The General (1998) and the Opportunism of Crime: An Analysis of the Historical Rise of the Middle Class Prosperity in Ireland in the 1990s
This film study will define the opportunism o crime in the film The General by John Boorman to describe the rise of an Irish middle class in a crime genre setting. Martin Cahill (Brendan Gleeson) is a leader of a gang of thieves that continually humiliates authority figures in the context of a trickster in the criminal underworld of Hollyfield, a slum in Dublin. However, Cahill purchases a home in a middle class area, which defines the increasingly middle class evolution of Ireland’s economy in the 1990s. This type of class mobilization defines the underlying theme of crime as a way to redistribute goods …show more content…
The historical rise of Ireland’s economy was possible due to the low cost work force, which made it possible for Dublin to begin gentrifying the slums of Dublin, which inspired Cahill to become a type of Robin Hood figure to the poor: “When an associate criticizes his generosity in giving away stolen goods to neighbors with dubious tales of want and deprivation, Cahill responds, “It’s my way of paying taxes” (Ruston 100). This aspect of the crime genre defines the mob mentality of American cinema, which suggests that Cahill is part of a profitable and successful criminal enterprise that helps to maintain his loyalties to the people of Hollyfield. Ruston (year?) also defines the important economic conditions that made it possible for Cahill to give away stolen items, but more so, to allow himself a more flexible class mobility when moving into a middle class home: “The time period of Cahill’s criminal career can be seen in parallel to the social and economic conditions of the United states that gave rise to the classical crime genre” (Ruston 100). In a parallel examination of the mob films of the 1930s, Cahill is not unlike the local gangsters that sought to take advantage of crime to in order to raise themselves out of poverty. However, Cahill is not living in the Depression era environment of the U.S. back in the 1930s, but a more prosperous Irish economy that is slowly providing more opportunities for people live in a middle class environment. Comparisons to Americanized crime genre traits, therefore, are somewhat limited in the way that crime exposes the corruption of an economic downturn, which is becoming less of a factor due to the homes being added by Dublin Corporation. These are important aspects of the economic conditions in an increasingly prosperous Irish economy, which make Cahill an important
This film study will define the opportunism o crime in the film The General by John Boorman to describe the rise of an Irish middle class in a crime genre setting. Martin Cahill (Brendan Gleeson) is a leader of a gang of thieves that continually humiliates authority figures in the context of a trickster in the criminal underworld of Hollyfield, a slum in Dublin. However, Cahill purchases a home in a middle class area, which defines the increasingly middle class evolution of Ireland’s economy in the 1990s. This type of class mobilization defines the underlying theme of crime as a way to redistribute goods …show more content…
The historical rise of Ireland’s economy was possible due to the low cost work force, which made it possible for Dublin to begin gentrifying the slums of Dublin, which inspired Cahill to become a type of Robin Hood figure to the poor: “When an associate criticizes his generosity in giving away stolen goods to neighbors with dubious tales of want and deprivation, Cahill responds, “It’s my way of paying taxes” (Ruston 100). This aspect of the crime genre defines the mob mentality of American cinema, which suggests that Cahill is part of a profitable and successful criminal enterprise that helps to maintain his loyalties to the people of Hollyfield. Ruston (year?) also defines the important economic conditions that made it possible for Cahill to give away stolen items, but more so, to allow himself a more flexible class mobility when moving into a middle class home: “The time period of Cahill’s criminal career can be seen in parallel to the social and economic conditions of the United states that gave rise to the classical crime genre” (Ruston 100). In a parallel examination of the mob films of the 1930s, Cahill is not unlike the local gangsters that sought to take advantage of crime to in order to raise themselves out of poverty. However, Cahill is not living in the Depression era environment of the U.S. back in the 1930s, but a more prosperous Irish economy that is slowly providing more opportunities for people live in a middle class environment. Comparisons to Americanized crime genre traits, therefore, are somewhat limited in the way that crime exposes the corruption of an economic downturn, which is becoming less of a factor due to the homes being added by Dublin Corporation. These are important aspects of the economic conditions in an increasingly prosperous Irish economy, which make Cahill an important