Class (& Sex) Straddling- A Perfect Example
Posted October 15th, 2007 by Skip
If you are a bit confused when someone talks about straddling classes go see "Michael Clayton", which is a textbook example of a working/lower middle class son trying to fit into the owning class, getting in over his head, and pulling out in the nick of time with the help of his working class family. The contrast in value structure between George Clooney's character and Sydney Pollack's is fantastic. A beautiful supporting role in this class conflict by Tom Wilkinson really sets things in perspective.
That's the main story. But the secondary story of Tilda Swinton's character trying to fit into the rich old boys network is a piece of art too, in part because she portrays evil so well. Unlike Clooney's character, Tilda is all alone in the world (upper middle class, not working or lower middle class) and as the movie goes along has no checks or balances in her descent into the abyss, freaking out as she goes down.
Go see this movie.
Re: Class (& Sex) Straddling- A Perfect Example
One can only hope.
Re: Class (& Sex) Straddling- A Perfect Example
No, I doubt she does either, at least in a way that's obvious to her. But the similarities, her friends are her bosses who are doing some awful, corrupt things, are right on and so I imagine that iof Condi was in touch with her feelings she would quake like that.
Re: Class (& Sex) Straddling- A Perfect Example
Oh god! That's just who she was like, except I think not as good at being angry/scornful. And I'm not convinced that Condi worries like that in private.
Re: Class (& Sex) Straddling- A Perfect Example
In various articles (sorry no link) Tilda Swinton said she thought continuously of Condoleezza Rice while in her role.
Re: Class (& Sex) Straddling- A Perfect Example
Yay! Movie time. I also just saw this movie this weekend and really enjoyed it. I also think the great thing about it was the way Michael's character was contextualized by his family - or at least the males of his family (brothers, to some extent Father, and son). All of his other contacts are men (co-workers, poker players, etc.) Another interesting values portrait was the hit-and-run guy (SO glad the movie didn't turn out to be about him).
The weak part was the absence/erasure of the females, including those of Michael's family (mother, sisters, son's mother), and the farm girl Anna (the plot flies her to NY and then drops her). I think Tilda Swinton's character was really limited by the fact that she is mostly only shown relating to her mirror (and the boy's network). She doesn't seem quite entitled enough to me to be really upper middle class - her anxiety seems deeper than just that induced by crossing the gender barrier. But I could be wrong. She has some really good scenes (one in particular, but I don't want to give it away), but I think the writer wasn't committed enough to her character, or reached the limits of his imagination with her. And the other women are mostly shown nagging (the son's mom and Michael's sisters in their brief cameos, and Anna's sister).
This would make an interesting double-feature with "3:10 to Yuma", which is even more bereft of women (though I also really liked it). It's also very much about money and power and masculinity, and it does speak to the difficulties of being a small business owner (in this case, small-time cattle man) in the age of dawning super capital (as played by the Southern Pacific railroad). But overall it probably works better as a movie about war than about class. Of course, Gretchen Mol is regrettably left behind at the ranch. And the guy who played Wash in Serenity has a small and sympathetic role.