Marina Yardaeva Justice does not spare the poor 08.28.2024, 08:04

Is social justice a utopia? Is the issue of inequality being exploited by populists? Many people today will answer in the affirmative. Society is experiencing great disappointment. But disappointment is covered with laughter. And all this, as always, is reflected in the cinema. The theme of class, God forgive me, hostility remains extremely relevant in art. The satirical thriller “The Perfect Liar” has been released in Russia. It has just been released, and the audience is already wildly delighted.

Critics are quick to explain the success: they say the film is a vaccine against the leftist agenda and that people are terribly tired of the hypocritical preaching of leftists.

After reading such reviews, of course, I immediately ran to watch. This is my topic! And I must say, I did not regret it at all. The picture is magnificent. And rightfully so, it is located between “Parasite” and “Triangle of Sadness”; the same problems, the same aesthetics, the same cruel irony, not to mention desperate trolling. But I do not see any condemnation of the ideas of social justice there. On the contrary, I think that all three films brilliantly reveal the problem of society’s misunderstanding of the problem of inequality in principle.

All plans seem to lead to obvious results. In “Parasite” poor people have the opportunity to work for a rich family: the work is dust-free, the salary is reasonable, and the attitude of the employers is more than friendly. New workers constantly cheat, lie, do God knows what at home in the absence of the hosts, and even cause a massacre at a children’s party. In “Triangle of Sadness” millionaires find themselves stranded on a deserted island due to a shipwreck, and at the same time at the mercy of an ordinary cleaning lady. He knows how to find food, make fire, and generally navigates in space quite well. A funny twist occurs: a nobody makes the powerful of the world dance to his tune and literally give themselves to him for the sake of fish.

In the new film, the heroes find themselves alone, this time due to the Spanish flu epidemic. The lockdown is again on the island, but in a luxury property. At the same time, the villa owners care not only about their own well-being, but also about the servants, politely called “staff”. The owners are usually progressive and pro-people. The head of the family writes passionate reports in defense of the working class. And what about the oppressed? And feeling that the rich are trapped by fear of infection, just like in prison, they literally fight with their hands: they demand more money, move into a mansion, drink there, debauchery, play cards, occupy the owner’s swimming pool. In short, they establish communism as if they understood it.

The average person looks at this and tries to brand what they see with simple, common principles. “Do no good, and no evil will come to you,” “No matter how much you feed the wolf…” and “BLM has brought them to this point.” The smarter ones thoughtfully quote the old writers who claimed that slaves dreamed of their slaves, not their freedom. Here’s another rehash of the leftist agenda that’s on everyone’s throats right now.

No one really understands what kind of agenda this is. And I don’t. But I see no turning back of the issue of social inequality. When they talk about injustice, they either put some kind of indelible blame on the conditionally affluent class before the unfortunate poor, or they demand that more taxes be spent on endless charity to support those who really don’t like to work, or they generally call for forgiveness and understanding for all the nonsense they do – Mowgli, because they don’t know what they’re doing.

Some of them are even carried away by this kind of rhetoric. Especially those who can already afford to be charitable. But who likes all this awareness games, environmental friendliness in the literal and figurative sense, the struggle for freedom? And there are those who, it seems, do not know history very well and do not understand the laws of social development. And so these progressives step on the rake again and again: they hypocritically flirt with the inferior, assuring them that all people are brothers, even putting the oppressed above themselves and naturally rake them. In short, they are very distant from the people and do not understand their real needs. Meanwhile, people do not know what they really need, but they feel that their philanthropists are always putting some kind of hat in their hands. In fact, they are very angry. And they take revenge.

And people do not forgive hypocrisy. An indicative moment from a movie that is often encountered in life: the owner of the villa, a fighter for the rights of the humiliated, constantly lies. In his reports extolling freedom, he whistles as if he were breathing and pretends to be God knows who on his own island. He also tells others to pretend. Of course, he gives orders with good intentions, not because he is some kind of tyrant. And naturally, this only causes contempt among his wards.

Francis Fukuyama attributes many social conflicts to the unsatisfied demand for respect. And he is absolutely right. And progressives instinctively understand this, but the problem is that they do not know how to respect. To regret – yes, they can, to get something in return – is also a problem for them, but to recognize in someone else, in someone else’s dignity, the right to one’s own identity – the task is already impossible. The owner of the villa does not call his servants servants in good conscience, but, being a vegetarian, he demands the same herbivory from his subordinates. Is his revelation so unexpected? A brave novice chef easily creates a situation where a weak-willed aristocrat crawls on all fours for meat.

But respect is an illusory thing until it gains power in material embodiment. “Yes, so this is still a benefit, compensation for centuries of slavery?!” – some so-called humanists may exclaim. But no. The point is different. What we need is not compensations-aids, which have nothing to do with respect; we need equal opportunities: access to education and health care, social security, protection in the labor market. And so it is. In civilized countries. We are not talking about Africa right now, but no one kneels before the marginalized there.

Another issue is that many disadvantaged people today still do not appreciate the opportunities that were hard-won in the 20th century. But this is a problem for the disadvantaged themselves, no matter how harsh it may be. They are free to laugh at the geeks who wipe their pants at their desks. They choose to embark on dubious adventures rather than develop their professional skills in a single field. Part of the responsibility for the frivolity of the humiliated and degraded lies, of course, with the privileged few. Because instead of the boring “work and work”, the few now instill in the unfortunate people the idea that they have rights. Rights based on the reality of suffering.

Sweet old songs! They are intoxicating. But the hangover always comes. And for everyone. And among those who believe in free happiness for all, and among those who seduce these little ones. And this, paradoxically, also embodies social justice. Only in a bad version. That’s what the movie is about, by the way. Just like life itself.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.