The Tom Hanks Movie "The Money Pit" Is Actually A Documentary About Our Economy
Over at Slate they've realized that the Tom Hanks movie from the 80s "The Money Pit" is actually just a documentary about our current financial crisis and the bailout of AIG. Specifically, the scene in which the kitchen catches fire and the bathtub falls through the floor. (Video, inside...)
Of all the metaphors we have seen for the current economic crisis -- and yes, we've seen more than a few -- this is clearly the most apt.
I have to imagine Henry Paulson feels a lot like Tom Hanks right now.
The dawn of Monday morning brought news that despite the sinking of $123 billion of taxpayer money into mega-insurer AIG, the company is nowhere near fixed. (Remember, AIG is in the business of offering credit-default swaps, which are essentially insurance plans for mortgage bonds.) So the U.S. government is revising the bailout and buying $40 billion of AIG’s stock through the $700 billion bailout fund. In all, taxpayers will have invested about $150 billion in AIG. (It’s not $163 billion because the government renegotiating some of the original loan’s terms.)
The article goes to speculate as to whether other "too big to fail" companies will turn into similar money pits -- car companies for example.
The Money Pit [Slate]
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam malesuada commodo erat et molestie. Duis pellentesque aliquam bibendum. Suspendisse venenatis lobortis eleifend. Mauris id est sed lectus convallis aliquam.
Post a comment
Comments:
One of my favorite movies, ever.
This is getting ridiculous. How can so many supposedly smart people continually do stupid things? It's like they know what should be done, then make a conscious effort to do the opposite. This is either stupidity on the level of the last 8 year's worth of federal decisions, or brilliance disguised as stupidity to make a small group of very rich people even richer. Also, much like the last 8 year's worth of federal decisions.
Possibly the funniest moment on film, ever.
And now Paulson wants us all to start borrowing money. Frigtard, that's why we're in the mess we're in. Only an idiot would take on new debt now.
If that scene is a metaphor for the collapse of our economy, where does the master staircase collapse figure in? I'm almost afraid to ask.
The Money Pit is a 1986 comedy film, and a remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. And much like the Money Pit this is the same thing that has happened to us by the rich again and again.
@ThickSkinned:
It doesn't matter how smart you are if greed clouds your judgement. They took a gamble on the risk side of it, and for a while, it was totally working. It was doomed to fail, and absolutely a small group of very rich people got even richer.
Problem with this metaphor: at the end of the movie the house was fixed.
Where does the turkey shooting from the oven come in? The CEO getting tossed out of the window from the top floor of the office?
This new layout has given me a headache. Then on top of that, we have a TARP that isn't a TARP. Ugh.
But where's the relationship subplot in the economic crisis? We'll split from China after the prolonged stress brings all our doubts into light, only to get back together at the last moment out of separation anxiety?
Right now, I'm guessing we're Tom Hanks trapped in the hole in the floor? Throwing our paper money at the house like so many ineffective toy airplanes.
So, it will only take "two weeks" to fix the economy then, right?
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers if you have issue #0 or know where to find it. The 1st page is great. This goes all the way back to 69, 79, 89 (ok really 85), you get the picture.
@Papercutninja: What risk? Once it turned into a losing proposition we step in to prop it up. I want a business that is guaranteed to survive no matter how stupidly I run it.
It's not a matter of smart people doing stupid things. It's really a matter of greedy people doing evil things and not worrying about the consequences. I've been trying to wrap my mind around all these financial products and banking concepts, and it's mind boggling to me.
I can see how people who work in the industry might be tempted to game the system and make a profit somewhere along the way. Unfortunately, everyone else got jumped on the greed bandwagon and escalated things.
If AIG is a money pit, the automakers would be a money crater the size of Texas.
@chrisjames: Tom Hanks waiting for Shelley Long to come home and yank the rug out so he can fall further.
I remember watching this specific scene in fifth grade, we were discussing the word "catalyst".
How fitting.
It is well known that the stock market is stacked against the little guy. Are we (the little guy) "stupid" for investing? Maybe. Is anyone is selling in this market (for reasons other than absolute necessity) stupid? That depends. If the term "stupid" includes "absolutely insane" or "moron", then yes.
We are all unfortunately along for the ride of much larger and more powerful companies and people than ourselves. To the extent you can hold on, hold on tight.
But stop selling people ... what's wrong with you?
Man, I was giggling uncontrollably all afternoon at work thinking about that scene. What's the parallel to Tom Hank's uncontrollable laughter when the bathtub drops?
@humphrmi: the uncontrollable laughter of the american public when the auto bail out goes thru. . . . .
I love that scene so much...that has to be the best fit of laughter ever filmed.
All we do is complain though. Of course they continue to do stupid things when all we do is complain. What can we do, write articles, complain on the internet, write to our congressman? I'm seriously starting to believe that they are starting to ignore public opinion here because all we can do is complain or write articles or complain on the internet. What power does the average citizen truly have any more? We vote, then we're screwed. They are throwing money at everything, giving us the bill, bailing out terrible business models, and what can we do? We are like helpless children.
@ThickSkinned: This is either stupidity on the level of the last 8 year's worth of federal decisions, or brilliance disguised as stupidity to make a small group of very rich people even richer.
Shhh, don't spoil the puppet show for the younger children!
In regards to "too big to fail". Isn't that part of what anti-trust laws were intended for? I was listening to a commentator on NPR a couple weeks ago and he was talking about how anti trust laws were intended not only to prevent one company from controlling an entire market, but also to prevent companies from becoming so large that they'd cause huge economic damage if they should fail.
@NumberFiveIsAlive: you can do more than that. when you approach the problem as a whole, it can seem impossible to make any headway, but change doesn't come overnite. & contrary to what the politicos would have us believe, it doesn't come from washington.
so what can you do? activism. attend your town council meetings. run for local office. volunteer your time to local organizations that promote social, economic & political development within your community. hell, even developing your own neighborhood (as in knowing your neighbors & working together to promote positive change for each other) can help.
the key is participation. you can't just vote & call it a day - you need to discover what you can do to help & do it.
@Froggmann: ahh, but you forget the scene where the agent dupes another unwitting couple in a foreign land, thus allowing everything to start anew. the moral there being that we'll all be duped again by the same flimflammer in a different con.
what i'm trying to figure out is where exactly alexander godunov (the maestro) fits into all this moralizing.
@bonzombiekitty: Didn't you get the memo? Anti-trust laws promote socialism, and of course the world would end if we did anything even approaching "socialist". Oh, wait, we're socializing the losses from the financial industry's 30 years of insanity (read: deregulation). Seriously, what the hell did people THINK would happen? Don't let the fox loose in the henhouse and be shocked when you get dead chickens.
So does this mean we have to marry Shelley Long if we want to live happily ever after?
I don't understand why we don't let these companies fail. Yes, there will be significant short term pain for many impacted by the failure. But in the long term we will come out ahead. When a bank fails, other banks step in and pick up their business. If GM fails, someone else will make cars, and hire people to make those cars.
We have had years and years of Wall Street led short-sited business decisions. During this time investors and Company Executives have recognized huge financial gains. It's time for these same people to deal with the pain of those decisions. Without allowing these organizations to feel the pain, we'll end up right back where we started at some point.
Oh man. Bit of advice do not pour water on an electrical fire.