Creating the perfect anti-hero
Directed and written by Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler came out in 2014 to a warm reception by the critics and the audiences alike, though these kinds of films aren’t watched by the masses the film amassed an impressive 50 million dollar box office on a humble budget of just 8.5 million dollars. It has amassed a cult following ever since then and now is revered to be one of the best films of the past decade.
The first time I saw Nightcrawler, I didn’t understand it. I had seen videos and read articles which named it “the most disturbing film of the decade”. I, on the other hand, did not feel so strongly about it, I don’t think I even liked it that much at that point. But here I am, six years later with a newfound admiration for the character and the story. It’s a masterful piece of cinema, laying emphasis on themes of morality and critiquing societal norms along the way. I’m gonna attempt to explain most of it and take a deep dive into the world of Nightcrawler.
**SPOILER WARNING**
Summary:
The film follows Jake Gyllenhaal, who completely transformed his personality after going through a slump in his career before this film to become Lou Bloom, a sociopath who ekes a living from petty theft. Discovering the world of stringers, ambulance-chasing journalists who film horrific accidents, and hawk their wares to the highest bidding news channel, he crafts a new career direction. Over time, recording striking images of brutal crimes, Lou builds himself a reputation, getting an assistant, and manipulating his way into favor with a channel head of a local TV news station, Nina. As things progress, Lou begins to push the boundaries of journalistic ethics more and more, messing with crime scenes in a bid to get the best shot possible. Soon the moral ambiguity is removed when he, beating the police to a crime in progress, films a horrifying triple murder with no thought for the victims. Hiding information from the police, he endeavors to solve the murder himself, setting up a situation where he can get some career-making footage. This plan is pulled off without a hitch, with Lou getting footage of a deadly shootout and subsequent car chase, as well as orchestrating the death of his assistant, now beginning to challenge his authority. Lying his way out of police suspicion, he is now a superstar name at the news station. The film ends with Lou expanding his company, Video Production News, bringing in a pair of kitted out vans, a group of interns, and a previously unfounded air of absolute legitimacy.
The story and the character has been often compared with the likes of Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho', Travis Bickle from 'Taxi Driver', and The Driver from 'Drive'. But what the film ultimately tries to portray is quite profound and unique in its own right.
The news
Throughout the film, you see examples of how the media is sensationalizing violence and disregarding all journalistic ethics for a slight increase in their TRP. With showing such an extreme case of abuse of power by the 4th pillar of democracy, Nightcrawler tries to comment on the realities of the news media world. Half baked, purposefully exaggerated, and agenda-driven news is delivered to us whenever we switch on the television. Facts are grossly twisted and misinterpreted to show what they want us to see and not what is real and educational. In a scene where Lou goes with subpar footage from Corona (not the virus, a locality in downtown LA) Nina (her boss) gets frustrated with him because apparently people don’t care about the problems faced by the downtrodden living in the underbelly of the city, they are much more interested when this underbelly finds it’s way into the sophisticated and urban parts of the town and causes “problems”.
The film also subtly comments on how 'high profile society" is so self-absorbed, that they only want to consume the news that directly affects them. Nina spells out that their viewers not interested in the crimes happening in the city’s underbelly, but when the underbelly dares to creep up into the more well off and suburban neighborhood, that’s when they have their viewers tune into their channel, not out of concern, but out of fear. Instead of being a respectable institution for information, it turns out to be just like any other business, running after profits.
False Reality
Something which is pretty evident from the opening shot of the film, showcasing the LA skyline in an unreal, hazy manner, almost like a mirage. Which bleeds into one of the central themes of the film which is; the perception of reality. It gets a proper callout when Lou, standing in the news studio, pauses suddenly, exclaims how fake-looking the background skyline on the news looks up close. This notion is not only prevalent in the news industry, spouting half-truths to its viewers. Lou himself is wearing a facade of professionalism and shines himself as an enterprising young entrepreneur when in fact, his real side is hidden to the people and he does a great job hiding it. Even when Lou starts a makeshift company with nothing but an old camera and a rusty car to show for it, he still brands it as if its a big organization and lures in the simple Rick (his assistant). By the end of the film when he has hired more interns and bought two news vans, he spouts the same lies as once he told his late co-worker, but this time the mirage has become even more difficult to break.
