There are a bunch of spoilers in here so if you’re looking to burn a few hours for entertainment purposes later this week, do not read. Unsurprisingly, we don’t see a lot of movies for a reason… movies attempt to mimic the excitement of real life (which is always better). That said, a few movies here and there are not going to impact the future particularly after you’re already set, so here we go…
Remain Neutral in Public: While we’ve talked talked about the “smile, nod and agree” strategy in public settings, there is also a time to be completely neutral. The general theme of the movie was that you never really know how bad a person’s life is so there is no reason to go out looking for fights (potentially get yourself killed). Typically, when you’re meeting someone brand new (friend of a friend, business colleague etc.) smiling and nodding is the best strategy for avoiding conflict. But. This doesn’t really apply to neutral settings as much. In neutral settings like a public area where no one knows who you are, the best strategy is to blend into the general crowd. Why? Well if you’re nice to a person who is simply strange, you could inherit a stalker. Similarly, if you’re mean, you could be insulting someone willing to die.
Needless to say, neither of those two are positive outcomes. Also. As a reminder this only applies to 1/10,000,000 people you’ll run into. No matter how you slice it though, the first theme was a good reminder to always be neutral with people you don’t know in a public arena (if you’re well known in the setting go with smile and nod since the chances of a person being a stalker in the future is next to 0%)
For fun, you’ll notice that people who are quiet in public settings are usually smarter than average. Not sure if this is due to “darwinism”, as getting uncalled for attention likely lead to negative outcomes in many cases. Either way, in 2019, if its a public setting that could potentially be dangerous (truly public with no barriers to entry, always veer on the side of blending in).
Economic Disparity: A second item here was the general theme of economic disparity. While they focused on killing a few Wall Street guys in the movie, the reality is that economic disparity is being driven by technology (not Wall Street anymore as that industry is in decline and likely to be disrupted by crypto currencies long-term as well). Beyond that small nuance, there is no real clean solution to disparity. Our guess is this movie will be well liked by people with a bleak economic and life outlook.
Interestingly, nothing positive really came from all of the riots and looting so it’s unclear if the movie was positive or negative on populism. In fact, all it led to was more violence.
We have no real solution to disparity (perhaps health care services for the elderly, but that’s more of a bandaid if population growth slows) and simply highlight ways to “make it”. The one thing about people who grew up poor and became rich is that they typically take care of working staff (like waiters) extremely well. This is something we would recommend as it is a win win situation. You usually make friends and get integrated into the “community”, industry nights etc. You also make sure someone is living a better life than they normally would (and they are earning it). That last part is probably the most important, we’re extremely positive on paying “above market” for manual tasks but are against handouts as it creates the wrong belief system.
Generally Negative: The vibe of the movie was largely negative based on our read of the entire situation. Even the popular TV show highlighted in the film ended with a saying “That’s Life”, which was a clear directional nod to the old saying “Life’s a Bitch and Then You Die”. These types of sayings were popular for the economically unsuccessful in the 1990s.
In addition to that, the rich people displayed in the film were also unbearable from a personality perspective. Thinking back there wasn’t a single character who seemed to have a good personality except the midget. This gave the film a vibe of nihilism, no one is “good”. The more disturbing part about the movie is that the Joker ends up killing his own mother after he learns about his childhood and there are still people who claim the movie was depicting the Joker as a protagonist. Not sure how that conclusion was made as killing a family member is not a move any protagonist would make.
Mass Killing: After the first killing in the movie, you see the impact on the community as more people begin to wear the same costume/get up which results in riots and more violence. Perhaps this is supposed to be commentary on the increasing number of shootings in the United States. If you give bad actors attention all it does is spur them on as it’s a last resort “only way to be seen in society”.
This was also a theme. The main character feels like he has been ignored by society and after starting a negative movement he feels like he is “alive again”… so to speak. After feeling “alive again” he actually gets worse, killing more people and starting more violence and riots.
Generally Dark: Not referring to dark as in “dangerous”, it was *literally* dark. The majority of the movie was set in lighting that was always cloudy, bleak or dimly lit. Lots of post rainy day type atmospheres. This leads to a bleak vibe to the entire movie, tough to sit through honestly.
