Movie response paper - Essay Example

of the Modern American History of the Concerned 20 November Too Big to Fail- An Inside View of the Worst Economic Debacle in the Contemporary History The 2008 financial meltdown was something, the impact of which is still imbued deep into the very vitals of the American economy. This economic debacle not only brought down some of the most esteemed American and international banks and financial institutions, but also happened to be a very personal tragedy for many Americans households and families.

Though most of the common people impacted by this meltdown do carry an outside view of the economic dynamics that caused it, the film Too Big to Fail does provide a firsthand insight into the human dynamics that underlie those times. It shows how the salient players like the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, the then Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and corporate bigwigs like Dick Fuld, John Thain and Lloyd Blankfein engaged in intense strategic bargaining, planning and machinations to prevent the national financial system from falling down on its knees.

The primary premise of the movie is that it was indeed imperative and pragmatic to rescue the ailing banks and financial institutions by making them gel with the healthy ones, and the direct capital bailouts facilitated by the then government through contriving supportive statutory measures were necessary and must. Too Big to Fail does help the audience put the whole economic crisis into context by assigning to it a human face. It to a large extent accurately showcases the chain of events that preceded and followed this debacle and as to how the important state and corporate personalities tried to manage the much feared fall.

The movie does manage to weave the basic dynamics underlying the 2008 meltdown with apt clarity and accuracy and does show as to how some of the most important people whom the Americans trusted the national economy with, acted in a selfish, irresponsible and unprofessional manner, which eventually precipitated an economy riding on the illusory real estate boom. However, contrary to the perceptions of many common citizens, Too Big to Fail does not present these people in a negative light, but rather presents them as individuals who merely made some mistakes.

In that sense the movie is somewhat soft on the very people who actually created that crisis. For example, even Richard Fuld, the CEO of Lehman, who was a prime player in the speculative financial machinations that added to the overall debacle, is portrayed as a sincere manager working hard to save the organization he worked for. Yet, in a historical context, the movie does try to set aside the emotive content marking the meltdown, to facilitate an understanding of the actual chain of events and the people riding them.

In retrospect, for a student of history, it is more important to know as to what actually happened, rather than to get confused and waylaid by the popular resentment focused on the prime wrongdoers, were they the bureaucrats, corporate personalities or the politicians.