Things I Watched: Nightcrawler - A Night-time Drive Into Capitalistic Competition

There's a scene early in Nightcrawler that I think sums it up quite well. After stealing a bulk of scrap metal from a construction yard, main character Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) remonstrates with a foreman unwilling to take stolen goods of his hands. Instead of conceding defeat, he argues in depth about its 'real value'. At a different point in history, his business savvy might be rewarded, but here it’s cynically rebuffed. The conversation ends with Lou asking for a job. A real one, even if it’s unpaid; a perfectly viable way for people to earn their stripes in the current economy.

Lou Bloom is Nightcrawler's anti-hero - an under-educated, internet-addicted, twenty/thirty-something trying to make ends meet. When he stumbles on a horrific car crash, he learns the way of the Weegee: freelance photojournalists who shoot footage of criminal incidents to sell to media channels. Naturally, the bigger the story, the bigger scoop and anything highlighting white people being attacked in the suburbs is soup de jour. Lou's happenstance arrival on a crash prompts his way into the nebulous night-time world, leading to scrupulous moral decisions as desperately seeks to be first on the scene.

At its core, Nightcrawler is a film about excessive competition. It's main character embodies that: a man with terrible social skills, willing to exploit people, but only in the same way he knows they're willing to exploit him. His wicked combination of unemployment and great eye for visuals pushes him into self-employment, which he goes to any length to extend. In one scene, he arrives at a crash site before the police. Instead of helping the half-dead man, he drags him across the road so he can get a better shot. Not once does it cross his mind to help but he makes sure the TV station credit him as doing so. Good for the brand, you see.

That TV station in question is KWLA 6, a moribund channel with flagging ratings and a career-driven manager looking to change things. Cue Lou’s footage propelling both he and the station to new heights. It's a point that doesn't just reflect on them. It corresponds with the (unseen) audience's obsession to violence. Company profit and exploitation of fears are found in a two-way waltz. The channel is the puppet master and Lou certainly makes for an efficient puppet-for-hire.

While the film's main source of criticism is television - and thus somewhat anachronistic in today’s digital world - it feels relevant given how it basically reflects emerging social media-driven anxiety. Online media tends to engage with us in the same way as news channels, frequently exaggerating facts through emotional content. Fears and worries are exacerbated, even if it's good for the brand. I think there's a valuable lesson in that.

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