When the chips are down, they still feel that they earned/are entitled to their success and put their needs above others. Moreover, even these seemingly good people, the ones who are polite to their staff, tip generously at restaurants and write blog posts about systemic inequality in Hollywood flicks, may only care to the extent that it doesn’t threaten their status or bank account. No spoilers, but all three films argue that even “good” middle class (or upper class) families are only able to enjoy their creature comforts due to the underpaid and underappreciated blood, sweat and tears of those below them on the economic ladder who do the work that they won’t (driving them around, cooking their food, cleaning their house, teaching their kids, etc.). They point the finger directly at us.Ĭonstance Wu and Jennifer Lopez in 'Hustlers' STX Entertainment The likes of Us (a horror movie that doubles as a revenge of the underclass apocalypse flick), Knives Out (a murder mystery concerning the shifty motivations and performative virtues of a very wealthy family) and Parasite (a thriller about an impoverished family that ends up working for a wealthy family) don’t just paint stories about evil business people or the haves and the have-nots. Moreover, Black Panther treated global racism as a given while arguing that America is so fundamentally racist that a young orphaned boy stranded there would inevitably grow up to be a supervillain.īut we’ve also seen, especially this year, a series of (mostly very good) movies which argue that systemic inequality is just that, not the occasional (and temporary) result of a few bad apples or a bug in an otherwise satisfactory system, but a prime feature and an inevitable result of our tiered capitalistic system. Dumbo remains the year’s most ironic would-be blockbuster, as it’s a blisteringly self-critical metaphor for Disney’s purchase of Fox. Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, where Colin Firth’s evil banker is denounced by Dick Van Dyke’s “good capitalist,” and Dumbo (where Michael Keaton’s evil tycoon is contrasted with Danny DeVito’s small-time business owner) played in this sandbox as well. Adam McKay’s disappointing Vice argued that Dick Cheney alone was responsible for the horrors of the Bush administration. Yes, we are still getting movies like Zootopia, where racism and xenophobia are presumably eradicated once the villainous politicians are exposed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |