn she's just a {{manipulative b|astard}}rat with a huge ego.]]

%%* MisanthropeSupreme: Roxy. To a lesser extent, Frank too, but even he thinks that Roxy goes a little too far at times.

%%* MouthyKid: Roxy again.

%%* TakeThat: OH YEAH.

* UnflinchingWalk: Subverted. [[spoiler: Frank starts one after leaving a restrained Chloe to die a fiery death inside her burning car, but the flaming rag he stuck in her fuel tank falls out before it could actually ignite the car. He runs back over and tries to pick up the flaming rag, but, well, it's on fire. He ends up panicking and just shooting her instead.]]
%%* VillainProtagonist: Frank.

%%* WriterOnBoard: A rather good one.

Have you ever watched a particularly annoying RealityShow and thought to yourself, "man, someone should give those little twits what they have coming to them"? Well, Creator/BobcatGoldthwait, maker of ''Film/WorldsGreatestDad'', feels your pain.

''God Bless America'' is a 2011 BlackComedy written and directed by Goldthwait and starring Creator/JoelMurray (brother of Creator/{{Bill|Murray}}) and Tara Lynne Barr. The plot is basically ''Film/FallingDown'', [[PlayedForLaughs played for very dark laughs]]. It follows Frank Murdoch, a middle-aged schlub who has lost his wife and his job, and worse, has just found out that he has terminal brain cancer -- ''[[TraumaCongaLine all in the span of one day]]'', [[TraumaCongaLine no less]]. Contemplating suicide, Frank's life is changed when he watches a ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen''-esque show in which a SpoiledBrat named Chloe throws a tantrum over getting the wrong [[CoolCar fancy luxury car]] for her birthday. While most people would probably find extra motivation to go through with it after watching such a scene, Frank instead sets out to make something of the time he has left, killing Chloe and declaring war on all the annoying {{jerkass}}es and vapid pop culture figures of America. Along the way, he meets Roxanne "Roxy" Harmon, a teenage classmate of Chloe's who shares Frank's misanthropy, and joins him on his crusade.

'''Roxy:''' Yep! (BAM! BAM-BAM-BAM!) ''[standing over the fresh corpse, with the smoking gun in her hand]'' Frank, exactly what part of his politics do you agree with?\\

'''Roxy:''' But Frank, then every nut would have a gun!

* TerminallyIllCriminal: Frank is diagnosed with incurable brain cancer early in the film and sets out on a killing spree, targeting people he considers detrimental to society. {{Subverted}} later on when his doctor discovers that he has misdiagnosed him and Frank has been healthy the whole time. By that time, though, Frank is too far gone and sets up an elaborate SuicideByCop at the set of the talent show he most despises.]]

* TeachMeHowToFight: Frank teaching Roxy how to hold a gun steady and aim straight.

* AssholeVictim: TheMovie.

* AuthorFilibuster: TheMovie, particularly when Frank's at work and in the climax.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: With his strict morality of right versus wrong, Frank's reality crumbles. He comes across as being less capable of comprehending the world than Roxy, who easily exploits his insecurity to get him to embark on his misguided crusade. While he's a WindmillCrusader, she seems to simply be in it ForTheEvulz.

* CuteButPsycho: Roxy!
* DeadpanSnarker: Roxy.

* GunPorn: The gun dealer scene.

* LittleMissBadass: Roxy. [[spoiler: And then you learn she's just a {{manipulative b|astard}}rat with a huge ego.]]

* MisanthropeSupreme: Roxy. To a lesser extent, Frank too, but even he thinks that Roxy goes a little too far at times.

* MouthyKid: Roxy again.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At least for [[spoiler:Roxy]].

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: {{Subverted}}. The trailer appears to give a summary of the entire movie, but the movie quickly deviates from the trailer. Small changes at first, but enough for the viewer to be unsure about what will happen next.

* VillainProtagonist: Frank.

* WorldOfJerkass: Pretty much every character, and that includes the main characters, either a raging asshole with a chip on their shoulder or at the very least extremely selfish and unrepentant about it.
* WriterOnBoard: A rather good one.

** [[spoiler:Roxy's breakdown, her rant about how she's smarter than everybody else, and the revelation that she lied about her parents abusing her show that she's ultimately NotSoDifferent from Chloe.]] May double as a case of ThisLoserIsYou for anybody who cheered on Roxy for killing all the assholes.

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Roxy and Chloe.]]

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Taken to new heights, yet supplied with a rather bitter aftertaste. See NotSoDifferent.

