Being There Movie Review

Being There (1979)

Rent Being There on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Jerzy Kosinski (novel, screenplay), Robert C. Jones (writer, uncredited)
Directed by: Hal Ashby
Starring: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas
Rated: PG [PG-13]
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Plot
After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.

Verdict
If you're wearing the right suit, is there any room you can't enter? By simply wearing an expensive suit Chance moves from gardening to President. His simple answers are mistaken for profound or aloof because surely no one so simple could have accidentally entered the elite circle. The adage is that it's not what you know but who you know and Chance certainly proves that. One side is how easy it is for Chance to rise up the ranks, but the other side is how little it takes to fool people. It's absurd, but a little too easy to believe.
Watch It.

Review
What a satire. A simple man that quotes pop culture rises to prominence. It's scary how relevant this seems now. If you have the right quotes and clothes there's no limit to how far you can go. Substance doesn't matter as long as it sounds profound.

Chance (Peter Sellers) is a simple gardender that likes to watch television. He flips through the channels quickly, almost like he's going through social media. Is the jab that someone raised on television has a short attention span and can only mimic what they see, unable to form new ideas? That too sounds similar to social media.

Peter Sellers, Jack Warden  play Chance, President 

Chance seems to have the intelligence of a young child, barely able to take care of himself. When his employer dies, Chance is kicked out of the house, wandering the street. There's no record he even existed. Fortunately for Chance a wealthy woman knicks him with her car. Her husband Ben (Melvyn Douglas) is wealthy and affluent, a confidant of the President. Most importantly Ben likes Chance, noticing his expensive suits that Chance obtained from his former employer.

Chance only knows gardening and television. It's all he talks about, but people mistake it for brilliance. He meets the President, spouts nonsense and it's mistaken for an amazing metaphor. These rich men certainly wouldn't admit they don't understand it. How could a guy in a nice suit not be part of the club? Chance even ends up on television. The maid for his former employer sees him and is shocked at the low barrier. A white guy that can't even read ends up on television talking politics. Chance becomes a celebrity. His answers to any questions are so simple, bordering on laughable, but everyone reads it as cool and detached. His comments are humor or aloofness. In another context he'd be exposed, but this group doesn't think anyone could infiltrate them. It's their ego. To get through that door Chance must be special. It's that belief alone that propels him to a rarefied status in their minds.

The President is befuddled that Chance has no records, no background. That's not enough of an indictment. Chance is content to mimic what he sees on television. His answers and persona are so simple and boring. He's content to just watch television. By being a blank slate, people ascribe whatever attributes they want to him.

The ending. The easiest explanation is that he's some kind of angel, walking on water usually implies such. It could be how people perceive him walking on water and doing no wrong. He makes it to the height of politics without even trying, just skipping across the surface. And that's the thing, his wisdom is only surface level. There's no depth to this man. These influential groups can't imagine someone like this infiltrating their group. In any other setting, he'd be found out. In these circles, if you look the part you must have the rest. I think the ending is a comparison. It's absurd that he walks across water and the audience immediately objects, but we just watched a movie where a man with no ideas or ambitions makes it to president. Ponder how that might happen. Is it any less absurd?