Analysis #4

Analysis #4 Marxism

In deriving a connection from the clip we saw from the movie Glengarry GlenRoss there are various examples of Marxist views throughout this short scene. The first Marxist point that I want to emphasize is in relationship to Louise Althusser’s work “Ideologies and Ideological State Apparatuses.” Althusser explains, “As a first formulation I shall say: all ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, by functioning of the category of the subject” (1356). In this quote Althusser basically explains that we are all subjects to ideologies and in this clip Alec Baldwin exemplifies that he is like an ideological state apparatus and the sellers are subjects. He does this by calling them by derogatory names, and referencing them predominantly by these names rather than by their real names.

Second, I want to focus on Marx himself and reference his work Capital “The Working-Day.” In which Marx emphasizes the difference between labor and labor power. He writes, “Capital cares nothing for the length of life of labour-power. All that concerns it is simply and solely for the length of labour-power, that it can be rendered fluent in a workingday” (672). This quote creates two examples in the movie. The first is that Alec Baldwin’s character symbolizes capitalism. He is the one in power, he comes into this office of sellers that are clearly below him, he is the capitalist and they are his workers. Second, is regarding the latter portion of this quote labor power. In this scene the sellers’ labor power is what they are paid for. They are expected to work at their full potential all of the time, their actual labor was not measuring up to their labor power and for that reason they receive this lecture for Alec Baldwin’s character.

The last aspect that I want to focus on is the way in which the people become commodities in this clip. The sellers become commodities in this scene when they are explained, by Baldwin, as being replaceable. Marx explains commodities in Capital “Commodities” and the differences in their use and exchange value. Baldwin exemplifies that the sellers are commodities by touching on both of these aspects to what creates a commodity. He explains that if the sellers are not doing their job to the best of their ability they are useless, and that if they are useless they will be exchanged for someone who will better meet the needs of Mitch & Murray.

There are various other examples in this short scene of Marxist’s beliefs and influences that can be pointed out. I have only suggested a few of these that I found the most interesting or that I related to best in the text.

Works Cited

Althusser, Louise. “Ideologies and Ideological State Apparatuses” The Norton Anthology of Critical Theory & Criticism 2^nd Edition. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2010. 1335-1361.

Marx, Karl. Capital. “Commodities.” The Norton Anthology of Critical Theory & Criticism 2^nd Edition. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2010. 663-671.

Marx, Karl. Capital. “The Working-Day.” The Norton Anthology of Critical Theory & Criticism 2^nd Edition. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2010. 671-674.