Worlds Apart (Revised and Completed World Text Analysis Essay)

Worlds Apart

            Michael Moore’s documentary Capitalism: A Love Story sheds light into the flaws of capitalism in the United States. Moore draws attention to many people and organizations that take advantage of their employees and Americans as a whole. He also implies that there is a divide among the people of the United States, between the privileged one percent, who has everything but still wants more, and the common ninety-nine percent, just trying to

make ends meet on a daily basis. Moore shows the American people, who are being exploited, as well those who are financially profiting off the blood and sweat of others. These practices are not limited to the United States of America, with many countries around the world facing even more significant financial hardships. America goes through changes every time there is a political party change in the White House and Congress, but for many nations such as China, dictatorship changes have a lot more significance and influence on even the basic rights and needs of the people. According to Randy Martin's article, “Where Did the Future Go?,” “For the last twenty-five years those who might have been lulled by capital’s utopian chords have been subject to a rude awakening” (Martin 1). The film Beijing Bicycle really puts into perspective the everyday toils and troubles of people living in China; a nation which is socialist but often experiments with the ideas of capitalism and neoliberalism, bringing China into the global economic sector. Beijing Bicycle shows how a young man from a rural town has difficulty adjusting to life in the city. He tries to earn a living but constantly has to face obstacles of a city, where money and profit are the prime objectives. Beijing Bicycle not only shows the economic troubles of China and the negative influences these changes can have on its society, but offers an important juxtaposition between China and the United States, as well as the rich and poor in the city of Beijing.

            Guei is a young seventeen year old boy, who does not have

the job opportunities to learn a living in the countryside, where he is actually from. He, like many others, travels to the city in the hope of securing a job that would allow him to earn enough money to at least live life with the bare necessities. When he earns the job of a delivery boy, his main objective becomes saving enough money to be able to buy the bicycle given to him by the courier company to do his job. Guei’s boss even tells him and the other delivery boys that “these bikes are [their] livelihood.” Guei takes this idea to heart because he sees the truth in it; the bike would not only allow him to earn enough money to survive in the big city, but as suggested later, the bike also serves as a status symbol, a symbol of accomplishment. Although he is a young boy, who should still be in school studying, Guei takes to the streets and delivers letters and packages in the heat, without rest or hesitation. The bike delivery route is a tiresome and very meager job, especially by American standards, however, Guei is considered to be fortunate to have the job. Guei’s friend, Mantis, repeatedly tells him that the delivery job is a ‘great job,’ especially since he can “earn a bike in only one month.”

The story of Guei is similar to that of any people who go in the search of a better life. In Beijing Bicycle, Guei moves from the country to the city in the hopes of a more sustainable life. In Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore talks about people from impoverished countries who immigrate to the Unites States in the search of the ‘American Dream.’ However, like Guei, most immigrants learn that such dreams are not easy to achieve and can sometimes even be unobtainable. Although both nations appear to be vastly different, they both have an unequal distribution of wealth that allows some people to live a leisurely life while others appreciate even the most difficult of jobs because it is what keeps them off the streets one more day.

            The issues displayed in Beijing Bicycle are global issues. Nations from China to even the United States of America, struggle with offering its citizen the necessary tools to acquire an education, or the opportunities to acquire a job. As seen in China: A Century of Revolution, Chinese leader Mao did not bring prosperity into his nation. Many people became unemployed or lived in poverty while others prospered. After Mao’s death, there was hope for a better life when the regime changed, but that did not bring much prosperity either, even after trade was opened. Some people were able to get work in factories and live a better life. However, a majority of people, especially those in the country, did not see many changes in their lives; which is why people like Guei had to abandon their lives and move to the city. One of the main causes of discomfort for people is the “opposition between the country and the city,” (Jameson 48) but even parts of the city are very unlike each other. As Guei rides his bike around the city, there is a clear juxtaposition between the bike he is riding, that he can’t afford, and the hundreds of people driving around in cars. There is also a clear distinction between the people living in the slums and the people living in skyscrapers. Guei cannot afford to take a shower in a hotel, and has to be cleaned up, like the other delivery boys, just so they can be presentable to the clients. Guei does not even have his own toothbrush while, as Mantis claims, the rich can afford to change their clothes multiple times a day. These ideas are also apparent in the Michael Moore documentary where Moore discusses the layoffs that happened in many companies, especially automotive companies. According to David Harvey, in his book, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, the United States initially believed that to “ensure domestic peace and tranquillity, some sort of class compromise between capital and labour had to be constructed” (Havey 10). However, Moore argues that this compromise is no longer balanced and the labor class is being taken advantage of.  Moore talks about how many companies would lay off their workers and simply make the other employees work harder to compensate for the lack of workers. Many people would lose their livelihoods when they were laid off, while others would work excruciatingly hard, like Guei, with very little compensation. However, they, like Guei, did not have many other options so they continued to struggle. Although, China and the United States have different political stands, both nations are motivated by money. 

Inequality and unethical occurrences and practices also tended to create hostility among the people. According to Moore, in the United States, people would often become bitter and wronged at the fact that they were laid off or that companies were taking out life insurance policies on their employees and prospering off their deaths.  There becomes a clear divide between the people, which was seen recently in the United States in the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and it was also visible in Beijing Bicycle. In Beijing Bicycle, the hostility is seen primarily through the characters of Mantis and Jian. Mantis has become so bitter that his hostility is no longer directed towards individuals, but all rich people. He constantly criticizes Qin and all people living in the structures around his shop, because he feels they have prospered while wrongs have been done towards him and people like him. Even Jian, who lives the equivalent of a middle class life, is bitter at his family primarily because they cannot give him the things that would give him a good social standing with his peers. These feelings of hostility and being wronged transcend borders and are global issues that can be seen all across the world.

Beijing Bicycle and Capitalism: A Love Story appear to very different films on the surface, but they share common themes that show just how similar the people, and the people’s lives, are in China and the United States.  The people in both nations struggle with the inequality that has been created between the rich and poor, as well as making ends meet. Moore is able to show how the people of America struggle and are wronged on a daily basis by Capitalism, while Beijing Bicycle focuses on how a boy tries to survive when society has set all the odds against it. The struggles and complaints seen in both films show an ongoing struggle that is a struggle seen all around the world.

Works Cited

Beijing Bicycle. Dir. Wang Xiaoshuai. Perf. Cui Lin, Li Bin, Zhou Xun, Gao Yuanyuan, and Li Shuang. Sony Pictures Classics,           2001. Film.

Capitalism: A Love Story. Dir. Michael Moore. Perf. Michael Moore. The Weinstein Company, 2009. Film.

China: A Century of Revolution. Dir. Sue Williams. Zeitgeist, 2002. Film.

Harvey, David. “A Brief History of Neoliberalism.” Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

Jameson, Fredric. “The Politics of Utopia.” New Left Review 25 (2004): 35-54.

Martin, Randy. “Where Did the Future Go?” LogosOnline.com. 2006. Web.