''God Bless America'' is a 2011 BlackComedy written and directed by Goldthwait and starring Joel Murray (brother of Creator/{{Bill|Murray}}) and Tara Lynne Barr. The plot is basically ''Film/FallingDown'', [[PlayedForLaughs played for very dark laughs]]. It follows Frank Murdoch, a middle-aged schlub who has lost his wife and his job, and worse, has just found out that he has terminal brain cancer -- ''[[TraumaCongaLine all in the span of one day]]'', [[TraumaCongaLine no less]]. Contemplating suicide, Frank's life is changed when he watches a ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen''-esque show in which a SpoiledBrat named Chloe throws a tantrum over getting the wrong [[CoolCar fancy luxury car]] for her birthday. While most people would probably find extra motivation to go through with it after watching such a scene, Frank instead sets out to make something of the time he has left, killing Chloe and declaring war on all the annoying {{jerkass}}es and vapid pop culture figures of America. Along the way, he meets Roxanne "Roxy" Harmon, a teenage classmate of Chloe's who shares Frank's misanthropy, and joins him on his crusade.

* HateSink: Almost everyone Frank and Roxy kills. There's Chloe, a stuck-up 16-year-old girl who is a SpoiledBrat who throws temper tantrums, relies on being [[RichBitch rich]] and [[BeautyIsBad pretty]], and according to Roxy, was [[AlphaBitch a class-A cunt]]. There's also her obnoxious parents and the Fox anchor {{expy}} that Roxy takes pleasure in shooting many times. There's also the man at the pancake store [[Ephebophile who tries to make moves on a 16-year-old girl]]. Finally, there's the Simon Cowell expy who bullies the contestants on his show.

* HateSink: Almost everyone Frank and Roxy kills. There's Chloe, a stuck-up 16-year-old girl who is a SpoiledBrat who throws temper tantrums, relies on being [[RichBitch rich]] and [[BeautyIsBad pretty]], and according to Roxy, was [[AlphaBitch a class-A cunt]]. There's also her obnoxious parents and the Fox anchor {{expy}} that Roxy takes pleasure in shooting many times. There's also the man at the pancake store who tries to make moves on the [[PaedoHunt underaged Roxy]]. Finally, there's the Simon Cowell expy who bullies the contestants on his show.

* HateSink: Almost everyone frank and roxy kills, You get Chloe a stuck up 16 Year Old girl called Chloe who is a SPoiltBrat and trows temper tantrums and Relies on being [[Rich Bitch Rich]] and [[BeutyisBad Pretty]], and accoding to Roxy she was [[AlphaBith a class A-Cunt]], then her Obnoxious parents and the Fox anchor expy that Roxy takes pleasure in shooting many times, The man at the Pancake storewhpo tries to make moves on the [[PadoHunt underaged roxy]] and Finaly the Simon Cowell expy who bullies the contstants on his show.

->'''Wounded Michael Fuller:''' ''[wounded]'' Are you really willing to DIE, just because you don't think I'm NICE? [...]\\

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/god_bless_america_ver2_5485.jpg]]

->'''Wounded Michael Fuller:''' Are you really willing to DIE, just because you don't think I'm NICE? [[CharacterFilibuster [...] ]]\\
'''Roxy:''' He just wishes everyone would act nice. I, on the other hand, think your politics are SHIT! ([[BoomHeadshot BAM!]])\\

'''Roxy:''' [[InsultBackfire Yep!]] ([[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill BAM! BAM-BAM-BAM!]]) ''[standing over the fresh corpse, with the smoking gun in her hand]'' Frank, exactly what part of his politics do you agree with?\\

'''Roxy:''' [[HypocriticalHumor But Frank, then every nut would have a gun.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Many of the people Frank and Roxy run into, but particularly this lovely gentleman.
-->'''Frank:''' "You really gotta take both those spots?"\\

** Frank and Roxy as well.

* MistakenForPedophile: Roxy mistakes Frank for a pedophile when she first sees him spying on Chloe.
-->'''Roxy:''' "Hey creepy. Isn't the whole schoolgirl thing a little played out?"

* TakeThat: OH YEAH.

* ThisLoserIsYou: Frank is a classic case, Roxy a variation. The audience is given every chance to identify with them. The red flags are everywhere, but portrayed in a way that allow viewers to ignore them at their leisure. However, just in case some people didn't understand from square one that they are both deeply mentally deranged [[spoiler:and that Roxy is just as petty and self-centered as the people she -- and, by extension, the audience -- hates]], it gets rubbed in for good measure towards the end of the movie.
** Double if you think that young teenage girls covered in blood are sexy.

* UnflinchingWalk: Subverted. [[spoiler: Frank starts one after leaving a restrained Chloe to die a fiery death inside her burning car, but the flaming rag he stuck in her fuel tank falls out before it could actually ignite the car. He panics and ends up just shooting her instead.]]