Everyone is to Blame But Ourselves! This was the biggest undertone of the movie which the masses will absolutely flock to. We’ll double down on the prior statement that people who thought the movie was super cool will *generally* be part of life’s losers. Why? Well in the movie the Joker gets to blame his deranged mother for his failures, or he gets to blame the government for shutting off his social service meetings or he gets to blame the guy who gave him a gun in the first place or he gets to blame…. see the trend here?
This seemed pretty obvious to us, so as soon as we caught onto this pattern it made complete logical sense that the masses would like it. It had a similar vibe to fight club. Most regular joes have “deranged thoughts” after all they watch all those weird types of porn on the internet (otherwise they wouldn’t be so popular). Most regular joes want to blame their parents for their failures. And. Most regular joes want attention. In short, this is a great movie and will be profitable as regular joe will watch.
Some Other Bullets Before the Conclusion
- The movie was generally depressing, making it hard to watch. Depressing/drama movies are fine but there was really no point in the end after watching it
- There was no solution, just a bunch of rioting. Seems unlikely that rioting will lead to any long-term solution as it’s a negative sum game
- This was a great reminder as to why women are not attracted to angry guys. Angry people are usually losers. This is evolutionary psychology at its finest. They can tell the difference between angry and dangerous, dangerous is fine angry really isn’t. Most never learn the difference
- Another interesting theme was “kill the rich”. This depicted economics as a zero sum game. Any successful person knows that making money is not zero sum so we cannot agree with that part at all. Anyone who is actually rich and successful wants everyone to succeed (the competition is another story of course). Honestly, people don’t believe this because they hate their bosses. End of the day though, that “boss” wants *you* to succeed incredibly badly because he knows your livelihood is at stake. This may be worth an entire post in itself. Anyone who actually becomes successful does not want someone below them to fail. This causes lost revenue, lost income and you might actually be forced to fire someone who has a family. There is no worse feeling than temporarily ruining someone’s life. Running any business is hard as the employee is incentivized to do the least amount possible unless he has ownership in the firm while the Company needs to keep profits up to avoid cuts/layoffs. We’ve always pondered on a business model where every single employee is paid in ownership instead of cash and all low-end tasks are outsourced (unicorn and impossible we know – but we can dream)
- Hallucinations were also common in the movie. This is also a tell-tale sign of someone who didn’t make it. They generally make up fake “scenarios” in their head on what they “would do” if something happened. Both good or bad. This create a dream like trance (creating fake feelings of success) without needing to improve their lives. If you meet someone who makes up scenarios in their heads constantly you have got to bolt for the exit. They are more obsessed with worrying/faking versus creating and “failing forward”. Always bet on the guy making tons of errors at a rapid pace to gather a framework versus the guy “planning for years” with no experience. As the plans never work without skills to execute anyway
Conclusion: We would give this a zero. But. It was a very good reminder on staying neutral in public. We ramped up the high quality outfits and more flashy items (when appropriate) and it was a great way to remember the surroundings. Walking around with a high quality watch or suit in a Taco Bell is definitely not going to end well. So. For that we’re thankful for the movie. That was one positive to remember from a movie with no solutions, just anger and excuses.
Final note, if we really get to a point where people are entirely displaced by artificial intelligence and software code, we should be able to financially afford some sort of minimum housing/income. We’d rather have tax dollars go to something that taxes high earners and pays only for housing and food. The idea of handing people free money is simply ridiculous as the price of all the goods would also go up so the idea of a “guaranteed income” doesn’t really work (money handed to economically struggling people usually goes to drugs, just look at Seattle/San Francisco). What could work is a minimum housing/food delivery set up instead of paying for the current government waste. That’s a whole different topic as well though.
Same story as McGregor vs Mayweather
General public love that underdog vs rich guy story
Still it was a cool movie but unfortunately shallow and predictable plot. Very good acting tho
Mentally ill people are more relatable these days
Because this movie is made for general population and shows their response in face of a stimulus
And you hate it
Should’nt this be given 5?
