Globalization in Babel: Rough Draft

Amber Levitch

Engl 495esm

Wexler

Dec. 6, 2012

Working Title

            Facilitating such connections is one of the many benefits arising from technological advancements.  Due to the, at times, instantaneous nature of communications, modern society is becoming increasingly globalized.  In other words, technology’s facilitation of communication enables the exchange of ideas and cultures on a global scale, essentially creating a world without borders.  Although globalization promotes the seemingly positive effect of an increased connectedness between international communities, it also promotes a polarized global economy in which wealth is disproportionately distributed, the effects of which are examined in the film Babel by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

            This assertion may not be overtly implied in the film, but it does become more apparent when viewed through the lenses of Fredric Jameson’s essay “The Politics of Utopia” and Randy Martin’s essay “Where Did the Future Go?”  Jameson asserts that globalization is characterized by “two distinct worlds,” one of which consists of “misery, poverty, unemployment, starvation, squalor, violence, and death” while the other possesses “unparalleled wealth, computerized production, scientific and medical discoveries unimaginable a century ago as well as an endless variety of commercial and cultural pleasures” (35).  In other words, Jameson believes that the modern globalized world can be divided into two clearly delineated types: the First World and the Third World.  Martin advances Jameson’s assertion by articulating the nature of the relationship between the First World and the Third World in terms of finance and risk management, specifically the “financialization of daily life” in which “society’s central cleavage would be played out along the lines of risk” (2).  For those who can manage the risk, they would be “managers if not masters of their own lives,” whereas those who cannot would be “cast as populations ‘at-risk,’” and in need of management (2).

            Martin also asserts that the financialized paradigm affects not only the social sphere, but the domestic one, as well.  He writes, “In practice, this financialization of daily life did not banish labor, but elaborated it in the domestic sphere” (2).  Now, the home becomes the “root of economy” where an everyday citizen of the First World can exercise his/her financial influence by engaging with the wider financial culture by taking out a home mortgage or inventing in a retirement fund.  Iñárritu explores the financialized paradigm as it operates within the domestic sphere through the relationship between Richard Jones, played by Brad Pitt, and his nanny, Amelia, played by Adriana Barraza.  As a member of the First World, Jones is not only a “manager” of his own life, but he is also a manager in Amelia’s life.