Daniel Stähr on the portrayal of wealth in film
Is there such a thing as anti-capitalist storytelling?

“The Wolf of Wall Street”, “White Lotus”, “Parasite” – there is no shortage of films and series that take a critical look at excessive wealth. Daniel Stähr takes a closer look – and finds a lack of guidance on how to resist it.

By Daniel Stähr

Criticism of capitalism in film seems to be good business – after all, Hollywood has been obsessed with this topic for years. There is Martin Scorsese's celebration of hedonism, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays financial fraudster Jordan Belfort, or successful series such as White Lotus (since 2021) and Succession (2018-2023). Whether told as biting satire or family drama, they remind us that even vast amounts of money do not make us happy or likeable.

The list of successful films and series critical of capitalism could be extended indefinitely and is by no means limited to Hollywood: the South Korean film Parasite by Bong Joon-ho won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2020. Triangle of Sadness by Swedish director Ruben Östlund was awarded the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2022. These films also poke fun at extreme wealth – which amounts to a critique of capitalist structures. So is it a good sign that the multi-billion-dollar film industry has discovered capitalism criticism for itself?

Substitute Action to Secure the Status Quo

Probably not. Because what all these films and series have in common is that they leave it at a critique of the status quo. The result is that the audience is confirmed in its sceptical attitude towards capitalism. The family in Succession is terrible, the rich people in White Lotus are pathetic, and we can pat ourselves on the back for not being like them. But in the end, it remains a rather superficial criticism. Positive visions of what a better and fairer world could look like? None whatsoever.

So what are the consequences of consuming these films and series, apart from confirming our own world view? British cultural theorist Mark Fisher has described this form of entertainment as a ‘capitalism-critical substitute action’: the media we consume perform capitalism criticism for us.

You can compare it to cooking shows. Think of people who would like to prepare an elaborate meal. But after a long day at work, they don't have the energy to spend hours in the kitchen, so they prefer to watch shows like these instead. Watching spectacular dishes being prepared on TV becomes a substitute for cooking themselves. Watching the films and series mentioned above serves the same function. Because we lack the energy to protest after hours of wage labour, we prefer to watch Hollywood perform its critique of capitalism for us.

There is Another Way

Of course, this does not mean that these films and series are not successful – quite the contrary! I enjoyed watching them all very much. We just must not convince ourselves that consuming these media will bring about change. There are examples of how criticism of the system can be packaged more effectively. Andor, a Star Wars prequel from Disney, impressively shows the different forms rebellion against a fascist system can take. The series doesn't stop at the simple realisation that “authoritarianism is bad”, but illustrates the possibilities (and personal costs) of resistance. In Donald Trump's USA, this message takes on a whole new urgency.

Kim Stanley Robinson's novel The Ministry for the Future (2020) tells the story of how humanity combats climate catastrophe. The book is not a utopia in which the capitalist system is replaced overnight and suddenly everything is fine. Rather, Robinson describes how humanity can still save its planet with the help of gradual changes. This is inspiring and gives hope, without the author downplaying the drastic nature of the situation.

And then there is science fiction icon Ursula K. Le Guin. With books such as The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and The Dispossessed (1974), she showed more than 50 years ago how capitalism and patriarchy worsen our lives and what we as humanity could gain if we left these systems behind.

Art can be an inspiration for a fairer world. But to do so, it must go beyond a superficial critique of the status quo and show us what is worth fighting for.