The 2008 financial crisis is certainly a watershed moment in not only American history but one that fundamentally shifted the psyche of the global stage as we know it. Once multiple economies crashed, leaving swaths of people with sobering and uncertain financial futures, it’s no surprise that film and culture would respond accordingly and shift deeper into the escapist fantasy that had begun to dominate the box office in the earlier part of the ’00s, i.e. superhero films, remakes and adaptations of beloved franchises of movie-goers’ youths, and giant worlds built with black-and-white morality in mind. However, there was of course something else emerging from the scars the recession left behind. As the dust settled on the crisis, banks were bailed out and the economy began to find an equilibrium, filmmakers began tapping into the zeitgeist and psyche of an America that had just been scammed out of a stable future and the fascinating purveyor and products of such a colossal scam. (more…)
