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his paper is an attempt to view the film, With Honors, in the light of Marxist film theory. Marxist film criticism, which is broad and has many branches, is basically based on Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie(Capital: Critique of Political Economy, 1867).Fundamentally, Marxist criticism views a literary work as a contingency of human labor in which the creator underscores the role of class and reflects the ideology that challenges the status quo social order (http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com).
Synopsis of With Honors
Produced in 1994, the film, With Honors,written by William Mastrosimone and directed by Alek Keshishian, is a touching tale of Monty (Brendan Fraser), a Harvard student, whohad to make an arduous choice between living with honorand graduating with honors.
One night, a power outage destroyed Monty’s thesis file on the computer. Fortunately, he had saved one hard copy.Extremely anxious about having only one copy, he hurried to produce several copies. Accidentally, the lone copy fell down a ledge and went through the slats to the boiler room where it reached the hand of Simon Wilder (Joe Pesci), a homeless man living there. Simon promised to return Monty’s thesis, one page at a time, in exchange of certain favors.
The incident would change the lives of the two forever. Monty took care of Simon’s needs and failing health while Simon became a father figure to Monty and provided a balance to his excessively academic outlooks. The relationship that evolved became a testament to the paramount importance of friendship and honor in life. Monty opted to lead an honorable life over graduating with honors. The choice fits well with Harvard’s motto: Veritas!
Marxist Criticismand With Honors
Marxist criticism tends to favor cinemas of popular front and themes that deal with class conflict, class distinction, and subordinates aesthetic elements to the final political and social meaning of literature(Forsyth 1997; www.iep.utm.edu). This type of criticism focuses on the ideological content -values and assumptions- of the work in terms of power, class, race, and culture. Marxist critics avow that literature is essentially political because a film, for instance, either supports or challenges economic inequality and oppression. The critic’s goal is not limited to clarifying these issues but also to rectifying social injustices(www.profdutterer.com).Moreover, Marxist criticism place premium on the content of the film, particularly the themes, rather than on its formal qualities.
The movie, With Honors, is a representation of the subtle polarization of the proletariat represented by Simon Wilder, the boiler room occupant, and bourgeois represented by Monty and Harvard. Monty lives and speaks in academic elitism while Simon, who lives in squalid poverty, speaks about the profound truths and realities of life. The elite are tied with capitalism which is associated with ideologies that buttress the infrastructures of economic inequalities and injustice.The poor are clients of dehumanization and manipulation.
Monty’s losing his thesis symbolizes the untenability of capitalism in the narratives of humanism and social justice. Simon’s accidental hold of the lost thesis coincides with Marxism eloquence and ideological profundity for social ideals and transformation. The free, dialogical encounter between Monty and Simon brings about this change, this transformation that servesthe universal ends of humanity. Friendship and honor are far more desirable than graduating with honors. To graduate with honors does not necessarily make one honorable!
To borrow Hegel’s formula, Monty’s thesis and his losing it corresponds to the Hegelian thesis of capitalism; Simon’s finding Monty’s thesis augurs the period of socialist relevance; and, Simon’s and Monty’s vital entanglement ushers the era of communism.
The film’s challenge is: to graduate with honors at the expense of humanity (critique of capitalism) or to affirm true friendship and honor at the expense of academic honors.
The film’s themes of honor and friendship vis-à-vis rigid overly academicworld-view are ordinate elements while its aesthetic dimensions become subordinate concerns. Hence, the predominance of content in the film suits well with Marxist criticism.
Works Cited
Socialistregister.com/index.php October 2, 2011.
Marxism, Film and Theory: From the Baaricades to Postmodernism.
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