* UnflinchingWalk: Subverted. [[spoiler: Frank starts one when killing Chloe, but the rag in her fuel tank falls out.]]

* BlandNameProduct / NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Several real-life television shows are parodied relentlessly in the film:

** A Glenn Beck stand-in is seen a few times in the film.

** Made slightly more probable in that both were aiming to kill him (and probably aiming for center-of-mass) - they just had a... ''[[AccidentalAimingSkills fortunate]]'' [[AccidentalAimingSkills miss]]. Later it's PlayedStraight though when Roxy manages to fatally shoot some Westboro Baptisy {{expy}}s from a moving car.

* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: This is what Roxy think of her life. However, there's no indication that she's ''actually'' more intelligent than the average self-absorbed, thinks-too-highly-of-herself teen.

* [[spoiler:MistakenForDying]]: [[spoiler: The doctor confused Frank Murdoch's CAT scan showing his brain tumor with that of another of his patients, Frank ''Burdoch'', who ''did'' have a brain tumor.]]

* OutlawCouple: Frank and Roxy are a non-romantic, father/daughter version of this. Roxy even lampshades this by dressing as Bonnie Parker in one scene.
** It's made quite clear in a few scenes that Roxy fantasizes about them being a more standard version of this trope, though Frank doesn't.

* [[spoiler: RedemptionEqualsDeath]]: At least for Roxy.

* [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog]]: Frank and Roxy both turn up at the ''Series/AmericanIdol'' {{expy}} show, Frank delivers a speech to the camera, [[spoiler:Roxy apologizes for lying, they both open fire, and are immediately gunned down by the nearby police. Cue end credits.]]
* [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]]:

* SpoiledBrat: Ava, Frank's young daughter. Made more prominent because Frank's ex-wife spoils her; there's a notable scene where Ava throws a tantrum over not getting an iPhone (she got a [=BlackBerry=]), and when Frank asks his ex why she bought a phone like that for her anyway, she dismisses him with a whine. It's indirectly addressed, but it's a big TakeThat towards the "helicopter parents" that emerged in TheEighties who coddle and spoil their children.

* [[spoiler:SuicideByCop]]: [[spoiler:Frank and Roxy's final fate at the end.]]

** American Superstarz stands in for AmericanIdol (with its own William Hung, named Steven Clark), while TMZ becomes [=TMI=]. As mentioned above, the plot starts when Frank watches a show akin to ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen''.

Have you ever watched a particularly annoying {{reality show}} and thought to yourself, "man, someone should give those little twits what they have coming to them"? Well, Creator/BobcatGoldthwait, maker of ''Film/WorldsGreatestDad'', feels your pain.

''God Bless America'' is a 2011 {{black comedy}} written and directed by Goldthwait and starring Joel Murray (brother of Creator/{{Bill|Murray}}) and Tara Lynne Barr. The plot is basically ''Film/FallingDown'', [[PlayedForLaughs played for very dark laughs]]. It follows Frank Murdoch, a middle-aged schlub who has lost his wife and his job, and worse, has just found out that he has terminal brain cancer -- ''[[TraumaCongaLine all in the span of one day,]]'' [[TraumaCongaLine no less]]. Contemplating suicide, Frank's life is changed when he watches a ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen''-esque show in which a {{spoiled brat}} named Chloe throws a tantrum over getting the wrong [[CoolCar fancy luxury car]] for her birthday. While most people would probably find extra motivation to go through with it after watching such a scene, Frank instead sets out to make something of the time he has left, killing Chloe and declaring war on all the annoying {{jerkass}}es and vapid pop culture figures of America. Along the way, he meets Roxanne "Roxy" Harmon, a teenage classmate of Chloe's who shares Frank's misanthropy, and joins him on his crusade.

** Roxy's slamming of ''{{Film/Juno}}'' and Creator/DiabloCody.

** Made slightly more probable in that both were aiming to kill him (and probably aiming for center-of-mass) - they just had a... ''[[AccidentalAimingSkills fortunate]]'' [[AccidentalAimingSkills miss]]. Later it's {{played straight}} though when Roxy manages to fatally shoot some Westboro Baptisy {{expy}}s from a moving car.

'''Roxy:''' [[HypocriticalHumor But Frank, then every nut would have a gun]].

* AKA47: {{Inverted}}. Frank get his hands on a real one later on, so from his point of view it's averted. The thing is that the rifle is actually a Chinese licensed model.

** Made slightly more probable in that both were aiming to kill him (and probably aiming for center-of-mass) - they just had a... [[AccidentalAimingSkills ''fortunate'' miss]]. Later it's {{played straight}} though when Roxy manages to fatally shoot some Westboro Baptisy {{expy}}s from a moving car.

