Last week, NPR had a story about rural voters in Yadkin County, North Carolina, and their expectations of the new Trump administration. The voters profiled in the report were largely the white, working-class demographic which has been the source of a lot of speculation and hand-wringing in pieces debating the future of the Democratic Party. In the piece, there’s definitely a frustration with government, where Barack Obama gets the “Thanks, Obama” blame for any negative that’s happened over the past eight years. But one fascinating aspect is how all of Donald Trump’s business history, which has been the source of a lot of controversy, is seen as a positive by many of these voters. There’s a belief he will bring back $30 and $40 per hour manufacturing jobs, or revitalize the tobacco market because of his business experience, no matter his past bankruptcies, losing billions, or lack of transparency with his finances, even before getting into the shittiness of the policies he’s proposing. And this view is backed up in some polling as well, where Trump’s greatest issue strength is seen as being able to handle the economy.
When I went to a Trump rally last year, this attitude was also indicative of many of the people I met and talked with. Trump’s wealth and status as a “businessman” was repeatedly a common refrain for why many in the crowd thought he’d be a great president. One woman started talking about it as a mark of Trump’s greatness that he had his own 757, while everyone else was flying commercial or using a bus. But if bragging about bling and material goods was the basis for electing a leader, then Ric Flair should have been president. When the Trump plane landed and the Trump logo became visible, the crowd went wild and it was better than any opening act could possibly be.
All of this got me to thinking about pop culture depictions of business. Similar to the view which states there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie, there’s an argument that it’s impossible for a movie to preach the horrors of business excess while showing luxury and lots of sex. There are many people who watched Gordon Gekko’s “greed is good” speech, didn’t see it as a cautionary tale, and were inspired to become brokers. And, honestly, because movies like Wall Street and The Wolf of Wall Street follow the American Dream story of someone building a fortune from nothing, it becomes an aspirational tale where many think they can live the first two-thirds of the rise towards the heavens without having the final act of it all crashing down when the bills start coming due. It might also be the reason why some people are willing to put their trust in someone who has the appearance and vestiges of wealth, even if he’s a creature of ego.
Art is subjective, and the audience can take from it whatever they like. But it might be interesting to look at those pieces of popular culture where people arguably miss the point. What are those movies and stories where at least some might have read a subtext which might not have been intended?
- Oliver Stone’s indictment of 1980s excess, Wall Street, is full of status symbols of the era. Bad modern art hangs in overpriced Manhattan apartments,while men in double-breasted suits hold old-school brick cellphones while trying to get the upper hand on a deal. The movie positions its protagonist, Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox, as a dreamer and son of a blue-collar union worker who wants to become a tycoon of industry, and is tempted into crossing ethical lines when he can’t get there on smarts alone. The film positions Wall Street as a place where information is king, and men like Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko claim to be liberators of capital, but are raiders that destroy industry and feed on cutting up pieces of the carcass. It’s interesting that both Gekko and The Wolf of Wall Street’s Jordan Belfort appeal to a power fantasy for those without power. While we watch their destruction, the appeal of the power of their position still bleeds through and starts to make their defiance of norms compelling. No matter how bad Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio make Belfort out to be, there is a certain sort of person who finds the entire scenario to be a life goal, instead of something to be avoided.
- One of Al Pacino’s iconic roles, Brian De Palma’s Scarface has long been a favorite of the hip-hop community, who love to imitate plot points in music videos. It might not be the best movie ever made, but it’s a highly quotable one which was written by Oliver Stone, who was trying to kick his cocaine habit while penning the screenplay. I mean who hasn't dreamed of snorting a mound of cocaine? And I mean a mound of cocaine, grabbing an M-16 and screaming "Say 'Hello' to my little friend!" Based (sorta) on the 1932 Howard Hawks film of the same name, the rise and fall of Pacino’s Tony Montana is the focus, complete with chainsaws in a shower, and lots and lots of cocaine. Like Wall Street and The Wolf of Wall Street , Scarface has elements of what’s considered the American Dream through believing “The World Is Yours.” The film is the story of an immigrant with nothing who builds himself into a millionaire. It’s just this millionaire’s story involves murder and drugs, but it appeals to the same power fantasy.
- David Fincher’s Fight Club, adapted from the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, posits two extremes. On one end is the emptiness of a life designed by IKEA that’s full of structure and order. On the other end is chaos and nihilism represented by Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden, who also exhibits all of the male characteristics society tends to value. Durden is attractive, assertive and confident in an “I don’t give a fuck” manner, which makes his ideology seem valid as he critiques the misplaced and lost masculinity in a society composed of the “middle children of history.” And many fans of the book and movie have taken a liking to Durden’s points, even though it’s meant to be as much a destructive extreme.
- Both the Iron Man franchise and Pixar’s The Incredibles have been movies Objectivists have latched onto as examples of their philosophy. Iron Man 2 has Tony Stark refusing to turn over the Iron Man armor to the government, arguing he’s better suited to control his inventions than the authorities who want to claim it for the community (although, by Captain America: Civil War this mindset with the character has totally changed). For Objectivists, they see elements of Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and plot elements from Atlas Shrugged in Stark’s defiance. With The Incredibles, Brad Bird's film mixes elements of Alan Moore's Watchmen with Marvel's Fantastic Four . A main plot point is the superheroes having to suppress their own talents and potential, and live "lives of mediocrity" for what's considered the good of society. Brad Bird is on record as saying the film is in no way meant to be a support of Objectivism, but a message of "be true to yourself." However, that hasn't stopped critics and Objectivists from seeing Rand in the movie.
- Many people see themselves in Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in (500) Days of Summer. For those member of the audience, he’s the lovable nice guy that gets rejected and crushed in love. However, even Gordon-Levitt sees his character as “selfish” and thinks the character (and arguably the entire romantic-comedy genre formula) might be unhealthy. The character defines himself by his love for Summer (Zoeey Deschanel), instead of happiness on his own terms, and demands that she satisfy his needs instead of building a relationship that makes both happy and satisfies what both want.