In the movie "Glengarry Glen Ross," the salesmen get a speech from a representative of the Mitch and Murray real estate group. This scene illustrates the relationship between the capitalist and the labor force that is commented on in Karl Marx's writings. Although his writings usually concern the plight of laborers in factories, it does not necessarily mean that workers from other kinds of settings are free of the relationship between bourgeois and proletarian. In the scene from the movie, the representative sent from Mitch and Murray represents the bourgeoisie and the salesmen are representing the laborers, or the proletarians.
In Marx's writings, he divides society into two camps: the Bourgeois and the Proletarians. The latter of the two represent the workers, and the former is the boss, so to speak. There relationship is defined as, "…oppressor and oppressed…" (Marx 657). In the clip, the representative from Mitch and Murray berates the salesmen for their poor performance in their work. He insults them, and threatens them into taking away their jobs if they can't meet the demands of their jobs. Why, however, does this person possess the right to do something like this? The answer is that the representative makes more money than the other salesmen, and has a position of power over them.
Money and material wealth are the center of the speech that the representative gives to the salesmen. Marx says, "Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life," (Marx 656). The representative has no name, no identity of his own, but rather he takes his name after his lifestyle, which is based on how much money he earns, and the expensive items that he possesses. This is based on the idea that the capitalist is only interested in the workers doing their jobs, and in the benefits that are given to him as a result of their labor. In addition, if the consciousness of a person is "poor," then the person may as well be dead to the capitalist, which is precisely how the representative treats the salesmen. He considers their accomplishments nothing compared to his, thus he sees their lives as meaningless and treats them like dirt.
Another aspect that seems to be in the scene is the change in the nature of the profession. To Marx, it was his belief that before the epoch of the Bourgeoisie, there was a particular reverence and personal pride taken in one's profession. But as the speech from "Glengarry Glen Ross" demonstrates, that is no longer the case. It shows that, "The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, and the man of science, into its paid wage-labourors," (Marx 659). The salesman, like many other professions once had a special place in the world, but now it is depicted as another part of the free-market machine with the salesmen as the parts. The representative, like that capitalist however, sees them as expendable labor that can be easily replaced if they are unable to do the job that they are supposed to be doing.
Works Cited
Marx, Karl. "The German Ideology." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism 2nd Edition. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. pgs. 655-656. Print.
Marx, Karl. "The Communist Manifesto." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism 2nd Edition. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. pgs. 657-660. Print.
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