Stanly Kubrick, a Clairvoyant or a Main Part of “The Club?”

Stanly Kubrick, one of the greatest directors in cinema history, oeuvre spans from science fiction and crime to epic historical dramas. Within his thirteen productions, one stood invaluable looking from the current context: Eyes Wide Shut (1999).

The film is a unique combination of thriller and eroticism. The story unfolds as Bill (Tom Cruise) sets out on a night of sexual escapades. After a series of failed encounters, he reconnects with his old friend Nick (Todd Field), who informs him about a clandestine sex party where he plays the piano blindfolded while the guests are masqueraded. The party beings with a religious incantation, and the women slowly disrobe themselves and turn the ceremony into an orgy. Amidst the revelry, a mysterious woman recognizes Bill and warns him of the great danger he’s in for intrusion.

The film is considered rather lukewarm among other Kubrick movies such as The Shining (1980), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Dr. Strangelove (1964). However, its significance has grown over time: Eyes Wide Shut gives us a glimpse into the debauchery lurking beneath Capitalism.

The Decadence of Western Showbiz

“What do you desire most?” This question has revealed more about society than the individuals who answer it. Beneath the facade of modern life lies the decadence; it is here, in this space between anonymity and exploitation, that one reveals the nature of mankind.

“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power,” said Oscar Wilde. For over a hundred years, Capitalism has been cloaked in a veneer of hypocrisy. When this veil slipped, we reacted in awe like a group of second-graders who had just discovered multiplication after a year of rote addition.

Western showbiz is a perfect portrayal of capitalism precisely because of its profit-driven nature. Television, music, shows, and films are all forms of media that generate money, and the press turns those who participated in the production of the media, rich: singers, actors, athletes, politicians, you name it. With money, comes power. With power, comes whatever you imagine.

The decadence of capitalism was well hidden until Karl Marx exposed them to the public, e.g., The Enclosure Movement in England and Industrial Revolution. However, Kubrick foresaw the very scandals that have since come to light within Western showbiz.

Eyes Wide Shut is more than a mere exposé; it mocks the middle class and their inability to conceive the degree of decadence in which the privileged indulge. The sybaritic splendor depicted in the film is the dream of the middle class, yet it is the everyday life of the elites.

Nonetheless, sex is by far the only insatiable thing within the middle class; education, power, and wealth are all in dearth. To make matters worse, the elites are hoarding those resources, shunning the middle class from garnering them and, at the same time, proclaiming their domination. This is precisely why Kubrick uses sex to depict the unjust because sex correlates directly to one’s own body, yet even the very right to autonomy over the body is being deprived. This is a thralldom.

Bill eventually understands the morbid structure of society: the privileged exploits the middle class; the middle class, in turn, feeds on the lower classes. This revelation drives Bill to deconstruct his marriage. The case can be made that their marriage isn’t really about “love” so much as it is about interest and profit.

Monogamous marriage emerges alongside a decent income for both parties. However, suppose only the man (or only the woman) is securing the bread and butter. In this case, the marriage is reduced to a transaction, with the other party exchanging domestic and reproductive labor for financial security. Ultimately, this imbalance commodifies the role of the lower-earning partner.

This is exactly the case of Bill. He realizes that himself, in essence, is a wallet that pays everything for his family (it’s even implied through the name Bill). And his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman), who doesn’t have a job and worries so much about her appearance, is nothing but a decorative figure. Their marriage, just like Engels—a Germain Philosopher—said, is “a form of long-term prostitution,” where the role of Alice is commodified.

What Did Kubrick Dnsinuate in The Film?

Marx said in The Communist Manifesto, “The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental vile, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.” If humane labor can be commodified, why not the body as well? It is just a matter of how much they pay. Under capitalism, everything revolves around money. If the middle class can use it to get prostitutes, the elites can equally procure what they want—only on the more extreme and despicable side.

According to MIT Technology Review, the USA is currently the world’s largest consumer of child pornography. In 2022, the United States has engaged in pedophilic transactions more than any other country in the world.

In Sound of Freedom (2023), a film based on a real story, a large number of pedophiles in the States fled to purlieu countries seeking underage victims so that they don’t end up in jail. In contrast, the elites only have to hop on Epstein’s plane and fly to his island. Even when things get out of control, the elites are not the ones the police come after. After almost eight years of exposure to Epstein’s case, none of the elites on the roster ended up in jail. The circle grants them impunity.

However, the different ways—though both may be sex—of satiating oneself between the elites and the middle class varies. Kubrick portrays this underlying difference by shunning the middle class out of the circle of the elites. If “The Club” permits you to “commit” the crime with them, they are accepting you as one of their members. However, given the status of Bill, the elites are not going to tolerate that; this is precisely why Bill and his wife were threatened.

In Epstein’s case, a similar phenomenon occurs. Being invited to his island signals belonging to “The Club.” As a member, one of your goals is to show appreciation. For those who decline to show appreciation, the circle is going to ostracize them. When Epstein’s contact lists were released, Michal Jackson was accused of pedophilia by a bunch of pedophiles.

The Mysterious Death of Kubrick

After Warner Bros reviewed Kubrick’s rough cut, they encouraged him to delete certain parts of the film. However, Kubrick refused to compromise because he had signed a contract with Warner that gave him the final cut privilege. A few days after Kubrick edited the films, he was found dead in his bed due to a heart attack. But Kubrick had never shown any history of cardiovascular diseases. This left people pondering what actually caused the death of him. Is it the film?

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the film causes his death, but Kubrick himself is well aware of the ramifications of making such an exposé. “If I told you their names…no, I am not going to tell you their names…but if I did, I don’t think you’d sleep so well at night,” Victor (a friend of Bill who also participated in the party) addresses Bill.

Kubrick dedicates his life using films to discover human nature and at the same time encourage the audience to contemplate with him. At the end of the movie, Bill returns to his apartment and finds the mask he lost at the party lying next to Alice’s pillow; he breaks down in tears. But whose mask is it, really? Bill’s? Or, perhaps, the mask is for us, the audience. When you understand the nature of society, would you rather don the mask and keep dreaming?