No heroes in "The Big Short"

The Big Short impressed me in that it is a Hollywood film that delves into the extremely convoluted layer of hell that is Wall Street leading up to the bursting bubble of the housing market. It is kept interesting with attractive faces and big names. It is kept accessible by relatively elementary explanations. But all in all, it is a 120 minute film about economics (to me, a dull subject) and human nature (to me, in this case, a soul-crushing disappointment).

    I am not an expert on economics and I do not claim to fully understand every detail of the housing bubble and financial crisis. But what I am overwhelmingly sensitive to is observing people in positions of power. The people in the American private financial sector are overwhelmingly white and male and this is accurately reflected in the film. I actually get bored looking at the same white guy faces. Men, always in suits and always playing the game. Women, nearly always naked and/or in secondary positions. White people, participating in the system. People of color, victims of the system. I don’t think that this is a superficial sensitivity. I think that this is important to recognize because perhaps things could’ve turned out differently if a diversity of perspectives were equally included and valued.

    A second take away from the film is the question of heroes and anti-heroes. Who was I “supposed” to be rooting for? The capitalist pigs that looked to profit from the false pretenses or the capitalist pigs that blindly ignored the false pretenses? By rooting for the former I am rooting for the collapse of the housing market and economy, rooting for millions of people to become homeless and unemployed and impoverished. By rooting for the latter I am rooting for the exact mindset that caused the housing bubble, tanked the economy, and ruined millions of lives. The “good guy” isn’t really included in the film. The people that I am truly rooting for are the millions of working and middle class Americans that the system has failed. Aside from a peripheral moment, that perspective is completely ignored. I will not congratulate the financial wit and economic intelligence of the film’s protagonists. I say that they are part of the problem.