Satire in Marxism

    A striking aspect of pop culture is how it fuels widespread frustrations of capitalism into humor, memes, and satirical commentary. We learned in our readings this week how pop culture messages pertaining to Marxism, or the idea of class struggle in our society, fuel various content in the entertainment industry, promoting the theory itself. An example of this that we learned this week comes from James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ (1997), when lower class Jack feels like he’s the “king of the world” despite heaving no wealth. The hidden message in this particular pop culture movie is to embrace elements of Marxism and to realize that we don’t need to be wealthy in order to be happy and have a positive outlook on life. When I reflected on these examples, I realized that we see these messages pertaining to Marxism often, largely presented through jokes, humor, and other relatable content. Which led me to think, is it more effective to bring recognition to the ideology of Marxism through humorous pop culture themes?

    If we look at some 21^st century pop culture, we see how capitalism isn’t necessarily criticized through direct rhetoric, but rather through relatable humor that seemingly makes the criticism more effective. One of the more popular movies of this century is Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013). This film offers one of the most vivid recent examples of how pop culture can use excess humor to critique capitalism and the overall pursuit of wealth. This movie is indeed hilarious, with Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill representing the real-life story of members on wall street, particularly fraudster Jordan Belfort and his company that featured drugs, sex, and various humiliating activities. My personal favorite scene is where Matthew McConaughey’s character gives Jordan Belfort some “advice” on being successful on wall street… which was hilarious, but of course satirical. Some will argue that this film may support capitalism through varying messages in the movie due to Belfort’s glamourous and luxurious lifestyle. However, I argue that the humor and end result of this film brings light to the idea of Marxism itself. If you think about it, Belfort craves and desires money to the point where he uncaringly scams thousands of people across the country without hesitation, slowly losing his morality as the film goes on. He essentially treats wealth accumulation not for comfort or stability, but as a competitive game rooted in acts of wrongdoing, domination, risk, greed, and lust. The real-life Jordan Belfort told Piers Morgan in a 2014 CNN interview:

“You become numb, that’s what happens, insanity and all this all this other stuff that you do, what seems amazing at first becomes common place after awhile. You don’t lose your soul all at once, you lose it a little bit at a time incrementally. When I lost my ethical way, it was sort of like this tiny steps imperceptible steps.”

    In the end of course, Jordan lost everything. He went to federal prison for two years and lost all of his wealth, assets, and of course, his happiness, despite all of his fame and success. He told viewers in the same CNN interview that “It’s important that the movie is viewed the right way, certainty as a cautionary tale.” This goes to show that the humor in this well-known film serves as a mechanism for almost making fun or laughing at the financial elites, or the upper-class. It highlights how the rich and wealthy are evil and have no integrity for anyone else economically or politically below them, reinforcing elements of Marxism. The pop culture references throughout this film, with the use of humor, encapsulates the idea of Marxism itself. This seems very effective, as people love this movie, though seemingly for the wrong reason.