The Hudsucker Proxy is the tale of Norville Barnes , a shmuck from Muncie, Indiana. He takes a bus to New York City to find fame and fortune. He has a tough time finding a job, because he has no practical experience (doesn't that sound familiar?). Fate guides him to Hudsucker Industries, where he lands a job in the mailroom.
Cut to a board meeting on the 44th floor. Everything is going peachy for Hudsucker Industries, but the founder and Chairman of the Board, Waring Hudsucker, is unhappy. Right in the middle of the meeting, he leaps out the window and plunges to his death. No more than a minute has gone by before CEO Sidney Mussburger is plotting a way for the board to take complete ownership of the corporation. The plan involves finding a sap to run the company so the stock price will plummet so they can buy it all up--an illegal activity known as 'tanking the company'.
Enter dimwitted mailroom employee Norville Barnes. He creates such a mess of delivering an important "Blue Letter" to Mussburger that he is drafted to run the company. Things go exactly according to Mussburger's plans. That is, until Barnes convinces enough people to look at his concept: a piece of paper with a circle on it that's "you know, for kids!"
Norville's vision is the hula-hoop, that circular piece of plastic that was all the rage in the '50s. It becomes a huge moneymaker for the company, which in turns drives the stock price up—exactly what the board of directors and Mussburger didn't want.
Also involved is tough career-woman reporter Amy Archer. She infiltrates Hudsucker Industries to learn about the new president by taking advantage of Barnes' duplicity. She claims that the purported "Idea Man" is really just a chump, but of course no one believes her, especially when his circle (you know, for kids) saves the company from the brink of ruin.
The circle is a symbol that is very important to the story. Although ordinarily symbolic stuff in films is particularly to find on a first viewing, in Hudsucker the imagery is apparent. It is in the coffee stain on a newspaper that leads Barnes to Hudsucker Industries, the circular clock that is a prominent feature on the front of their building, in the gears that drive the clock (seen in two key scenes), in an angel's halo, and in the product idea that becomes Barnes' downfall. It's all over the place. The story is even circular, beginning at the end and looping around to tell the complete story. There's even a dash of Christian symbolism thrown in toward the very end, during a fight that reveals a cross and two characters who represent God and Satan fighting over the outcome of Norville Barnes.
The Hudsucker Proxy was the Coen Brothers attempt to recreate the zany antics of the screwball comedies of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. The promotional materials for the film name-dropped Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) and Preston Sturges (Sullivan's Travels), but it is most similar to His Girl Friday, that great Howard Hawks-directed classic starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Madcap banter and witty repartee are the way everyone converses,and oddball things that would never happen in the real world are standard fare. The Coens have the benefit of that rich cinematic history to draw upon, plus a hefty budget to use for special effects.
The refrain heard early and often in The Hudsucker Proxy is most often heard when Tim Robbins flashes a piece of paper in someone's face—a piece of paper with only a circle drawn on it. It makes no sense, but it's funny, right? That's an apt description for the entire movie: it makes no sense, but it sure is funny.
You know, for kids!
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ASSIGNMENT Read this synopsis, Larry Elder's article on legalizing insider trading, and Michael Brush's essay "Wall Street Still Plays Dirty". Using examples from the film and using the correct economic and finance vocabulary terms, discuss and give your opinion on whether insider trading is efficient in a free market system. Write out your answers on the Economics Blackboard Discussion Board no later than midnight Sunday, November 26. |