Antimodel
No clue honestly
It’s easy to hate the movie when you’ve got a great life (and want to keep it that way).
The problem is the disconnect between rich and poor. Most people don’t make it and therefore face the consequences. Most people are also angry to some degree with modern society/politics/culture. It doesn’t matter why. It just is.
There probably will never be a solution for this type of stuff. Ever since the last election, people have just become more and more frustrated in their daily lives.
I expect the craziness to rise as we turn into some sort of Brazilian banana republic.
Ha that could be the case, it’s a good reminder of how awful life is being poor though. Keep stacking money since it could be our last chance!
To the point of minimum income – I always thought we already have that in form of civilizational comforts. No one needs to spend personal resources on being safe from predators, marauding enemy tribes and most diseases anymore.
Yeah we’re close, the idea of giving people straight cash though won’t work it will be wasted on drugs
It will be assisted housing and food stamps.
Also there will be mandatory work to get the benefits.
People will get pissy at first for mandatory work, but they will fall in line.
Busy+fed+shelter=Regulars will quickly accept their place.
The higher classes and productive classes will be protected by large police forces, zoneing and 5G tracking via Apple watch’s and cellphones.
“As the plans never work without skills to execute anyway”
Made this mistake in the past and yea this is accurate – Better failing fast than planning without moving anywhere
I do think it’s an interesting allegory to today’s times, and you hit the nail on the head with technology. Contrast the out of control street crime in San Francisco with executives at Google or Facebook in their ivory towers.
Highlighting bad actors is an interesting point too, and there seems to be a type of bad actor that the media is encouraging. Example, Nancy Pelosi gets protests as well, but the media doesn’t cover them. There is plenty of gun violence in Baltimore or Chicago, but the media doesn’t cover it. Not making a political point here, just an observation. Easier for the media to sell an “us vs. them” story, to either side.
We’re in a Neo-feudal society. Look it up. There’s distinct classes in western society.
Oligarchy .01%
Nobility 500k a year(3m) 1%
Broke:
Professional 150k 10%
Middle 50k 20%
Gig economy 50%
Unemployed 20%
This site teachs you to scurry to nobility while you can.
This post just told u to blend in, people are becoming more class aware.
I wonder if the “Neo” part means that this time the upper and lower classes are going to end up separated not just socially, but to such degree that they will literally become different species.
It’s funny because most companies actually want more successful people/companies out there. They gain nothing by having more unsuccessful people/
The more successful people and companies out there the more prospects you can call and easier time you have selling what you have….with the exception you said your competition lol.
See companies like salesforce that have seemed to already sell to every prospect out there — more successful companies more people that will buy their CRM.
Yep what smart business owner wants their employees to be struggling just means more headache worse profits and a downward spiral.
Of course if it’s all the same to them they would prefer everybody be successful, but which do they want *less* — angry, struggling employees, or ponying up an extra 2% on annual raises to keep their worker drones buzzing along quietly?
You guys are way too smart not to know the answer to that. 99% of business owners will nickel-and-dime their foot soldiers down to the very last decimal… and I *do* believe you guys when you say you believe in paying “above market” for hard-working foot soldiers, but surely you’re aware you are in the vast, vast minority of paycheck-writers in saying that.
There are companies that give ownership with stock options and RSUs, which are a lot of SV companies.
You don’t have decision making power although, founders and investors get a lot more benefit out of working hard and often have hidden liquidity cash outs at favorable terms that the employees are never even told about.
Nowadays startups also have a hard time competing with fb, google, snap and netflix offers too.
Hard part is making a company where you have that option in the first place although.
Yeah it’s interesting watching the millennials chase the hot start ups as long-term healthy companies like McDonald’s are not cool
Why did u see this movie? Sounds like you weren’t interested before seeing it?
Bunch of people asked about it so we polled twitter and decided ok… no big deal
Interesting
Just saw it and thought it was really good.
-I don’t think it’s meant to be taken literally or is trying to be political with the economic disparity/mass killing. I think it’s more meant to set up the context in which the character arc occurs (how do we go from a normal guy to the comic book villain).
