Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Hell or High Water

[Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the film Hell or High Water. This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.]

WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD...!

Kevin: While watching Hell or High Water, I was thinking that it's been quite a rough stretch for bankers... but banks have always taken abuse in popular culture, haven't they? They're pretty easy targets for a variety of reasons:

1) By definition, they're symbols of wealth and power.

2) They're largely faceless* institutions -- and like corporations, they tend to have a robotic, uncompromising element to them. Like a Terminator of finance. Good ol' Tywin Lannister of Game of Thrones explained it best when discussing the Iron Bank of Braavos: "You can't run from them, you can't cheat them, you can't sway them with excuses. If you owe them money and you don't want to crumble yourself, you pay it back."

[* Not always, of course. Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life was not a popular man in his town. And Ebenezer Scrooge of A Christmas Carol was so infamous that his last name became synonymous with being miserly.]

3) Banks tend not to be staffed with Dudley Do-Rights who are trying to better society. When it comes to Hollywood, bankers always seem to be trying to put one over on you. 

4) Historically, moneylending hasn't exactly been viewed as a noble profession. (And of course, mafia loan sharks go one step further by adding an element of violence to the proceedings.) 

I struggle to think of one positive depiction of someone working in the financial industry -- does the cop who snared Al Capone with tax evasion charges in The Untouchables count? 

That brings us to Hell or High Water, where brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are attracting the attention of Texas Rangers (led by Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton) by staging a series of small-time bank robberies. Since the thefts are minor, the witnesses are few, and the proceeds are quickly laundered via casino chips, the duo seems to be faring well. But of course, in typical Hollywood fashion, Tanner is a bit of a hothead who starts taking needless risks that threaten the whole enterprise.

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