Some of that is also laws and consequences. But another way is definitely the "distant authorities" option which gives people freedom to act.
Exactly! Not to get too spoilery, but there's a point in Project Hail Mary where [character] stands in a courtroom and makes a point about how they are able to requisition information, with no regard for copyright or intellectual property, because for this narrow scope of a project, they are literally above international law.
It's not a terribly important scene to the story, honestly, - the character's authority has been previously clearly established - but it has a flavor to me of either being the fulfillment of an author's personal fantasy, or intended as a response to being questioned at length about how he'd handwaved the issues of access to all this propriety information. But then Weir goes on to point out later that there will be "offscreen" consequences for this character after the project is done, and *that* element feels a bit needless. Weir's not interested in that story, and mentioning that it will be happening later seems rather a digression.
Oh, yes, I thought this was a really good point in your post!In general, wealth allows characters to be more influential and to pay for things directly. When you mentioned this, I immediately thought of that scene in Inception where the team is planning out how they're going to run a heist on a plane, and how many people they'll have to pay off, and then Saito just interrupts to say, "Oh, I bought the airline. It seemed neater." Exactly like in Batman Begins when Bruce Wayne purchases a hotel in order to be snide to an employee. Nolan definitely has a personal fantasy of just being able to handwave his way out of the rules!
Oddly, the other thought I had about this was entirely unrelated to film, but about my husband's experiences. He grew up under what he called "socialism lite," and certain kinds of goods could not be imported or exported - alcohol, sweet things, cheeses and cured meats, etc. Industrially produced versions of these goods were not great and very expensive. So everyone would make something on their farm (because everyone in this area had a little land in addition to their day jobs) and you'd just barter back and forth - and if you were well connected and had a good reputation, you didn't need to have a beehive or a vineyard or extra pig to slaughter and cure - you'd do one of those things and give your neighbors the extra and they'd give you their excess. You'd never have to pay money for those things- your sausages were paid for in the promise of future wine and being a good neighbor. Social capital trumped actual funds significantly, because no one would bother to hold back some smoked sausages to give to the miser down the street who could only offer money in return.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2021-08-27 03:55 pm (UTC)Exactly! Not to get too spoilery, but there's a point in Project Hail Mary where [character] stands in a courtroom and makes a point about how they are able to requisition information, with no regard for copyright or intellectual property, because for this narrow scope of a project, they are literally above international law.
It's not a terribly important scene to the story, honestly, - the character's authority has been previously clearly established - but it has a flavor to me of either being the fulfillment of an author's personal fantasy, or intended as a response to being questioned at length about how he'd handwaved the issues of access to all this propriety information. But then Weir goes on to point out later that there will be "offscreen" consequences for this character after the project is done, and *that* element feels a bit needless. Weir's not interested in that story, and mentioning that it will be happening later seems rather a digression.
Oh, yes, I thought this was a really good point in your post!In general, wealth allows characters to be more influential and to pay for things directly.
When you mentioned this, I immediately thought of that scene in Inception where the team is planning out how they're going to run a heist on a plane, and how many people they'll have to pay off, and then Saito just interrupts to say, "Oh, I bought the airline. It seemed neater." Exactly like in Batman Begins when Bruce Wayne purchases a hotel in order to be snide to an employee. Nolan definitely has a personal fantasy of just being able to handwave his way out of the rules!
Oddly, the other thought I had about this was entirely unrelated to film, but about my husband's experiences. He grew up under what he called "socialism lite," and certain kinds of goods could not be imported or exported - alcohol, sweet things, cheeses and cured meats, etc. Industrially produced versions of these goods were not great and very expensive. So everyone would make something on their farm (because everyone in this area had a little land in addition to their day jobs) and you'd just barter back and forth - and if you were well connected and had a good reputation, you didn't need to have a beehive or a vineyard or extra pig to slaughter and cure - you'd do one of those things and give your neighbors the extra and they'd give you their excess. You'd never have to pay money for those things- your sausages were paid for in the promise of future wine and being a good neighbor. Social capital trumped actual funds significantly, because no one would bother to hold back some smoked sausages to give to the miser down the street who could only offer money in return.