First of all, let me talk about my preliminary understanding of film. From the performance of people in the film, this film is satirizing the idea of “money is supreme, money is omnipotent” in the capitalist society. This is reflected in many parts of the film: when Adam, the leading actor of the American Consulate, wanted to find a job, they gave a reply: if you have a shilling, you can register for membership, and you will be notified if there is any news. In the small restaurant, when the boss thought he was a thoroughly poor man at first, his service attitude was very bad, and he was also arranged in a corner; When Adam took out millions of pounds, the boss was shocked at first, and then not only didn’t accept his meal money, but also welcomed him to come often. Adam’s experience in the tailor’s shop was similar to this one, and he was initially treated coldly by the shop staff. After presenting the check of millions of pounds, the shop owner was regretful. He even meticulously tailored and made noble clothes for him in the name of the “prince”, and also proposed to “free” customize multiple sets of fashionable clothes suitable for various occasions in the upper society.
When he learned that Adam had not chosen a place to live, he also strongly recommended the hotel in London Jiahua and contacted him for all relevant matters. In the hotel, the hotel staff treated Adam and Hercules differently. Also, the Duchess (the aunt of the heroine) in the film was respectful to Adam when he was very “rich”. When Adam lost his check, she quickly criticized him for nothing, and even tried to prevent his niece from associating with Adam. All of the above fully show people’s desire for money and their different attitudes towards the rich and the poor, which is also the irony of people’s money worship at that time.
From the perspective of economics, the film also conveys a lot of social and economic information. First of all, when Adam Henry entered the small restaurant, the female shopkeeper saw that he was wearing rags and sent him to a corner. In fact, it was equivalent to maintaining the corporate image. She wanted to make her restaurant feel cleaner and more upscale; When Adam presented a million pound check, their attitude changed dramatically. They not only didn’t charge him any money, but also sent him away respectfully, and even welcomed him to come often.
Seen from the surface, the shop owner is at a loss in doing so. He not only has no profit or even negative profit, but also treats Adam respectfully. However, from the perspective of economics, the shopkeeper’s doing this is very good for his business, A strange Bai Wan “Fujin” came to his small restaurant with only two bills with a face value of one million at that time, which was undoubtedly a free door-to-door and a dynamic advertisement. He was a millionaire and had a celebrity sensation in the society at that time. His ability to come to this small restaurant undoubtedly proved to the society that his restaurant “has good food and good service”, because he did well, so the millionaire came. In fact, this is just an accident, but once this kind of thing is spread out, it is the good “image” formed by the small restaurant in the society, so that it will have more customers, a larger market, and even become the best in the industry, and become a star hotel. The value created by this is quite different from that of a few pounds.
Modern enterprises are seeking this effect by inviting celebrities to advertise.
The same is true in the tailor shop. At first, the boss asked the clerk to send Adam away from the back door as soon as possible for fear of affecting the image of the tailor shop; However, when they knew that he was a white millionaire, they were deeply ashamed. They also carefully made noble clothes for him according to the standard of “Prince”, and customized clothes for him that were popular in the upper class for different occasions for free. They also contacted Jiahua Hotel for him, and even sent people to send the finished clothes to Adam’s good place. In fact, the tailor shop owner was also taking advantage of the “celebrity effect”.
In this way, he can easily market his products into the high-end consumer market where the upper class is concentrated. The reason why millionaires can choose their tailor shop as their clothing supplier is undoubtedly their good work, Undoubtedly, it has proved to the society that their tailor shop has a good “image”. When they proudly queue up and deliver a large number of clothes made for millionaires and walk on the stairs of this luxury hotel, the publicity effect is very obvious. He has better established the “good image” of his enterprise with the celebrity effect of “millionaire”, so he is willing to provide such free high-level treatment. Of course, all the free services provided by hotel staff are also based on this consideration.
In other aspects, after Adam’s story was published in various newspapers and magazines, the people of the United States Embassy in London could easily provide him with 100 pounds of cash without any mortgage to solve the difficulty of dealing with various social affairs without change. Moreover, he behaved gracefully in the upper class. More importantly, he made generous contributions to charity and set up a good image of “a millionaire with a sense of social responsibility” in the society. So when Adam’s friend bought shares in his name, it soon attracted the imitation of the very blue people, which also took advantage of Adam’s “celebrity effect”, and Adam also obtained great profits.
In general, this film is really good looking, highlighting the people’s thought of “money is supreme, money is omnipotent” at that time, and criticizing it to a certain extent. At the same time, the film also reveals various means and strategies in the market economy, and people can’t help praising its far-reaching significance.
