I
f I ask you to tell me about
Adam McKay’s 2010 film
“The Other Guys,” you’ll
probably tell me it’s a buddy-
cop
film
starring
Will
Ferrell
and Mark
Wahlberg.
You might
recount
the cameos
from
Samuel L.
Jackson
and
The
Rock as hypermasculine cops
who absent mindedly jump
off a building to their deaths
in a less than heroic attempt
to catch a perp. Perhaps you’ll
remember
Michael
Keaton’s
pretty hilarious turn as a police
chief by day, Bed, Bad & Beyond
floor manager by night. But you
probably don’t remember much
about the villain. It’s not the
English mercenaries with guns
and bad attitudes — they’re the
antagonists. Steve Coogan plays
the villain: a banker. It’s his
bumbling attempt at covering
investment losses that draws
the antagonists in.
So
it’s
really
not
too
surprising that the guy who
brought us such comedy gold as
“Anchorman” and “Talladega
Nights” also brought us the
most biting and, in my opinion,
one of the more important films
to come out in the last few years
with “The Big Short.” It’s a
movie that walks a very fine
line
between
entertainment
and education and succeeds on
both fronts. The goal, I think,
is to laugh for two hours, and,
in the last five minutes, to get
angry, fuming even.
But with whom are we
supposed to be angry? The
Banks, of course! Those crooks
on Wall Street!
No, it’s not that simple.
Let’s examine the other big
bank movie that most people
(myself included) thought “The
Big Short” would ultimately
be: “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
These are actually two very
different movies; Where “The
Big Short” focuses on hedge
fund
managers,
“The
Wolf
of Wall Street” follows the
investment bankers themselves.
For three hours, we are seduced
by this Wall Street life of excess
and luxury and opulence. Even
if you despise the movie, you
can’t help but marvel a little
bit at how much fun all these
people had. All the drugs, the
sex — even Jonah Hill looking
his absolute worst can get some
— and nothing ever goes wrong.
Ever.
The point, of course, in
flashing all this excess is to
show just how irresponsible
and ego-driven these people
are, right? Wrong. The key is in
the very last shot. Go watch it —
I’ll wait.
That last shot is 24 seconds
long,
and
it
captures
an
audience. But it’s not just any
audience — it’s you, you who
desires wealth and power and
influence just as much as the
next guy, you who wants success
with the minimal amount of
effort. Look at these faces —
they’re
enthralled,
they’re
eating up Jordan Belfort’s coke-
dusted, slimy words. This man
robbed them, he robbed you, but
you’re fascinated, mesmerized
and you yearn for a piece of his
success.
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
exists to remind you that guys
like Jordan Belfort continue to
thrive and that it’s up to you
to be seduced by them or rise
against them. But I think the
movie itself seduced a lot of
people, and its message got lost
in a Quaalude-induced haze.
Which is why it’s appropriate
“The Big Short” was released
only two years after “Wolf.” It’s
a second attempt at a similar
message, only this time it’s far
more blunt about it.
Rather than have a character
break the fourth wall and
directly tell the audience how
much of a scumbag he/she
is, as Leonardo DiCaprio did
as Belfort in “Wolf,” McKay
very smartly has celebrities
playing themselves address the
audience. “You didn’t listen the
first time, “ McKay might have
said. “So here’s Margot Robbie
in a bathtub to explain it to
you.” Well it got my attention,
and the attention of every other
individual in a packed theater
on a Saturday night, regardless
of gender or age.
McKay
does
the
heavy
lifting for us, witling down a
very complicated issue (and
certainly
more
complicated
than the film suggests) into
the bare bones so that we the
plebeians can understand just
how badly we got screwed over.
So by the end of the movie, we
are supposed to have laughed
at the absurdity of it all, and
then we’re supposed to get
angry. “How could they do this?
How inhumane!” we mumble
to ourselves or exclaim to our
friends and family as we exit
the theater.
But that’s still not the whole
story.
