The Wistful Wealthy
How many of you stare in the bathroom mirror and mouth to your reflection, “Will I be wealthy one day?” For lots of people, affluence would be the ticket to a better…well, everything. The rich are admired for their financial freedom and material possessions. We call them captains of industry. In ideologies around the world, these are the folks who are considered successful. Much like Prometheus or King Midas, a cost lies in the pursuit of power & wealth.
Classicism is a reality. That lofty feeling of satisfaction is like a tower above the great unwashed masses. One’s money can afford a lot of luxuries and experiences which are unavailable to many of us. Space tourism comes to mind. If someone tells you they are going to a classy party, they are likely telegraphing the fact that it is a fête with some money behind it. On the flipside, if you are accused of doing something classless, you are being j’accused of acting like someone outside the circle of wealth.
Director Ruben Östlund has poked his camera lens into the societal politics of relationships, money, classism and those who lack that oh so important liquidity. Humans have made the world a marketplace consisting of creators, buyers, sellers, and suppliers. You are somewhere on this spectrum or you are no one. Call it last stage capitalism or a narrowing of our willingness to understand our fellow human beings besides what’s in their wallet. It’s a frustrating shortcut and bleeds us of our own humanity.
But Östlund is an artist & storyteller. He understands people are not cardboard cutouts no matter how hard we try to deny that poor are lazy or the rich are heartless. Some behaviors reinforce these cliché. We have seen that a lot more clearly in American politics of the past few years and the worldwide response to the Covid global pandemic. I am a believer in art being a salve for the soul, but these days test my optimism.