What Hustlers Says About Exploiting People
The moral case for not exploiting people, even if you benefit from it.
Everyone exploits someone over something.
At least that's the idea a lot of people have. They have this idea that if they don't exploit other people, then someone is going to exploit them. It's seen as just a natural thing people are willing to do to each other in order to get ahead. Because of course everyone wants to get ahead. They want to find that thing which will make them rich or powerful or whatever it is that they're after. Otherwise there really isn't any reason to do it, and you can kinda see their point. After all, there do seem to be a lot of people who are able to profit from others in what seems like it's an exploitative way. People with money tend to look like they're getting away with it.
But are they really? And is that even a good strategy? Those who end up on the receiving end of such exploitation generally don't come away from it feeling very good. They don't tend to simply accept that others are doing it so of course they've been exploited. Usually because it doesn't really feel very good. People assume that others are good and that they can trust that they aren't being taken advantage of. So why would it then make sense to assume that those doing the exploiting feel nothing? That they're just unfeeling monsters who will do whatever it takes to get ahead?
It's hard to see how that would be the case. The people doing it have the same basic needs as anyone else. They have a need to eat, to have a place to sleep, and to have people around them who would be willing to take care of them when they're not feeling so good. Either physically or emotionally in some important way. There's no reason to assume that the people doing the exploiting are fundamentally different from those who are being exploited. Yet people for some reason try to make this distinction. To find a way to separate themselves from those they perceive to be doing something wrong. Whether it's the people doing the exploiting are just bad people through and through, or the people who are being taken advantage of don't have the intelligence or the ability to see they're being taken.
Hustlers at its core is about seeing every aspect of exploitation honestly. Whether it's the people hurting others or those being hurt. Ramona and Destiny, played by Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu respectively, aren't necessarily out to exploit others for exploitation's sake. They aren't bad people. They're just trying to feel secure in getting the things they need. Similarly, the people they're exploiting aren't bad people either. A lot of them are just sad and lonely people looking to connect with someone. Looking for something they clearly lack. Destiny and her friends provide that to them.
The only real difference between them is how they go about it. In the end, they all end up worse for it. No one is necessarily happy with how things turned out. Which is unfortunately how exploiting people works.
There is no upside to it.
Do yourself a favour and explore what exploitation does to people by checking out Hustlers.
Check it out on Netflix as well as Amazon and Hulu.
I love that you used Hustlers to explore this.