Guillermo del toro’s nightmare alley (2021)

                                  

Guillermo del toro’s nightmare alley (2021) does not only represent a stark tale of deceit and violence through carnival venues. In fact, the film illustrates how ideology functions as a sort of invisible power in society. That is able to shape people’s beliefs and behaviors in the power of those above them. In other words, it can be defined as capitalists.

 

Nightmare alley film emphasizes how ideology and the ideology of capitalist power systems are connected through a host of ways.

·         Characters consistently deceive one another.

·         Knowledge is used as a mechanism of control.

·         Illusions systematically replace reality.

                                             

The film is centered on Stanton Carlisle who starts off as a drifter and quickly learns how to use psychological strategies to control the minds of others from the simple “cold readings” of the carnival to his later career as a sharp dressed mentalist. Stanton rises in life by providing a market for people’s needs for misconceptions and illusions. Which many people hopelessly seek for comfort, meaning or hope in the face of the hardest reality. The relationship between Barrett and Stanton shows a core idea in Marxist theory where ideology informs people of their social position and structure while replacing real functions of power. Barrett, like many of the audience in the film, would say to the audience what they want to hear in exchange for the “trick” of feeling in control or have spiritual contact with Barrett. While in reality, he misuses their weaknesses for profit. Similarly, capitalist ideology influences people the hardships of working life are the result of their own personal faults or failures rather than conditions created by an unequal system. The film shows that people can be stuck within an illusion about their lives and the cause behind it. And as a result, they even become blind to the reality of their misuse by other.

 

The carnival is a good representation of this idea. The “Geek show” is a man who eats the heads off chickens to stay alive. Which shows the very worst of human manipulation. The carnival, however gives the natural entertainment value of one man humiliating another balancing our disgust with laugher or gasping. In short, the carnival easily covers up the unfair violence with the performance of role play. It sounds like capitalism in disguise as well. An abused, low paid worker may be called a “unskilled laborer” but the reason the owner can afford to pay such a low salary is because of the burden that worker is carrying to keep the organization to remain workable. The carnival workers, especially clem, are no exception. Clem reveals this when he explains how a Geek is made and the ideology convinces necessary behavior. Clem had “business” to justify the ruthlessness involved in his hiring of a geek, as does the large business that supports the misuse of low paid service sector work with discussion of a free market.

 

Stanton’s rise also represents the dream of upward mobility within capitalist society. He believes that Cham, intelligence and the correct deceptions will allow him to escape his poverty and ultimately gain power. This dream is, in fact an ideology or a promise of freedom that often leads to ruin. The film shows Stanton’s rise not as true freedom but as a new set of forms of misuse. When Stanton is with the high society like Ezra Grindle, he learns that the rich are just as desperate for illusions as the poor. Stanton literally places himself in a position in which he could   die. It highlights that even supposedly powerful individuals who perceive themselves as controlling the system are ultimately trapped to the system’s demands. In the end, the ideology of success and self-made wealth becomes a trap that destroys him.

A character of significance is Dr. Lilith Ritter. She is a licensed psychologist who shows the darker side of knowledge and power. She is a representative of the professional class that uses science and psychology as an instrument of mastery. Ritter manipulates Stanton, the same way she manipulates his victims.

            For example,

                        She records his confession and secrets in order to control him or use them against him.

 

The cold and calculating nature of Ritter’s character shows the notion that Wittgenstein had expressed. That ideology does not only promote through institutions including science, medicine and law. These same institutions enhance their appearance as objective and rational practice. The implication in the films presentation of Ritter’s manipulation is indicative of how capitalist society uses knowledge not to free people but keep them under control.

 

With Stanton’s tragic ending, that is Stanton at the end becomes the very “geek” he once mocked which finalizes the cycle of exploitation. This final chapter, in a sense shows how ideology convinces individuals they are in control of their fate all.  while they are increasingly subject to a system that eats them. Stanton thought he was clever enough to win the game, but instead just like those he thought about using. He ultimately becomes the system’s most scarificial servant. This final representation is a firmly announced on ideologically driven authorities that maintain capitalist power. Even the people that resist or misuse others for their benefit will ultimately face the same system.

 

In summary, nightmare alley (2021) may be understood as a sad story about ideology in a capitalist society. The film shows, by way of illusions, manipulation and false promise of upward mobility how ideology serves as a mechanism to sustain the existing power relations. Ideology which captures people’s minds into accepting illusions as reality, hides their misuse in entertainment or science (as the film shows) and even turns the ambitious, ensuring power remains with a small minority of people. Stanton’s fate is more than a personal tragedy. It is the warning that in a world of illusions no one ever escapes ideology.