Everyone who is willing to work hard can make it in
America. At least what the old wisdom
says. It is the belief that has caused
immigrants to move here from the founding of the nation, and it is the reason
that so many of us work so hard in this country. However, over the last few years some have
begun to question the so called “American Dream”, and have pointed out that it
is merely a myth. Those who make this
argument have a point, it seems as though the path to prosperity is not an easy
one in an era where crisis seems to be everywhere.
Far
from being another dumb comedy, The Internship, addresses this very
serious concept. In the film Owen Wilson
and Vince Vaughn play two recently laid off salesmen. Although they were very good at their jobs,
there simply was not a market for their services anymore. So the two of them take a page out of the old
manifest destiny handbook and move west to California and pursue a prestigious
internship at Google. During this
internship, the interns will work in teams of five and the team that wins the
competition will be given positions at Google.
The two are obviously outmatched by the much younger and tech savvy
college interns. However, through their
hard work, positivity, and cleverness both Vaughn and Wilson with their team of
misfits manage to win the competition and earn the much coveted positions. The movie shows that with the right set of
personality traits, even people as out of place as the two protagonists, can
reach great heights.
The film becomes a product of
Hollywood myth making. While the younger
characters in the film complain of how difficult it has become to make it in
America, the characters that Wilson and Vaughn play remind the young members of
their team to be positive, even when confronted with almost impossible
situations. Their positivity transforms
the team and the underdogs go on to win.
Never mind the fact that they are working for nothing, the dream should
keep them alive. Like many other Hollywood
films, this one seeks to inspire dreams in its viewers and follows the familiar
rags to riches story popular in America.
Throughout this film, Google is
portrayed very well. As the film is
partly a two hour commercial for the company, we see all the great aspects of
working and being a part of Google. In one
scene Vaughn is shocked to find out that he can eat and drink whatever he wants
from the cafeteria for free. Also shown
is the non-traditional work environment where creativity is encouraged, from
glass boards for writing, funky colored bicycles for riding, and nap pods where
employees can rest. This is a far cry
from the horrible sales experience that Owen Wilson’s character has in the mattress
shop where he is constantly berated by his idiotic and sexually inappropriate boss
(played very amusingly by Will Ferrell).
However, there is a great deal of exploitation that we can see Google
using as well. Almost all the people in
the film are unpaid interns. They are
told that 95% of them will not get a job at Google. While working as interns, they not only do
typical unpaid work such as customer service, but they will also bring in new
business for Google by getting new businesses to advertise with Google, and
creating new applications for download.
Google will profit from the work of these interns, but the interns will
not share in any of the fruits of their labor.
Therefore with the exception of the winning team, there will be no
monetary reward for the interns.
In
addition to the fact that interns are exploited, the film shows presumably how
the function of internships has changed.
Internships were originally thought of as a modern day apprenticeship,
where people would learn a trade while working.
This is still the norm when talking about skilled careers such as
physicians. However at Google the students
come to the internship already fully qualified for a job in the internet
technology field. The internship acts
like more of a tryout or audition for a job.
In fact with the exception of Vaughn and Wilson, none of the characters
seems to really learn any new skills.
Almost any of the students in the film would probably make good
employees, but because of today’s super competitive world, companies like
Google can pick and choose from an enormous pool of candidates. Candidates then have to prepare themselves
for forms of mental combat with others (as shown in the quidditch scene of the
film) and be prepared to be used however Google feels they are necessary.
However,
this review is not intended to discourage dreaming or an American way of
thinking. People should be allowed to
pursue work that is stimulating and enjoyable to them. If the American dream of success is to
remain, exploitative practices such as the ones practiced in The Internship,
need to be changed. People who
contribute to a company’s financial health should be paid fairly. While exploitation continues in labor, the
dreams of many American workers will be deferred, while only nightmares
remain.
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