This article contains spoilers for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
When Rian Johnson released Knives Out in 2019, the audience was excited to see a whodunit film with Daniel Craig taking over the role of its detective. The film had the perfect amount of humor, mystery, thrills, and suspense to captivate viewers. On top of that, Knives Out also included a brilliant set of actors who took over some rich characters who are very much focused on their greed for money. With that, the film attempted to criticize the so-called “elites” of society, who are born into the rich, in turn, making them blind to the world around them. Jessica Mason perfectly sums up the overall message of the film as one that is about “privilege and how it affects the way people see the world and those around them”. The film’s social commentary might even remind one of the recent nepo-baby debate.
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Thus, it is not a shocker to see the film’s sequel take a similar approach. In fact, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery might be even more focused on social commentary than its original film. Johnson continues to heavily criticize the rich while also digging into other aspects of society. The film takes step further by tying into the global pandemic, COVID 19, and using it as an opportunity to unpack the way in which certain communities disregarded the crisis. Fascinatingly, Glass Onion has included many tiny details that emphasize on the social commentary.
Success Does Not Mean Smart
Netflix
From the very beginning of the film, Johnson has attempted to create a clear dichotomy between the rich and the not-so-rich. For this, he has separated the characters of Benoit (Daniel Craig), Helen (Janelle Monáe) and even Peg (Jessica Henwick) from Miles (Edward Norton) and his “close circle”. One way in which this is done is through the characters’ lifestyles. Benoit and Helen lead very humble lives in their respective homes. Both characters seem to have very normal jobs. Even if Benoit is a world-famous detective, the film shows how he is feeling quite down due to the lack of mysteries coming his way. On the other hand, Miles and his friends are always up to something, even if they are ridiculous ideas.
The biggest contrast between these two sets of characters is their intelligence. Even though Miles is always showing off on how smart he is and how successful he is, the film slowly reveals that all his ideas were stolen from other characters. From Andi’s idea to create Alpha, Benoit’s statement of “putting a loaded gun on the table and turning off the lights” and even the fancy invitation box, every single “big idea” of his was one that were stolen from others. This act of idea-stealing is not something new as it is constantly seen in everyday society. It goes on to contribute to the issue of big people stealing small people’s ideas and violating them.
Glass Onion also takes the opportunity to mock these rich-elites who try to act so smart. Benoit’s cracking of Miles’s “complex” murder-mystery in mere minutes and Helen smashing the invitation-box are some instances where these characters expose the facade these “successful” people have created. Moreover, when Benoit is making the big reveal of who murdered Andi and Duke, he is constantly criticizing at how dumb Miles is due to his lack of originality in executing these murders.
The Tone-Deaf Rich
Birdie, played by Kate Hudson, is easily the most tone-deaf character in the film. When she is first introduced to viewers, she is seen partying in the middle of the pandemic. This is a brilliant portrayal of the infamous “pandemic parties” which caused more trouble than good. Birdie is also seen complaining about the pandemic and not being able to meet her friends, which, in turn, reminds the viewers of the many times certain privileged persons complained about the “hardships” they had to go through during the pandemic while enjoying their luxurious lifestyles. At a certain point, we can see Birdie wearing an absolutely useless mesh-mask, which is, again, a jab at many people who used masks as mere accessories while failing to adhere to proper safety protocols.
The most striking thing about Birdie is her politically incorrect stances. Peg is seen constantly trying to keep Birdie away from trouble. This form of trouble is caused because Birdie “speaks the truth”. Thus, she has come under fire for using a racial slur, “Jewy”, which she thought was another word for “cheap”.
Harmful and Detrimental Profits
Continuing with Birdie, the film further uses this character to shed light on sweatshops. Sweatshops are workplaces that are crowded, lack acceptable working conditions, and provide poor and unfair wages to the workers. In fact, these places violate a lot of labor laws and sometimes, child rights as well. Recently, a lot of infamous fashion brands and fast fashion companies were exposed for profiting out of such places. Glass Onion portrays Birdie as one such rich person who is relying on one of the largest sweatshops in Bangladesh to make her infamous sweatpants line. Birdie’s excuse is that she assumed “sweatshops” were places which made “sweatpants”. Nonetheless, the way in which she is oblivious to the torture these workers face and continues to profit out of them is a clear exposure of the big fashion lines that continue to use sweatshops for their products.
Miles’s character takes a similar approach. The hydrogen-based alternative fuel “Klear” is one that is extremely harmful, as clearly portrayed when the Glass Onion explodes following its exposure to fire. However, Miles is willing to ignore all these safety concerns and the many warnings by Andi, Lionel, and even Claire, so that he can profit from the product. It is obvious that he is well-aware of Klear’s risks and harmful repercussions. But, for him, it is just another product to profit from.
Environmental Pollution and Hypocrisy
It is undeniable that Miles is a hypocritical character. His whole Glass Onion seems to be focused on nature and its serenity, which is emphasized through the weird hourly-gong and the “no-smoke” garden. However, this contrasts with his real intentions of profiting from something harmful like Klear, which is capable of instantly destroying the environment. Similarly, the film uses a small incident where Duke throws an empty bottle of “Jared Leto’s Kombucha” into the pool to show how many people would not think twice about littering the environment. Perhaps, it is a nod to the plastic pollution in the ocean. If one cannot keep their immediate environment or their living place clean, how can you expect them to not pollute the environment.
Toxic Masculinity and Patriarchy
Duke, played by Dave Bautista, is one of the most uncomfortable characters in the film. The reasons being his preaching of “men’s rights” and his toxic masculinity. Duke’s random gun-shots to the sky illustrate his favor of guns and how he is definitely ignorant of its safety concerns. In fact, for him, it is a symbol of masculinity. At the same time, the way in which he manipulates and uses Whiskey, played by Madelyn Cline, for his benefits shows the lack of respect he has towards women.
In a way, Duke might remind many viewers of the controversial Andrew Tate. Like Tate, Duke uses his social media platforms to preach his toxic masculine ideologies and like Tate, Duke looks down upon women.
One could even argue that Miles, too, is a portrayal of patriarchal structure. Even though it was Andi who came up with the idea for Alpha and even introduced Miles to her friend-group, it was Miles who ended up gaining authority over the company. He goes on to use those around him as mere puppets. The way in which he is placed at the top-most level of the hierarchy shows the power he wields.
