Entertainment serves as perhaps the most obvious distillation of specific cultural moments throughout history. In Casablanca, bar owner Rick Blaine sets aside his own cynicism in order to commit to the effort against Nazis, an obvious allegory for the United States’ entrance into the Second World War after the attacks on Pearl Harbor following years of indifference and neutrality on the stage of international politics. Stanely Kubrick’s Cold War masterpiece Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb masterfully captures the panic and nihilist absurdity of the looming threat of a nuclear holocaust through the perspective of wildly inept American and Soviet governments. John Carpenter’s horror classic They Live is a self-described criticism of “yuppies and unrestrained capitalism”, released at the end of Roland Reagan’s presidency which largely popularized the notions of “trickle-down economics” and the idea that what’s good for corporations is good for people. The list goes on and on but pop culture, without a doubt, serves as a microcosm for culture as a whole and provides insight into history that simply studying facts can’t give.
Living in 2019, it’s impossible to predict the lasting legacy of our era in the grand scope of history, but we do have a unique insight that future generations don’t have by actually being alive during it. We’re all acutely aware of the anxieties and looming threats our generation faces, but the commodification of entertainment has ultimately hurt the concept of societal reflection through the lens of pop culture. Allegory has been traded for escapism. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing, being constantly bombarded with the existential threats humanity is facing is a one-way ticket to a miserable life. That being said, it does speak volumes that the highest-grossing film of all time is centered around a hero who’s a self-proclaimed “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”.
The questions still remain though. What defines this moment in time? The looming danger of climate catastrophe? The rising wealth disparities between the rich and the poor? The resurgence of fascism across the globe? I would argue that all of these are deeply important in understanding this era of history, and I would argue further that they all tie into the larger necessity for class consciousness among the general population. Many films over the last decade or so have tacked this notion, and some have even garnered moderate amounts of success. There is a clear demand from audiences for more films that tackle this subject and it’s important to make this demand known. The entertainment we consume has a massive impact on our worldview and it’s important now as ever to encourage solidarity among working people by any means necessary.
Perhaps the most financially successful example of a film like this is Todd Philips’ Joker. It’s by no means is a perfect film, but effectively encapsulates the class dynamics of 1980s Gotham City. While meeting with his social worker, Arthur Fleck (who later becomes the infamous titular character) is told that her office will be shutting down and he won’t be able to come in for more appointments. “They don’t give a shit about people like you, Arthur,” she tells him, “and they really don’t give a shit about people like me either.” While the entire film is pretty on-the-nose in the way it handles the subject, its message is still poignant. For the first time in the character’s cinematic history, he’s actually given a motivation. He’s more than just an agent of chaos, he’s someone who was in need who was mistreated by people above him. Whether it’s the Trump-like Thomas Wayne or the Johnny Carson-inspired Murray Franklin, Arthur is always being punched down at by those in positions of power.
Another recent film that draws ideas heavily from this idea of class conflict is Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s recently released Parasite. It’s a film that inspires hours of discussion but perhaps is best left unspoiled, as it’s truly a one-of-a-kind moviegoing experience that I wouldn’t dare ruin for anyone. Bong has dealt with themes of class conflict throughout his filmography, and the most obvious of this is his 2013 film Snowpiercer. One of his only English language releases, the film is set in a post-apocalyptic ice age where the only remaining life on Earth resides in a high-speed train circumnavigating the planet. This train is segregated by class: the poorest passengers living in the rear of the train, and the richest living in the front. When troubling discoveries are made about the production of food made for passengers at the back of the train, an insurrection begins in order to overthrow the front of the train. The society within the train parallels our own. The divisions within the train aren’t based on some sort of meritocratic system, people are simply born into a class and are expected to be satisfied where they are, as class mobility is next to impossible without force. Some would argue that this isn’t an accurate depiction of modern life, that through the virtues of free-market capitalism and the “American Dream” anything is possible and anyone is capable of rising up from nothing. There very well may be examples of this but for the overwhelming majority of Americans, that level of success is nothing more than a pipe dream. Jordan Peele’s Us also deals with similar themes of class mobility, with different families representing different socioeconomic statuses within the United States, the desperate desire from the lowest class to simply be noticed by those above them. When Adelaide (played by Lupita Nyong’o) and her family are forced to confront a family of doppelgangers, all mirror images of themselves who had been born into worse circumstances. Later events in the film reveal that this might not actually be the case, highlighting the arbitrary nature of who is rich and who is poor. In most circumstances, class isn’t determined by your goodness as a person, but by the material conditions you happen to be born into.
This year’s Ready or Not centers around a family of people that happened to be born exceptionally wealthy. The Le Domas family’s ancestors made their fortune making and selling board games and because of this, the concept of play has become very sacred to them. None of the living members founded the company or created anything at all, they were just fortunate to be born into the right family. Their wealth is juxtaposed by Grace, a young woman who marries into the family. All seems normal with her new in-laws until she is forced into playing a deadly game of hide and seek. Grace’s experience with her overzealous new family, while hopefully never happens to anybody reading (or writing) this – is relatable in a way to our own experience living in this neo-Gilded Age. There are rules and laws that feel like they don’t apply to the people above us. Many struggle to stay afloat financially while the mega-wealthy get by without paying a cent in taxes. It’s not that they’re legally exempt from taxes, they consciously avoid paying them through loopholes to continue hoarding wealth. They’re not strapped for cash, they just perceive themselves as living on a higher plane of existence. It isn’t difficult to see why they believe this about themselves though. Remember when just a few months ago Jeffery Epstein mysteriously “killed himself” in prison after having allegedly pimped out children to nearly every politician and business person on Earth? Regardless of personal views, that’s incredibly suspicious. Releasing just weeks after his death, Ready or Not, while not about pedophilia, brings to light the weird and ritualistic practices that the elite practice in plain view of the rest of the world. People know about Little Saint James Island and Bohemian Grove, there’s just nothing we can do about it.
I’m not asking for every film to feature spitting commentary on the nature of the world and the hopelessness of living in a late-capitalist society. Not every movie needs to have you feeling ready to riot in the streets, but when a film can both entertain and leave you more critical of the world around you it deserves to be recognized. Not enough do this, which is why it’s so important to celebrate the ones that do when we see them.
Recommended Viewing:
- Bicycle Thieves (1948)
- The Young and the Damned (1950)
- Punishment Park (1971)
- They Live (1988)
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
- Starship Troopers (1997)
- Blind Shaft (2003)
- Children of Men (2006)
- There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Snowpiercer (2013)
- The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- The Florida Project (2017)
- First Reformed (2018)
- The First Purge (2018)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018)
- Roma (2018)
- Us (2019)
- Parasite (2019)
