Social Commentary
I just finished reading Celeste Ng’s book Our Missing Hearts. A book about a dystopian America captures the anger on our streets to a level that makes the story believable and insanely upsetting.
The hatred towards Asians has accelerated due to PACT(Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act), which has become the law. Books have been destroyed—no need to know about our history or novels that tell stories. People are beaten on the street while everyone looks away. It appears to be easy to blame anyone who doesn’t look like White America.
The book confirms that society quickly becomes sheep. Please think of the Holocaust or our country right now. How did a grifter being investigated for multiple criminal activities become a leader in our country?
Then we saw The Good Boss. The movie isn’t great, but it stuck with me. Javier Bardem plays a second-generation factory owner who meddles in the lives of his workers to ensure he receives an award for business excellence. Bardem’s father likely ran the factory the same way, but the times were different. That factory probably felt more like a family who were thankful for the job and support. Today even in Spain, things are not the same.
Very much a social commentary on the workplace today vs. the workplace fifty years ago. At one point (spoiler alert), one of the top workers who becomes the head of operations tells Bardem to stay out of his personal life. His life is his, and he hired him because he is excellent at his job. Truth.
I also saw Triangle of Sadness, a meta-movie about a cruise ship for wealthy people that sinks, leaving a small group of survivors on an island. There is one scene in this film that I laughed out loud for ten minutes. Yet the commentary on these uber-wealthy people is worth the watch.
Perhaps it is the times we live in, but the social commentary I am seeing and reading from authors, artists, filmmakers, and others is a worthy critique of society today. We should all pay attention to these makers and what they are telling us.