The Joneses : Larry had issues, it was not Steveu00b4s fault

The Jones "family" are just people doing their jobs, they are not criminals, capitalism is not satans workshop. Larry was obviosly an unhappy man. How about those kids who spend hours in front of a videogame and die in front of the tv, should we ban games? if a fat guy dies, we should forbid fast food? if someone dies in a car accident, we should destroy all cars? the good and evil are whitin everyone of us, it is up to us to keep in the middle of the way and use material things and not let them use us. Budha said that 3.000 years ago and it is still true.

Although I actually DO believe capitalism is Satan's workshop, I agree with the post. I think one of the points the film is making is that people make choices, and Larry made unwise choices. At one end of Satan's workshop you have 11-year-olds in Manila or wherever making sports footwear for our shops for a couple of dollars a day because otherwise their families won't eat, and at the other you have the sophisticated manipulation that advertising is based on, causing people to feel the need to buy the aforementioned footwear, which they can choose not to do. And having this freedom to opt out seems to be the message.

Seems like a lot of the arguments in here boil down to that it is society's fault that Larry ended up in this predicament. Essentially, you're saying that if one is a product of society one is not responsible for his or her own actions.

Any rational person will realise that this argument does not hold.

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Although I actually DO believe capitalism is Satan's workshop, I agree with the post. I think one of the points the film is making is that people make choices, and Larry made unwise choices. At one end of Satan's workshop you have 11-year-olds in Manila or wherever making sports footwear for our shops for a couple of dollars a day because otherwise their families won't eat, and at the other you have the sophisticated manipulation that advertising is based on, causing people to feel the need to buy the aforementioned footwear, which they can choose not to do. And having this freedom to opt out seems to be the message.

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Ok, so the working conditions of child labourers in the Philippines is a result of capitalism? You don't think there are other factors at play here? If we tried the other side of the spectrum and hypothesize a communist rule, do you think state controlled production would make their lives better? How are they going to pay for food when their production quota for the year has been reached?

True. Its kind of like McDonald's employees.

Those people are just flipping the burgers. They didn't force anyone to clog their arteries.

There is some more nuance to it. Because it is your job to peddle luxury items so that others blindly follow this 'lifestyle' that they can't in fact maintain, it doesn't make it right just because it is your job. You're sabotaging people and their wellbeing, using weakness of individuals to gain profits.

Larry was perhaps unhappy, but Steve and his family showed him the fool's path to happiness, that led him to his downfall.

When you do something, take note of the bigger picture, and not shift the responsibility to someone or something else. When you split up a larger organisation into tiny, seemingly innocent parts, with reduced responsibility, it doesn't reduce the total responsibility. Boldest example: the Nazi-regime.

Godwin struck early here.

Most amused that you could consider any part of them 'seemingly innocent', they were very upfront and extrovert.

> Because it is your job to peddle luxury items so that others blindly follow this 'lifestyle' that they can't in fact maintain, it doesn't make it right just because it is your job.

But, in this movie, the Jonses were selling expensive items to people that should be able to afford it. Look at the homes featured in the movie. Each one had to be $10 million or more. If they are having financial trouble after buying $400 golf clubs and $200 Cuisinarts and $60 face cream, they were in the financial toilet already.

> Larry was perhaps unhappy, but Steve and his family showed him the fool's path to happiness, that led him to his downfall.

It was pretty obvious that Larry was heading to his downfall one way or another. The only question was which path he would take. Had the Jonses not come along, he would have found a different path.

> When you do something, take note of the bigger picture, and not shift the responsibility to someone or something else.

Yes. Larry's life was screwed up and that was solely Larry's fault. Not Steve's.


What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

Yeah, and tobacco company employees who knew decades ago that their product causes cancer were "just doing their jobs" too. While the choice is partly up to consumers, let's remember that our entire culture encourages consumerism from birth to death, doing its best to program everyone to buy buy buy. I can't stop someone from eating bad food (for example), but I don't have to sell it to them, either. The people "just doing their jobs" have a choice too. You can't evade personal responsibility by hiding behind "it's just my job"

Yes, Larry had "issues" but where did they come from? What sort of culture created, encouraged & nourished them? What sort of people deliberately took advantage of them for profit?

Exactly, the issues came from his ego. He doesn't live in the real world if he thinks that there isn't someone out there who has it better than he does!

Theres ALWAYS someone out there who appears to have a better life, a fancier car, a greater marriage but SO WHAT. You'll never be happy if you live your life comparing yourself to others!






Ashmi any question

I personally feel that they were not at fault. I'm sorry, but people in our society have to start taking responsibility for the actions they choose. It's so easy to blame others/media.

Perhaps living in capitalist societies has conditioned us to covet and obsess, but WE choose our paths, not anyone else.

He clearly had issues, but he had to make his own choices and he chose to live above his means. Happens all the time and the only person you can blame is him. If anyone else contributed to his demise, it was certainly his wife for pressuring him and making him feel guilty for not providing her with excess.

She, too, was consum-erism-ed.

She was kinda at fault but not directly. They were what they were. Love was not enough for either of them. The thing that angered me and I would guess in time she will she the role she played down the road but when she slapped the guy she seemed to be deflecting the role she played and transferring it to him, At the time, she does not yet know it,

Everybody has issues, the people I want to be around don't go looking for excuses to screw people over - period.

This is why Envy is a sin, or at least something that can only lead you to trouble. I do understand why Steve would feel guilty though because his actions helped to lead to that situation. It would be like if your depressed neighbor asked to borrow some rope from you and you give it to him. You find out the next day he hung himself. You would probably feel guilty that you gave him the rope in the first place even though you were not the cause of him wanting to kill himself.

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