The Heroic Villain
Lou is motivated, clever, and a sociopath. Throughout the film, his lack of empathy and drive to succeed leads him in taking increasingly unforgivable actions, yet he remains the hero of the story and the audience stays engaged. The Screenwriter/Director manages to endear us to this seemingly unlikeable character by giving him traits that all of us can appreciate and find admirable.
The notion that a character needs to be nice and morally flawless to be likable is completely false. For you, to like the character all you need is to understand him. Lou is a very hard worker, first demonstrated in the scene where he is learning to be a nightcrawler. He does whatever it takes to succeed and quickly becomes very good at what he does, something which is considered as a respectable trait. He is also polite. Something which is considered as one of the defining factors of likeability. But we quickly see a change in his politeness, when he starts threatening people in the same manner as in which he greets them. The calm polite manner in which he threatens Joe Loder (his rival) is a chilling reminder of his sociopathic nature.
When trying to create a sympathetic character, oftentimes it results in a one-dimensional being, with a combination of 3 traits: moral, nice, and boring; instead of a real character. As the film progresses any sympathy we may have had for him starts to fade.
The reason why we continue to be invested in the character is because we have empathy for him, and not sympathy. The definition of empathy: is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. The key here is to understand the character and the choices he makes, that is why we empathize. We may disagree with the choice but we understand where it is coming from.
When we meet Lou, he is trespassing, stealing and assaulting a security guard. But in the following scene, we understand his situation and where he is coming from when he asks the scrapyard owner for a job. We see that he is in need of money, he is a little strange and he is looking for fulfillment. As Lou says in the first line of the script “I’m lost”. Having this background, we understand why he is so entranced when he is introduced to the world of Night crawling. We empathize with the feeling of finding a well-paying job that you find fulfilling.
As the film goes on, forces of antagonism apply more and more pressure on Lou so he responds by taking more and more extreme actions. At one point, Lou is late to a great story, so his rival gets the exclusive. We understand the frustration that comes with failure. As a result, he ends up disappointing his boss, Nina. She explains that this is unacceptable and she wants something spectacular. Now he is under an immense amount of pressure and his opponent has the upper hand. We understand and relate to the pressure he is under. So when Lou decides to sabotage his competitor’s van, causing it to crash and hospitalizes him, we know why Lou is doing this. We don’t approve but are still involved.
Lou's personal mantra is "if you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy a ticket." It is a noble thought which anyone would appreciate, saying that to get lucky you still have to work hard. But when you actually look at its application in the film it becomes a pretty sick joke. At no point does Lou actually make the money to buy his way into the lottery of the TV news business; his professional life is built around stealing. Whether he's aware of this contradiction, making it part of his false exterior, or actually believes it is unclear, but either way, it's central to Lou's character. His warped ideas about what it takes to get ahead are so skewed that he will take morally uninhibited actions just for marginal gains over the competition. Ultimately leading to a happy ending for him. Throughout the film he can be seen spouting the knowledge he gained from the internet and employs them in his work, but doesn’t take note, nor is he affected by the consequences of his immoral acts. Breaking the law is what gets him ahead.
Man-made Monster
In a pivotal scene of the film when Lou goes to cover the scene of an accident, where he reaches even before the police arrive. To get the perfect shot, he tampers with the scene, drags a dead body to fit it into the frame, just to accentuate the inhumanness of the act that will sell well. The whole scene and Lou’s actions can be considered insensitive, disturbing, and borderline wrong. But the film does not project it that way. The empathetic score that plays in the background heightens the feel of the scene to an inspiring event, where a man is pursuing his passion and doing whatever it takes to excel.
We are all clairvoyantly living our lives through Lou. We all deep down, within us have had dark thoughts and feelings which we suppress and know better than to act upon them. Lou simply has no morals. He is extremely driven to achieve his goal, and the obstacles he’ll simply remove them by any means necessary. He allows us to view the world in a different light.
The film itself doesn’t pass any judgments on him. According to the writer/director Dan Gilroy, this is a success story. A story of a young man who is desperate to break through the ceiling, and at the end is the owner of a growing and thriving business.
Lou did not build this world of night crawling, or the world of TV news which sensationalizes selective acts of brutality and violence. He just stumbled onto it and is doing what he is told. The real problem isn’t Lou, it is the society that allows a character like this to grow and rewards his behavior, encouraging him to bring more. He is simply providing the supply for the demand we have created.
The film highlights the power of storytelling. When we are able to relate and empathize with a character we wouldn’t normally, it provides a fantastic opportunity for self-reflection and to learn new things about ourselves we wouldn’t otherwise discover.
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