For the Love of Money

For the Love of Money

The relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, as it is illustrated by Karl Marx in The Communist Manifesto, is evident in the social strata among us, even today. Taking a look at a clip from the 1992 film Glengarry and Glen Ross, we find a striking example of how these social classes are interrelated and how this interrelationship creates a cycle of man versus men, in which the bourgeois class is the victor, and the proletarian is the mule.

Alec Baldwin acts as the head of a real estate company, and in his address to the salespeople of Mitch and Murray he drives home the notion that money is paramount. He simultaneously manages to dehumanize his workers by making statements which undermine the significance of any value or worth that they have placed on anything else in their lives: i.e. a family. He also makes references to himself as the kind of car he drives, the watch he is wearing, and how much money he made in a year; he juxtaposes this idea that he is a fancy watch and a BMW with the idea that the man to whom he is speaking is nothing more than a Hyundai. This issue falls in line with the argument made by Marx in The German Ideology when he asserts “[…] the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time the ruling intellectual force” (Marx 656). What this statement proves is that monetary power equals power indefinitely. Without money, or material possessions, people are of no good whatever, unless they create revenue for those in power. Furthermore, with money and intellect at the fingertips of others, people like the salesmen in this clip are left with no defense, and no other option but to do as they are told.

This fact is also evident in the exchange between Baldwin’s character and the employee who tries to pour his cup of coffee. The man is told, “That coffee is for closers only.” Taking the aforementioned statement from Marx, we see that the dynamics of the relationship between the two men points toward not only an inequality on the monetary plane, but on the plane of authority as well; the man with the coffee pot is subject to ridicule in areas other than just the work arena. The salesman is forced to obey his boss as a child would obey his mother.

The salespeople in this clip are without defense or a plan for an immediate revolt. “In those branches of industry in which hardly any period of apprenticeship is required and where the mere bodily existence of the worker suffices, the cost necessary for his production is almost confined to the commodities necessary for keeping him alive and capable of working” (Marx 660). This statement illuminates an issue which helps to keep the common worker at bay. With no area of expertise to speak of, the salesmen in the film are forced work in line with the demands of the employer, for they are expendable and they know it. The exchange between Alec Baldwin’s character and the salespeople for Mitch and Murray are comparable to any exchange one could imagine between those with money and those without money.

“Labor power […] is a commodity, neither more nor less than sugar” (Marx 659). The workers in this film are forced to reconcile their lack of power within the company by taking an immediate action step toward improving upon the value of their own labor power i.e. become better salespeople. On the larger scale, this clip serves as a model for anyone who fits the proletarian schema. “If you can’t beat them, join them.” And, in this case, “If you can’t be them, work harder to please them.”


Works cited

Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto. Chicago: Gateway Editions, 1985
Marx, Karl. "Literary Theory: An Anthology." Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing. Maldon, Ma, 2004. (653-664).