The urgency is that he is demonstrating that an individual can be bigger than the corporation. Thats the worst thing that could happen for the Board of Directors. He needs to get out of the game, immediately. He was always good but Bartholomew thought he would be just like everybody else and when the price was right, he would go away willingly. It became urgent when he would not step aside. He was showing again and again how good he was and that was hurting everyone.
Yes, I understood this part, but still, they had plenty of time to ease into it gradually. Up until Jonathon's talk with Bartholomew early in the film, he ostensibly had no clue that they wanted him to quit. A large part of the plot was Jonathon wondering "why do they want me to quit?" He may have thought it was personal against him (especially since his wife had been taken from him). He went to a library and even off to Switzerland to talk to a giant water cooler to find out what was going on.
I guess what's hard to fathom is that they knew he was good and they had years to plan for it. But the way it's shown in the movie, it's like they just woke up that morning and decided "Oh no, we've got a problem and Jonathon has to quit now." Either the corporate executives are extremely myopic and poor planners (which is unlikely), or there must have been some sort of shake-up or internal crisis among the corporate leadership which may have accelerated the urgency.
It also seemed clear that appearances were important to the corporate bosses, which is why they couldn't just kill him or even fire him or bench him. They had to make it appear that he was retiring of his own free will, which is another sticky point which complicated the corporate position. If they made a martyr out of him, they couldn't be sure how the public would react. The crowds at the Rollerball games were pretty wild. There was even a scene with a Tokyo fan coming out of the stands to fight with the Houston Rollerballers - a suicidal act, yet borne out of individual passion and defiance which would have caused the corporate executives to sit up and take notice.
But other than that, there was little indication in the film that the masses were unhappy or restless. Although they cheered for Jonathon, there wasn't much indication that it affected the overall perception regarding the futility of individual effort. There didn't seem to be any indication or immediate threat of war or the imminent collapse of their society. Jonathon himself certainly didn't see himself as any kind of threat to the executives.
So, I guess the main question here is whether the corporate bosses were just being paranoid or if they really had some legitimate reason to feel that their power was threatened.
The super bowl analogy does not work here. Unless the NFL has a social agenda I am unaware of, the marketing for it is centered on the individual. Rollerball had the opposite goal. The collective mattered more than the individual. It would be the equivalent of an NFL team cutting its best player because he refused to play for the benefit of the team and focused only on his personal stats.
I would say that Rollerball also served the purpose of "bread and circuses" for the masses. I'm not saying the NFL has a social agenda, although it's very team-oriented and also instills a sense of pride and unity within cities which have NFL teams. Sure, there are individual players who stand out, but long-time fans will see players come and go - but the team remains as a fixture in the lifeblood, history, and culture of the city (unless the owner moves it to another city, but that's another story). It's much the same with college teams in college towns.
But it's the same with Rollerball in that the fans enjoy the competition, and they most certainly want their team to win. Houston fans want Houston to win. Tokyo fans want Tokyo to win. So, if the corporate executives want to remove Houston's star player and possibly risk losing the championship, many of the fans would want to know why. Not just because of Jonathon, but for the sake of the team - the collective unit which held their intense pride and loyalty.
The irony of it all is that the corporate executives were more focused on their own individual power and position, while losing sight of what would have been optimal for the collective.
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cabal24
9 years ago
That is a very well thought out post. I disagree with a few parts of what you said but I tip my hat to you.
I guess what's hard to fathom is that they knew he was good and they had years to plan for it. But the way it's shown in the movie, it's like they just woke up that morning and decided "Oh no, we've got a problem and Jonathon has to quit now."
I was under the impression that the Board was responding to an undercurrent of support for one individual. It seems reasonable to me that they had never seen this before with Rollerball. Sure you had your stars but nothing like Jonathan. We dont even know the names of the stars for the other teams. When they prepare, they arent game planning for an individual opponent like football or basketball. This leads me to believe Jonathan was truly the exception rather than the rule.
Perhaps they misjudged the public response initially? Perhaps they thought the public would cool off? Whatever the reason, something happened which made them decide he had to go immediately. In my head, I figured they assumed he would be very willing to retire with certain privliges (who wouldnt want to not work and still enjoy the benefits of being a pseudo-executive?)
But other than that, there was little indication in the film that the masses were unhappy or restless. Although they cheered for Jonathon, there wasn't much indication that it affected the overall perception regarding the futility of individual effort. There didn't seem to be any indication or immediate threat of war or the imminent collapse of their society. Jonathon himself certainly didn't see himself as any kind of threat to the executives.
As you mentioned before, these people were not poor planners. If the goal as stated was to demonstrate the futility of the individual, and people are chanting the name of one individual, thats going to be a problem sooner or later. Thats how I took it anyway. If you have people thinking the individual has power, it will snowball. Why not smother that fire before it starts?
The irony of it all is that the corporate executives were more focused on their own individual power and position, while losing sight of what would have been optimal for the collective.
I would point out that it wasnt the individual power they were concerned about. There was no individual power. There was individual privileges but nothing about that structure had individual power. Even the leadership had no individuals. There was a corporate Board of Directors put in place, I assume, to keep power in the hands of the collective.
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Stevicus-2
9 years ago
That is a very well thought out post. I disagree with a few parts of what you said but I tip my hat to you.
Thanks, and likewise.
Perhaps they misjudged the public response initially? Perhaps they thought the public would cool off? Whatever the reason, something happened which made them decide he had to go immediately. In my head, I figured they assumed he would be very willing to retire with certain privliges (who wouldnt want to not work and still enjoy the benefits of being a pseudo-executive?)
Another thought that occurred to me is when Jonathon mentioned to Bartholomew about his wife, Bartholomew said "That was before I got here" and that he couldn't have done anything to prevent his wife being taken away. I would infer from this that there was some former executive who was at Bartholomew's rank but who somehow had to be replaced.
Is it possible that this former executive may have fallen from grace, perhaps due to the very thing that Jonathon was complaining about? If the executive was more concerned with Jonathon's wife than with minding the store and keeping an eye on the ramifications of the crowds cheering Jonathon's individual efforts, then that may have been cause for the other executives on the board to remove him and have him replaced by Bartholomew.
Another possibility is that, by taking away Jonathon's wife, that may have built up such an anger in him that would come out in every Rollerball match he played. He took out his aggression on the opposing side which may have roused and riled up the crowds even more.
So, whoever the former executive might have been, he dropped the ball and was letting the situation get out of hand, so perhaps Bartholomew had to be brought in to clean things up.
I would point out that it wasnt the individual power they were concerned about. There was no individual power. There was individual privileges but nothing about that structure had individual power. Even the leadership had no individuals. There was a corporate Board of Directors put in place, I assume, to keep power in the hands of the collective.
I thought about that, although I got the impression that it was run by a coalition or confederation of corporate "princes" who each had their own individual domains and "kingdoms." They mentioned that there were corporate wars in the past, and they were living in the aftermath of what appeared to be a peaceful alliance, yet still uneasy. There was still the possibility of dissension and falling out that could divide them or even put them back at war with each other.
I suppose it's possible that the other corporations might have feared the Houston corporation maybe using Jonathon's popularity to increase their own power to make them more powerful than the other corporations.
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