Because
you’re
forgetting
that
we’ve
been
spoon-fed
information to make sure that
we get it this time. And you’re
also forgetting that we have
seen clips of us plebeians living
our lives, being completely
ignorant of our own stupidity.
Take, for example, the father
of two who doesn’t check
to make sure his landlord is
making regular payments to
the bank, or the stripper who
takes out mortgages with zero
money down on five homes and
an apartment. The banks may
have screwed them, but they let
themselves get screwed.
I saw “The Big Short” with
my family over winter break,
and as we left the theater, I
heard exclamations of anger.
Many in the audience didn’t
even get out of their seats, as
though petrified by their rage.
And as I sat with my family
at dinner that night, as we
discussed the movie, I said to
them, “The biggest joke of that
movie is, two days from now,
none of these people will care
or remember their anger or why
they were angry in the first
place.”
And I’m fairly certain I’m
right, because people should
be outraged, and they should
be even more outraged that not
only has nothing changed in the
eight years since the collapse,
but that the banks are bigger.
And
we
simply
cannot
forget that anger and betrayal,
because
there’s
a
primary
election
fast
approaching
and there’s a particular, very
popular candidate who is very
pro-Big Bank and blames the
2008
collapse
on
“shadow
banks,” like AIG, as opposed
to the actual banks that caused
the actual problems (hint: four
of her career top five donors
are Citigroup, Goldman Sachs,
JPMorgan Chase and Morgan
Stanley).
I never expected the public
to have a “Network”-style “I’m
mad as hell, and I’m not going to
take it anymore!” moment after
seeing “The Big Short,” but I
did expect a little more than
awards speculation. Where’s
the outrage? I can’t even find
a wayward Tumblr warrior
ranting about it.
My
point
is
this:
“The
Big
Short”
is
more
than
entertainment — it’s a history
lesson that doubles as a slap in
the face to remind us just how
badly we as a nation, not just
Wall Street, screwed up. There
are more educational, better
researched and more academic
media that better explain the
heart of the 2008 collapse (the
documentary “Inside Job” is
a great place to start — Matt
Damon narrates, if that helps.
As is the book “The Big Short.”),
but “The Big Short” is an
accessible entry point that gets
the job done.
To deny that we have a part
to play, to feign ignorance, is
painfully foolish. Go see “The
Big Short.” Laugh, have a good
time. And then let the pain sink
in. And then get angry. Because
if you don’t soon, when the next
recession hits in the next 10, or
15, or 20 years, if not sooner,
it’ll be too late. And I really
don’t think we need another
film about the collapse of the
American economy.
Bircoll is probably watching
the History Channel. To give him
a suggestion that isn’t “Ancient
Aliens,” email jbircoll@umich.edu.
FILM COLUMN
A history lesson from
‘The Big Short’
JAMIE
BIRCOLL
‘American Idol’ gives
fans a final farewell
FOX
It’s Jenny from the block!!!
By HAILEY MIDDLEBROOK
Daily Arts Writer
I was late to the “American
Idol” train. I didn’t see Kelly
Clarkson win the singing com-
petition during
its first season
on FOX, nor did
I watch Car-
rie Underwood
rise in season
four while still
using
a
hair
crimper.
I tuned in
with the rest
of America in
2008. It was
the seventh season of “Idol,”
with the holy trinity of judges
still present (Simon Cowell,
Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul;
a.k.a. bad cop, lukewarm cop and
overly good cop). I was trans-
fixed. My eighth grade friend
group watched religiously each
week, our fingers poised over
cordless phones to six-way call
each other when something
huge
happened
(OMG,
he’s
singing an acoustic version of
Michael Jackson!!!) and to dial
in votes for our favorites at the
end of the show, punching their
digits with surgical precision.
It was all very dramatic.
Debates over which David was
better — David Cook or David
Archuleta, the two finalists in
season seven — got heated at
the lunch table, on the “Today
Show” and in every tabloid
magazine. At the season finale,
“Idol” received over 97 million
votes from viewers, the highest
recorded number in the show’s
history. Cook won over Archul-
eta by a margin of just 12 million
votes. We cheered, we cried.