'''Frank:''' *draws gun* "[[PreMortemOneLiner Fuck]] ''[[PreMortemOneLiner you]]''."

* OneSteveLimit: {{Averted}}. See [[spoiler:MistakenForDying]].

* PerkyGoth: {{Exaggerated}} in both how Roxy is Gothic to the point of being psycho and how she's perky to the point of GenkiGirl. She's always talking and smiling while planning to kill people. Her clothes and hair are normal though.

* [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog:]] Frank and Roxy both turn up at the ''Series/AmericanIdol'' {{expy}} show, Frank delivers a speech to the camera, [[spoiler:Roxy apologizes for lying, they both open fire, and are immediately gunned down by the nearby police. Cue end credits.]]
* [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]]:

* ShowWithinTheShow: Lots of them, and all of them despicable. It blends together with the main movie, since most of it is reality TV. Chloe is a JerkSue in her own show, but merely a huge {{Jerkass}} in the real life of the setting.

* WriterOnBoard, but a rather good one.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. See [[spoiler:MistakenForDying]].

** It's made quite clear in a few scenes that Roxy fantasizes about them being a more standard version of this trope.
* PerkyGoth: Exaggerated in both how Roxy is Gothic to the point of being psycho and how she's perky to the point of GenkiGirl. She's always talking and smiling while planning to kill people. Her clothes and hair are normal though.

* [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog:]] Frank and Roxy both turn up at the ''Series/AmericanIdol'' {{Expy}} show, Frank delivers a speech to the camera, [[spoiler:Roxy apologizes for lying, they both open fire, and are immediately gunned down by the ensuing police force. Cue end credits.]]

** Frank's dream is at first just like [[Series/{{Dexter}} Dexter Morgan's]] fantasy about how everyone is cheering at him for "taking out the trash" by murdering undesirable people. (It then moves on to portray Frank as being JFK about to get shot, a reminder that it's actually not all that cool when people kill people they don't like).

* ShowWithinTheShow: Lots of them, and all of them despicable. Blends together with the main movie, since most of it is reality TV. Chloe is a JerkSue in her own show, but merely a huge {{Jerkass}} in the real life of the setting.

* SpoiledBrat: Ava, Frank's young daughter. Made more prominent because Frank's ex-wife spoils her; there's a notable scene where Ava throws a tantrum over not getting an iPhone (she got a [=BlackBerry=]), and when Frank asks his ex why she bought a phone like that for her anyway, she dismisses him with a whine. It's indirectly addressed, but it's a big TakeThat towards the "helicopter parents" that have emerged in TheEighties that coddle and spoil their children.

** Double if you think that *very* young girls covered in blood are sexy.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Subverted. The trailer appears to give a summary of the entire movie, but the movie quickly deviates from the trailer. Small changes at first, but enough for the viewer to be unsure about what will happen next.

* UnflinchingWalk: Subverted. [[spoiler: Frank starts one when killing Chloe but the rag in her fuel tank falls out.]]

* WindmillCrusader: Frank, who seems to believe that he's actually doing something worthwhile. Unlike Roxy, he seems rather naive -- not unlike the mentally-handicapped television kid he keeps identifying with and feeling sorry for for all the wrong reasons.

* AbusiveParents: Roxy's mom was a trailer park crack whore, and her dad raped her. [[spoiler:[[BlatantLies Except she's lying through her teeth]] -- she actually came from a normal, loving family.]]

* AKA47: Inverted. Frank get his hands on real one later on, so from his point of view it's averted. The thing is that the rifle is actually a Chinese licensed model.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: With his strict morality of right versus wrong, Frank's reality crumbles. He comes across as being less capable of comprehending the world than Roxy, who easily exploits his insecurity to get him to embark on his misguided crusade. While he's a WindmillCrusader, she seem to simply be in it ForTheEvulz.

* BlackComedy: Right there in the first few minutes of the film. Frank has a fantasy about killing his neighbours. The woman first holds the baby in front of her in defence, then throws it in the air (where it stays out of sight for the cameras, mind you). Frank shoots (with a shotgun), and the room is filled with blood and what can only be referred to as baby-snow.

** After shooting Michael Fuller, Roxy asks Frank what part of Fuller's politics he agreed with. After Frank replies "less gun control", Roxy replies that this would mean every psychopath would get to own a gun. Coming from the girl who ''just shot a cable news talk show host due to his politics''.

** Made slightly more probable in that both were aiming to kill him (and probably aiming for center-of-mass) - they just had a... [[AccidentalAimingSkills ''fortunate'' miss]].

** The opening scene, in which Frank confronts his irritating neighbours.