Movies for Anarchists - The Counselor (2013)

sethlinson (64)in #anarchy • 6 years ago

It's been a while since I've done one of these... So welcome to a new entry in my blog series where I recommend great movies for anarchists.

About "Movies for Anarchists"

In these posts, I won't just be exploring films with an overt pro-liberty message. All of them will at least contains seeds of that message, but the most important factor I'll be looking for is whether the movie challenges the audience to think about freedom.

I'm going to try to keep these reviews generally spoiler-free because I want you to watch these movies. But I also want to give you a taste of each film's libertarian content, so mild spoilers will follow.

Without any further ado, here's today's entry:

The Counselor (2013)

Let me begin by addressing the elephant in the room: many people consider this to be one of the, if not the, worst movie in Sir Ridley Scott's entire catalogue. I disagree. I think The Counselor is a misunderstood masterpiece, and like Blade Runner before it (a film that was also critically reviled upon its initial release), it will one day be appreciated for the remarkable achievement that it is.

I think part of the problem stems from the advertisement. Audiences were primed to expect an action movie. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes writes in their "consensus" that the film is a "suspense thriller that's mercilessly short on suspense or thrills."

I don't believe The Counselor was ever intended to be a suspense thriller or an action movie. The film was written by the great American novelist Cormac McCarthy, and if you know anything about his work , it's deeply nihilistic and philisophical. The Counselor is no exception. Perhaps if critics had gone into the film expecting a Cormac McCarthy movie rather than an action movie they would have been more impressed.

The movie follows a rich and successful lawyer, known only as the Counselor. He is about to be married but soon becomes entangled in a complex drug plot with a middle-man known as Westray. The plan ends up taking a horrible twist and he must protect himself and his bride-to-be as the cartel seeks revenge against all suspected parties.

What makes this a great movie for anarchists?

This entry is more of a stretch than the movies I've previously discussed on my blog. This is not an anarchist movie, at least not in an explicit way. There's only one line that tipped me to start thinking about the anti-government implications of the film.

Counselor: If the drug wars stop this will dry up, right?

The Counselor understands that the government's war on drugs has created the black markets and thus, the cartels: governments in their own right, violent empires that exploit the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of others for their own gain and hurt or kill anybody that gets in their way or challenges their power. That's the definition of government, right? Close enough.

If The Counselor is correct, then every single horrible event in the movie can be blamed, at least tangentially, on the government's drug war.

Once I started thinking about the film through my anti-government lens, I realized that there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. So much of the story is about power.

Governments use their power to legislate what their citizens can put into their bodies and to wage war against anyone who disobeys this decree; thus securing more power for themselves.
Cartels use their power to create a dependent consumer base and murder anyone who crosses them; thus securing more power for themselves.
Characters use their power to exploit the weaknesses of others; thus securing more power for themselves.

Those unfortunate enough to be unsuccessful in their quest for power succumb to the violent retribution of those who do hold power.

Governments, cartels, characters with power... these are all the same thing. We just use different words, but words don't change morality. These are all individuals (or groups of individuals) putting themselves about the rights of others and taking what they want at the expense of others.

The Counselor paints a bleak picture of humanity caught in this violent power struggle where no one is satisfied to live and let live. They all want more.