The 2015 movie tells the story of the leadup and fallout of the 2007-2008 financial crisis from the perspective of three groups of characters: Michael Burry, FrontPoint Partners and Jared Vennett, and Brownfield Capital. Though some artistic liberties were taken, it is surprisingly accurate. Even if it wasn’t, this film highlights somethings that we all fear and hope to never come to fruition, corruption and destruction on a scale that destorys all trust in humanity, destroys lives, and makes hollow those who are left standing.
I was just a teenager when everything was falling apart. Every day was a struggle. Coming from a low-income family, I saw people lose their homes, their jobs, and their dreams to this fraud. This movie shined a light for me into the complex and corrupt world of Wall Street. For many people, the characters are similar to us: they are flawed, awkward, and broken. Yet, they are the little guys who end up sticking it to the system only to find out the system is more broken than they could have imagined. We are taken into the dark world of trading, complicated concepts are demystified, and we are guided through how a misconception and terrible assumption can flip the world on its head and punish those most undeserving and reward the most at fault. The ultimate question that this piece brings up is the cost of cash. Is capitalism truly what we need as a society or should we do something about it? Can we do something about it? As the line goes: “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.” Too big to fail or fail it should? Should we take back what is ours as a society?
This film is a journey of enlightenment to a catastropic crisis that still has reprecussions to today and beyond. Justice was not served and we the people pay for it. The BIg Short is a tale we will experience again and again as we stand by helplessly watching the tsunami of deceit come and consume us all. If only we had realized we had a choice all along to live and die as nameless revolutionaries on a flawed blue world in the vast emptiness of space.
Currently, the film is available to watch for free on Tubi!