Mr. McKay Goes to Washington, Shows The Big Short to Congress

“It’s sort of like the flood’s about to happen and you’re Noah. You’re on the ark. Yeah, you’re okay. But you are not happy looking out at the flood. That’s not a happy moment for Noah.”
― Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Adam McKay brought The Big Short to Congress yesterday. More Republicans than Democrats showed up, which, as Glenn Whipp writes in his piece, was a positive sign for McKay. Then he said what I hoped he would say, which is the single most important thing to take away from The Big Short – this is not a partisan issue. This is something all Americans have to be concerned with:

“I think the right-left divide is the biggest scam that’s ever been perpetrated on America. Trillions of dollars have been siphoned out of our pockets over this stupid right-left distraction that’s been created by the moneyed interests. We made this movie to transcend the partisan politics.”

McKay has succeeded, as The Big Short is not about how Republicans did this, or how Democrats did that, but about the need for more regulation. Because it’s become a partisan issue, no Republican wants regulation, which is funny since the Tea Party formed, in part, because of the bailout. Democrats want regulation, Republicans want the market to fail when it gets in trouble so that it won’t act so foolishly again. I think The Big Short is the best example of why we must have more regulation, and how there is opportunity for people – both the desperate and the conniving – to exploit a system that profits off carelessness and failure.

The Big Short is only the third movie ever to screen for Congress. Because of Bernie Sanders’ fervent campaign, the Wall Street meltdown is front and center, which has nudged Hillary Clinton in that direction. Even some of the Republicans are talking about it, though Ted Cruz’ idea to let the banks fail would have been a disaster of such epic proportions it likely would have put the country in a state where a guy like Sanders really could get elected.

As it is, things were held together just barely, though the aftershocks still anger American citizens every day. Why should the rich have gotten richer off of the meltdown, while the poor lost their pensions, their homes, their savings, and their retirement? Why do students have to live with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt while the millionaires on Wall Street got a bonus for deliberately screwing over the middle- and lower-class Americans? The book The Big Short, and the movie, specifically make the point that there were people who committed fraud and not only walked away with no consequences or jail time, but with bonuses. This is the thing the film nails to the wall expertly, poignantly, unforgettably.

The best thing The Big Short can do, other than to make people mad about what went down, is to inform citizens that they must protect themselves against a system rigged against them. I sound like a Bernie Sanders supporter but I’m actually a Hillary Clinton supporter, and here’s my reason for that: she can win. You can’t get elected, nor can you govern with purist absolutism at the heart of your campaign. You can’t win if you promise at the outset to raise taxes on the middle class. And you can’t win if you don’t work with the Democrat establishment rather than shun them. You can’t win if you don’t have the endorsements but pretend you do. You can’t win unless your platform is about more than Wall Street. This is a big country, with many people and groups needing attention. The most likely outcome of the American election is to follow in the tradition of elections – two-term Democrats are followed by Republicans, going back to FDR (the only Democrat to serve more than two terms). So yeah.

Even if the Republicans recapture the White House, which is most likely, Adam McKay has made The Big Short. He made that movie and he made them look, he made us look and now we see. No matter who gets elected, we’re the ones who can push for change. And we must. There isn’t any going back.