And then? “American Idol”
fell hard.
The trinity broke up: Paula
was first to go, leaving the judg-
ing panel after season eight.
Simon, the group’s loved and
hated leader (let’s be honest,
his merciless commentary was
really why we all watched the
show), left in 2010. Randy, argu-
ably the most useless judge (his
go-to advice: “Dawg, you’ve got
to sell it”) held on until season
13, long after the show ratings
had plummeted. New judges
filled in — Nicki Minaj, Mariah
Carey, Steven Tyler, Kara Dio-
Gardi, even Ellen Degeneres
took a turn — but like a Defense
Against the Dark Arts professor
at Hogwarts, no one stayed for
long.
Despite host Ryan Seacrest’s
apparent
immortality,
the
show died. In May 2015, FOX
announced that “American Idol”
would run for a final season 15,
dubbed the “Farewell Season.”
Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick,
Jr. and Keith Urban would make
up the season’s judging panel,
with past “Idol” winners helping
weed out the good and the bad at
auditions.
Following tradition, the Janu-
ary premiere was spread out
over two nights, but the audi-
tion process this year seems to
be in overdrive: “Idol” show-
cased not one, but four cit-
ies, including Atlanta, Denver,
San Francisco and Little Rock.
Where Atlanta auditions alone
used to fill two episodes, the
cities are now distilled into
45-minute segments of Golden
Ticket
winners
(contestants
who are approved to advance
to Hollywood). The auditions
were all the same: solid perfor-
mances, but a startling lack of
funny/absurd/terrible tryouts.
No hilarious “Pants On the
Ground” guy (Larry Platt, sea-
son nine) or even an irritating
“Bikini Girl” (Katrina Darrell,
who auditioned in her bikini
in season eight). Maybe “Idol”
is trying to get artistic respect
in its last days by cutting epic
fails?
Here’s who they found: good
singers with gripping backsto-
ries. Lee Jean, a 15-year-old
whose brother died in 2012,
stole the show in Atlanta with
Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire,”
prompting J-Lo to squeal, “I
just want to squeeze you!” Jor-
dan and Alex Sasser, an overly
cheerful married couple, audi-
tioned in Denver together with
a baby in tow, though only
Jordan walked away with a
ticket (leaving a very uncheer-
ful Alex). In Little Rock, Dal-
ton Rapattoni, wild-eyed and
dressed like he was plucked
from a Green Day music video,
wowed with an indie-rock ver-
sion of “The Phantom of the
Opera.”
But the biggest surprise came
in San Francisco, when some
guy named Kanye West hit the
stage, his girlfriend Kim Kar-
dashian waiting expectantly
outside. No, seriously. Kanye
delivered an a capella version
of “Gold Digger” and (shocker)
got a Golden Ticket from the
judges, making him probably
the only person to announce his
plans to run for presidency and
audition for “Idol” in the same
year.
Has
“American
Idol”
changed? Yes and no. Look-
ing past the sob stories and
J-Lo’s boy crush favoritism,
there’s still some undeniable
singing talent among contes-
tants. The show hasn’t failed
because people can’t sing any-
more — “Idol” is just not catchy
enough. There’s no meanness or
sexual tension (looking at you,
Paula and Simon) on the judg-
ing panel; no more atrocious
auditions that become viral hits
overnight. Cameras don’t fol-
low angry rejected contestants
down the hall. Ryan Seacrest
doesn’t even flirt anymore.
The bottom line is, “Ameri-
can Idol” is boring. It isn’t an
epic fail in quality, but the
show’s utter blandness and pre-
dictability make it impossible
to watch. Still, I’ll give my old
favorite the benefit of the doubt
in its early stages — maybe one
more star will come from it yet.
B-
American
Idol
Season Fifteen
Wednesdays
at 8:00 p.m.
FOX
TV REVIEW
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, January 13, 2016 — 5A