Knives Out Takes Several Jabs At Donald Trump
by Brandon ZacharyWARNING: The following contains spoilers for Knives Out, in theaters now.
Knives Out includes some subtle (and not so subtle) slams against wealthy families like the fictional Thrombys, who seem more concerned about the loss of their wealth than about the death of family patriarch, Harlan. Some of the sly remarks are tied to the current political situation in the United States, however.
Specifically, Knives Out uses its characters and narrative to take shots at U.S. President Donald Trump.
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SELF-MADE (WITH A MAJOR ASSIST)
The entire Thromby and Drysdale clan takes great pride in their wealth and status, which is modeled after that of most wealthy families in the world. But some members of the family take particular pride in drawing attention to their "self-made" wealth.
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Linda brings up how she left her family's publishing company to open her own business, which has led to her own fortune separate from the Thromby family. However, she was only able to start the "self-made" company with a massive million dollar loan from her father, Harlan. This reflects the way Trump often claimed he'd built his company from the ground up, but in reality started it with a million-dollar gift from his father.
EVERYTHING ABOUT JACOB
Jacob, the son of Walt and Donna, is quickly established the youngest member of the Thromby family. He's a student at a prestigious prep school and is only ever seen wearing his school uniform, even during the birthday celebration and will-reading for his grandfather.
He's also shown to be a very Conservative young man. He's almost always on his phone, apparently commenting on Alt-Right websites. He seemingly believes in this ideology, at one point even calling Marta an "anchor baby" when he learns that his grandfather left his fortune to her and her family. It's an anti-immigrant sentiment that is shared by many of Donald Trump's public policies, which have attempted to heavily limit the immigratscoming from certain nations -- including Marta's native Cuba.
It's also noteworthy that Jacob's family sees him as a jerk. No one seems to particularly like him. Even his father admits that Jacob can be a creep. This could be reflective of many members of the Trump family who have been decried as confrontational and creepy.
Jacob is juxtaposed with Meg, an overtly liberal college student, who is shown to be perhaps the most emphatic member of the family. Jacob plays a role in the eventual discovery of Ransom's guilt, as he was able to hear snippets of Ransom's final fight with Harlan. This gives Blanc the context he needs to solve the mystery of who killed Harlan. This means Jacob helped ensure his family fortune doesn't stay with them, introducing the idea that people like Jacob, in their own conniving self-interest, end up shooting themselves in the foot.
THAT DINNER SCENE
One of the most crucial scenes in the film consists of late-night drinks with the family members on the night of Harlan's birthday. While the sequence is initially presented as a friendly moment where the Thrombys embrace Marta as a member of the family, Marta's memories of the day in question reveal more about them than they'd probably like to admit.
Richard and Donna are conservatives who rail against immigrants for wanting to take money from those who earned their wealth. This is particularly ironic coming from these characters, who both married into the Thromby family. Neither are presented in a positive light, and Donna's argument that she'd still dislike immigrants even if they came from Scandinavian countries brings to mind Donald Trump's infamous remark that he wanted immigrants from nations like Norway to come to America instead of African or South American countries.
The scene also takes aim at out-of-touch liberals, with Meg's mother Toni, a lifestyle guru who's high-end existence hides the fact that she's dependent on her family's money. She argues with Richard and Donna over the morality of illegal immigrants. She points out that many of them are just looking for a better life. But she's so disconnected from the argument on a real-world level that she doesn't know what country her "friend" Marta is actually from. Mind you, no member of the family is shown to have an understanding of that. This can be seen as a commentary on both sides of the political spectrum, who care more about arguing with each other than about the people they're arguing about.
Written, produced and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Ana de Armas, and Jamie Lee Curtis, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford, Frank Oz, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Riki Lindhome. It is in theaters now.
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