Privilege as a Position

In this post, I'd rather talk more about our reaction to the movie and the book as a class, rather than the book itself. I didn't quite "get" the book, or the movie. What was I supposed to feel? What was I supposed to think? Was it supposed to show me the absurdity of a man's life? Or was it supposed to show me a third person, neutral view into a lifestyle no one could relate to? Even after watching the movie, I'm confused. If anything, the movie made it even more confusing. The book was already hard enough to understand - while short, the first half or so is almost entirely dialogue. I was lost easily, and couldn't tell who was saying what, unless someone's name was mentioned. The characters felt like they were reading to me, and that was magnified in the movie. In the end, I don't really know what I'm supposed to take from it.

I think what was more interesting, and more insightful, was the discussion around privilege in class. I think what Matthew brought up (but wasn't really answered, in my opinion) was valid. What counts as "rich"? You have two vacation homes, a yacht, and a private jet? Or you buy 4 Apple watches for your dogs? Or, you can live a life free of debt? All of these count as privilege, yet all of these come with their own burdens. I feel like people like to rag on the rich or privileged because it's easy. It's mentioned that Eric has made it so far because of his talent to read patterns. It doesn't seem like he has much skill in doing regular things, and he's plagued from boredom frequently. Is that a privilege? Why was there such an open dislike on his character? Because he fucks a lot of women, or because he's stubborn?

How I see it is, he's obviously not born into old money, and he doesn't really seem to understand what money is in the first place. It's a means to an end, which is true especially in the modern world. So, is it wrong? One scene that was brought up discussion was Eric trying to buy the cathedral. Many criticized him, including his dealer, that he didn't understand the value of it, and shouldn't keep art to himself. However, let's assume Eric has been able to make it this far by having this talent in asset trading and betting, as it's insinuated. My experience with people who are insanely talented or sensitive to things like that are often, for the lack of a better word, extremely slow at everything else, including common sense. Displaying empathy, processing emotion, and communication are things we take for granted, and we expect of others without fail. For Eric to be what I assume to be intelligent from what he reads when he's suffering from insomnia, he probably doesn't see his wife, sex partners, or security guards as how we see other people. For example, when he asks his wife why she's still refusing to have sex with him even though he has taken her out to dinner and attempted to make conversation, some classmates have pointed this out as Eric being drunk on power, and demanding what he should get in return. Growing up with my mother as a research therapist for young children who develop autism after birth, my first reaction was to write it off as Eric actually doesn't understand why. If his wife was a graph, a currency, a company's stock, he would've done everything flawlessly so far. Taken her out for meals, talked to her every time he's seen her during his trip, and asked her questions. In his mind, this was what is expected of men to do to sleep with women, or make them happy, so I didn't see his confused outburst as frustration of just not getting what he wants, but also what he hasn't done or done correctly.

In a sense, I feel bad for Eric, and I feel bad for "privileged" people, whatever that means. I'll never know my parents struggles of living through the 50's in China, and I'll never know my classmate's personal struggles over the years. So, if my parents have starved and were denied education for the first decade of their life, do I not deserve to feel pain and frustration? Because my father has worked tirelessly over the years bringing his family to Canada, is he now too privileged to complain because he finally paid off some debt? Am I too privileged unless I complain about not being afford to eat anything but instant noodles or spend the time to fill out FAFSA applications? Does Eric's struggle to relate and feel at ease in this world get nullified because of his money?

We divide ourselves from people who seem to have it easy, because we need someone to blame that we're burdened by problems. We see their golfing trips, and steakhouse meals, and stubbornness in situations, and we get upset. We don't see - and don't need to experience - the stress that comes with having to close a deal while you're trying to make sure you don't golf like an idiot, remembering the fifteen different ways you say appetizer in other languages, and who's toes this time you're going to step on if you refuse an offer you don't want. Somehow, we have decided that some jobs are easy, and just magically make you money with no stress.

Especially in Eric's case, I felt it was unfair for him to be talked down because "he's just looking for control because he just lost all his money". Is that unfair? Do people in Forex just get their currency from their exotic currency trees at their money tree orchards for free? Do I just get a stock from a top 100 company on NASDAQ every year? Does it not take work to accumulate assets? Even the act of keeping your initial investment is something most people can't handle, let alone trading with large numbers where you'll affect the market. Is Eric not allowed to be upset that the one thing he was sure of - his talent in patterns - is now going to shit right before his eyes? Assuming the author's allusion to Eric's pattern talent, it's fair to say Eric probably made it this far by trading the market, not taking out a million dollar loan from his secretly rich grandpa and buying up JPY. It's fair to say that Eric spent months, if not years, watching every percentage of a cent? The Forex market is different from stocks - it's open all the time. So when does Eric get to stop thinking about it? Thinking about potential changes, political shifts, or just someone accidentally creating a dominoes effect with a sell order?

Before we criticize the privileged, we should remember that the act of living in America as a student, and not a sex worker trafficked from Thailand, is already a huge privilege that no one cares about. We should be grateful we're allowed to call the current president a shithead, we should be grateful we we're allowed to vote without a gun pointed to our heads, and we should be grateful that we're granted the freedom of speaking ill of the country that lets us live here. If we don't want to be chastised for sitting in an air conditioned room at a $300 per class environment in the middle of one of the most desirable and expensive retirement cities in Florida, we should stop whining about people with some 0's to their name. I can guarantee you that no one here is a saint that is the perfect model of an empathetic, patient, loving, and generous person that we expect "privileged" people to be.