After the invasion of Ukraine, when the United States targeted the Russian oligarchy, the trail of assets continued to lead to our own backyard. Our country not only became a haven for shady foreign funds, it also cultivated a familiar class of billionaires who own yachts, control industries, and extract resources. His January 2024 and February 2024 issues of our magazine explore the rise of America's oligarchy and what it means for the rest of us. You can read all the pieces here.
As a pandemic As society took hold and tensions between the haves and have-nots simmered, I couldn't log on to social media and see an image of the guillotine, the enduring symbol of the French Revolution. By then, similar anger against the rich had already begun to seep into the film industry, as the success of Korean films in 2019 attests. parasiteThe film swept the Oscars right before the pandemic sent us all into lockdown. It's a showdown between a struggling family and a grotesquely wealthy family.
Filmmakers have long scrutinized the impact of wealth on society.Charlie Chaplin humanized the poor, and films like my man godfrey (1936) and grapes of wrath (1940) exposed economic inequality. But for much of the 20th century, the wealthy were often fetishized.movies like fortune cookie (1966), mckenna's gold (1969), and four ruthless people (1968) featured a deep desire for wealth through bidding and money, and deception in the journey to acquire it.
“From World War II until 1980, this country shared a lot of prosperity,” explains Labor reporter Hamilton Nolan.Like the Reagan era TV series. dynasty and dallas Centered on wealthy plutocracy.Later, you will see reality shows such as MTV crib and simple life It provided an entryway into the luxurious lives of real celebrities, sometimes gently mocking them, but never exposing the other side of their wealth. Whenever economic depression was depicted on screen, the blame was always assigned to some mysterious force rather than to the upper classes.
But income inequality continues to widen, and the 2008 banking crisis revealed the fallacy of blindly trusting Wall Street. “We worship wealth. We celebrate wealth. At the same time, we substantially reduce the likelihood that people will be able to obtain those things,” Nolan said.
like most things In pop culture, trends tend to follow a cycle of constant rotation. The obsession with con artists that appeared in so many movies in the 1960s is back half a century later. In 2018, Theranos, a multibillion-dollar company run by Elizabeth Holmes, shut down. And 2019 was considered the year of scammers. A documentary about the Fyre Festival disaster dominates Netflix queues, and Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison.
The film explored class disparities and reflected the growing desire to accumulate wealth by any means necessary.think Uncut Gems, Irishman, and hustlers.Written by Jeff Nelson buzzfeed On this axis: “The quality and quantity of class conversations increased markedly in 2019 movies, perhaps due to the intensifying debate about the future of the U.S. economy.”
No movie has ever better captured the growing anger between the rich and the poor. parasite. With tensions rising between the haves and have-nots in both countries, it took a Korean filmmaker to make this theme resonate with mainstream American audiences. “It took Hollywood a really long time to catch up to the idea of class resentment in this country,” said TV critic Inkoo Kang. new yorkerWhen I asked him, he told me. parasite's success. “It feels very similar to why this class-based entertainment is so popular.” [in the US] Probably has a lot to do with the project. [in Korea] It tackles those themes in a way you won't find here. ”
Despite the backlash, interest in extreme wealth continues unabated, especially on social media, where, in Kang's words, “whatever version of wealth is most appealing to you, You can find it. on TikTok hello fashionDigital Editor Natalie Salmon breaks down the difference between Old Money (think) the great gatsby and Princess Diana), Quiet Luxury (minimalist designers like The Row and Loewe), and Rich Girl (Birkin bags and Cote d'Azur vacations). #Oldmoney and #oldmoneyaesthetic topped his 1.3 billion views in 2022. Many of these clothing tips and vacation options have lifted the veil on how rich people play and dress. “I've always been fascinated by rich and flashy people and the way they live,” NPR said. pop culture happy hour host Linda Holmes says. “I don’t think that will ever go away.”
we always While we are fascinated by the wealthy, we are also becoming increasingly critical of them. After the coronavirus outbreak, “a lot of working people kind of became radicalized because of the really intense pandemic period,” Nolan told me. Dubbed the “summer of hot labor,” this summer saw a wave of labor strikes the country hasn't seen in decades. Everyone from SAG-AFTRA to the WGA to the UAW, he inspired hundreds of thousands of workers to fight for better conditions.
Hollywood clung to class anger with renewed vigor.from menu to white lotus, revenge with the rich was popular. These revenge fantasies emerge, argues cultural critic Soraya Nadia MacDonald, when workers “must claim for themselves some kind of power, dignity, and a living wage.”
When I asked Kang if she thought these kinds of revenge fantasy movies would go away once it became less difficult to live in America, she said with a laugh: “So you mean never?” As I was writing this article, the WGA had just signed a deal with her AMPTP that was considered “unconventional.” It is doubtful that Hollywood screenwriters, who spent months fighting and deliberating for better working conditions, will return to the final script page or writer's room with a story that reflects their struggle and ultimate victory. There's no room. Given the wave of workers across America in various industries, there's more than enough audience willing to embrace them.
Photo credit: American Psycho: Lionsgate; ignorance: Paramount Pictures; dallas:CBS Photo Archive/Getty; downton abbey: Nick Briggs/Carnival Movies/HBO; dynasty: ABC; fresh prince:NBC; gossip girl:CW. hunger game: Murray Close/Lionsgate; simple life: Sam Jones/20th Century Fox TV; inheritance: Graham Hunter/HBO; exchange: Paramount; wall street:20th Century Fox. white lotus: Fabio Lovino/HBO