On this week’s Movies vs. Capitalism, hosts Rivka Rivera and Frank Cappello are joined by actor and comedian Brian Morabito for a heated debate about Ben Stiller’s 2001 comedy set in the world of high fashion, Zoolander.
A rough transcript of the episode is available here.
It is widely understood that the fashion industry is one of the most environmentally destructive and exploitative industries on the planet. The desire for seasonal new trends, cheaper consumer products, and maximized corporate profits has created dangerous supply chains that utilize sweatshop labor and significantly pollute the atmosphere, predominantly affecting nations in the Global South.
20 years ago Ben Stiller decided to make Zoolander, a screwball comedy lampooning the world of high fashion. In today’s discussion, the MVC team unpacks Stiller’s comedy, which seems more interested in portraying models as vapid rather than genuinely critiquing the harmful fashion industry.
For next week’s movie, MVC will be watching the Jimmy Stewart holiday classic It’s A Wonderful Life.
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