How Money Heist Shows Lack Of Trust In The Government
Ava Gallien
Professor Zen Dochterman
Writ 150
March 24, 2022
How Money Heist Shows Lack Of Trust In The Government
The incredibly popular Spanish show Money Heist, or La Casa De Papel has become one of the fastest growing shows on Netflix starting in 2020. When it was first released it was Netflix’s most watched series that was not in English. Since then, it is only moved down to second right behind the new series Squid Games. If you are unfamiliar with the show Money Heist, here is some insight into this thrilling show. Money Heist is a gripping show that is centered around a group of eight people with the common goal of robbing money from the Royal Mint of Spain. These eight individuals are former or current criminals all sought out by one person that is leading and taking charge of the organization. They call him “The Professor” but his name is Sergio Marquina The Professor teaches these people (who are only given names of counties so their identities are not revealed) over the course of five months how to outsmart, outwit, and outplay anyone and anything that is possibly standing in the way of them. Not only that, but they had to learn and train how they would accomplish this goal without getting caught along the way. They take 67 people that work in the Royal Mint of Spain hostage and while they are in there, the goal is to print 2.4 billion euros. The catch is that they do not keep all of the money. Although they do get a share of it, they distribute it to the citizens. During all of this chaos that is going on inside The Royal Mint of Spain, The Professor is in a different location the whole time orchestrating and telling them what to do.
The show Money Heist has translated extremely well across the borders. The Gaurdian stated that within months of arriving on the streaming service in 2017, the thriller had become the single most-watched series in countries including France, Italy, Argentina, and Brazil, and its third series — released last year — was watched by 34 million households in its first week alone (Jones). The way that the villains were portrayed as the main characters and showed their life stories and what they were trying to accomplish made the audience want to root for the bad guy. It ties back to the distrust of the US government among many people in the United States. People tend to not trust the government due to the lack of transparency that they have. Although the government would not share its top secrets, it is still appalling how many questions are unanswered by them and will most likely never be answered.
Typically when we think of the bad guy or villain in a movie they will likely be wearing all black, they do not give much history or background on the character so you dont get too emotionally attached, and you want the good guy to win. It is like watching a crime show, and you want the police to catch the bad guy. This show is completely the opposite. In essence, it is a show about people robbing a bank which is not typically something that you would want them to succeed in. But, by making the main characters of the show the bad people and giving the audience background information on their life, and getting to know them, you develop an emotional connection with them. It was an interesting dynamic when I would watch the show and see the police trying to catch them as they are committing a highly illegal activity, yet I still did not want the police to catch them.
While doing research I found something that had stuck out to me from a GQ article. They wrote, “The show’s anthem, “Bella Ciao” — a protest folk song written by laborers in 19th-century Italy and then adopted by antifascist partisans during World War II — became a revitalized hit, inspiring several covers”(GQ). I found this very interesting because it was definitely no accident that this song was picked to be the main theme song of the Money Heist. Choosing a song with the underlying meaning of rebellion against the argument was a perfect fit for the show because that is exactly what they were trying to achieve.
So why did a show that was not made in America and is not in English do so well? Some of the credit must be given to the plot and the incredibly thought out way the whole show was produced. However, there have to be underlying reasons why this show skyrocketed in popularity in the United States. Since the beginning of time, there had always been a distrust in government. On July 22, 2019 pew research Center wrote that “Many Americans think declining trust in the government and in each other makes it harder to solve key problems. They have a wealth of ideas about what’s gone wrong and how to fix it”. This applies to Money Heist because the 8 people performing the heist were going to then distribute the money to the citizens as essentially a “slap in the face” to the government. Pew Research Center also states “Two-thirds of adults think other American citizens have little or no confidence in the federal government. Majorities believe the public’s confidence in the U.S. government and in each other is shrinking, and most believe a shortage of trust in government and in other citizens makes it harder to solve some of the nation’s key problems.(Raine). If a study is showing that two thirds of a population of a country do not trust the thing that is actually controlling them, there are obviously some fatal flaws that have to be addressed. Recognizing this was perfect for a show like Money Heist. They took this information into account and realized that people would end up relating to it and sympathizing with it. When it is given a second thought, it is actually pretty sad that the world has come to this, however, the bright side is that more and more people are starting to realize it, but some are just making money off of it at the same time.
On another aspect, it is also important to note the relationship that “The Professor” had with one of the lead detectives trying to catch the people performing the heist. Essentially, The Professor made her a pawn in his game. Since he was not actually in the Royal Mint of Spain, he was able to roam freely. He was in a coffee shop and caught on that the girl that he was sitting next to was a detective in the case that he was completely in charge of. He takes advantage of this and talks to her and plays dumb like he does not know anything. He uses her to get information, but while this is going on, he begins to develop feelings for her. This ends up being a downward spiral because he falls in love with her and does not want to use her. This was written in the series to showcase the irony of the man who is trying to make a statement to the world, actually developing feelings for the very person that he is against.
https://www.gq.com/story/money-heist-netflix-profile
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/07/22/trust-and-distrust-in-america/