-“Everyone is to Blame But Ourselves” I agree with this in principle, but I still felt bad for the guy since he was abused as a young child. Hard to say that’s his fault for that.
-Felt that the film also deserves credit for being emotionally unsettling and for getting people to think how society can do better. Was also great int terms of the traditional filmmaking stuff (acting, audio, cinematography, etc.)
Surprised no one commented “We live in a society”
We live in a society.
I agree with everything but your part about the riots.
The poor never win the riots but they do it anyway. The rich though have learned and understand this fact and thus the rich tolerate it as a fact of life. Riots are a pressure relief valve, you squeeze and squeeze and squeeze all you can until the pressure (despondency) become too much to bear and the poor ‘pop’ and the riots happen. The rioters tire out, screw up, run out of resources and they eventually get arrested or killed. In the end many of the poor neighborhoods are destroyed and the poor have run out of resources and money and are even more dependent on the rich for work. That generation of poor learn that rioting doesn’t work and peace remains for another 20 years.
Most people don’t understand the truth about rioting. Just like most people watch “Snowpiercer” and gets the satisfaction of the under class winning (with a fell good ending that is pretty much unrealistic)… but the actual message of the movie is much darker.
The poor, riot against the rich who employs the middle class as the police force to surpress the poor. At no point are the rich putting any of their lives on the line.
When the poor do succeed, they manages to destroys the whole system that worked before and kept them alive only to be embraced with… Cold harsh winter and polar bears that will kill them within a day, leading to the extinction of human race.
I remember explaining my view point to a long time friend and had him blow up on me because it destroyed the perfect David Vs Goliath image he had of the movie. In hindsight I should’ve just smiled and nodded, but I was new to this back then.
I’m interested in knowing what are the movies that you’d actually recommend?
100% agree with this post.
Went to an average movie theater looking slightly above average then to a popular college fast food joint. Most were high. Docile.
Making conversation with some staff while getting an order I mention I’m coming back from a recent showing. College kids contribute to the conversation and I decide against the better judgement of smile nod and agree. Simple “No” nothing more.
Movie was long. Trash. A justification for a mans lack of awareness. Maybe Hollywood’s best shot at a Shakespearean tragedy
My biggest tateaway… let’s hear your thoughts on a company where employees are owners!
Been experiencing straight hostility and nasty nasty looks from people. Even friends/Family.
If your a low body fat with some decent cloths and cash you are the ultimate ego dagger to the masses. They are getting antsy and starting to realize they have nothing and will likely never have anything.
If you are getting hostility and nasty looks from people including your family, consider it might not be their envy so much as your own negative charisma.
Finally went and watched it today. Walked out wondering why I wasted my time.
Outside the theater overheard some guys who were all stricken by how “awesome and relatable” it was. If you can relate so easily to a mentally ill person that probably doesnt bode well for your future.
Not surprised this movie has been so well received, I share a lot of the same thoughts as what you guys outlined here.
As the gini coefficient rises, the homicide rate follows.
The more economically unequal a society is…the more violent it will be.
Sadly, America may soon be a place where we have to all walk around with bullet proof vests.
Me as well. I thought it was weird and was wondering why. So much hostility from other men these days!
In the past we would all mingle, nobody would give a second look to a man in a suit sitting at a cafe. Try that now… you’ll turn women’s heads, and get angry/confrontational stares from other males. There’s a lot of resentful men out there.
Maybe this ties in with the strange popularity of “primitivism” these days (carnivore diet, traditional gender roles…). Half the men are literally turning barbaric, while the other half is lost in their soy ways. Two extremes.
The West is slowly but surely turning into Latin America. Lots of gun violence and drugs, one failed socialist government after another, race mixing and racial tensions, corruption and bribes at all levels of society. Prepare for a future where the haves and have nots will be separated by electric fences and armed guards. The middle class has pretty much vanished, or will very soon.
On a global scale, the only up and coming place is going to be Asia. There the opposite is happening, and a fresh middle class is being formed as we speak. Though there still remains high inequality, but at lest the people are used to it. The problem with Westerners is that they were sold a dream and are now waking up to an ugly reality. Hence all the anger. No white kid grew up thinking they would be poor.