The Moral Consequences

One of the things that always rubbed me wrong about the Ocean's Eleven remake is how far out of the way they go to vilify the victim. So Terry Benedict is this smug vindictive jerk who's now dating Danny's ex, so that justifies it. I saw Focus last night, and I'm just really tired of Hollywood lionizing criminals without mind to victim, virtue or consequence.

"You Shall Not Steal" is not contingent on the personality of the victim. Rusty seems to be goaded into it because he's bored. The previous crime of these two gentlemen was desecrating Incan cultural artifacts for profit, but hey, they're the sexiest men alive.

And it's not like they're picking Terry's pocket here! The Bellagio, The MGM Grand and the Mirage are HUGE businesses with hundreds of employees who haven't gone after an enemy's brother in law's dealership or dated Tess. When their place of employment is robbed of 150 million dollars that could have some impact. We're talking good, honest, hard-working folks, with families to feed and bills to pay. UNDOUBTEDLY, some will be left go after these casinos suffer.

Oh, we're told that the casino's money is insured, but does that really make it all right? Wrong! The money has to come from somewhere. That canard is even worse when used in bank robbery movies where they assure us that the money is federally insured. In those cases, they're picking the pocket of good old God-fearing John and Jane Q. Taxpayers like you and me! Doesn't that piss you off?

And consider the customers in the casinos. Because Ocean's crew was robbing the entire cash vault, anyone who won that night will be unable to be immediately compensated. Sure, a retired couple from Florida may accept an IOU for their Keno winnings. But what about the Mafia high rollers, or a group of card-counting amoral frat boys, or just any of the drunken gamblers who just might happen to win. They're not going be happy to know they aren't getting paid tonight. "What do you mean the bank is out of money?!" This is at three major resort hotels and casinos. Hundreds, if not thousands of people are about to be pissed off. The results will not be pleasant.

So while the world's most beautiful thieves are watching the fountains at the Bellagio while Clair de Lune plays in the background, you have hundreds of soon to be out-of-work casino employees trying to quell multiple riots- who knows who's getting trampled, threatened, bruised or KILLED- followed by a disastrous financial blow-back following the largest single insurance pay-out in Nevada history. Though $150,000,000 is but a drop in the pond of the global economic market, the effect is not negligible. Certainly not in Las Vegas. I'm telling you, there could definitely be at least a couple suicides as a direct result of Danny Ocean and his crew's crimes. They're all so cool and so oblivious to all those people, all that pain. Which they caused.

Three of Las Vegas' biggest landmarks are not going to recover quickly just because they have insurance. They lost their entire bankroll and suffered untold material damage from angry unpaid customers. The riots could spread to the Strip. It'd be a free for all.

In the entire trilogy, the single instance of any of the characters considering the morality of their actions was Tess' reluctance to pose as Julia Roberts. The exchange went something like this:

Tess: I don't think this is right.
Linus: You mean...morally? (Puzzled at the very concept)

So The Mirage shuts down. The Bellagio shuts down. The MGM Grand shuts down. The various security firms and independent contractors who designed the infrastructure lose all credibility in a single night and thus go bankrupt. Hundreds if not thousands are out of work. Lives ruined. The insurance company takes a huge hit and may require a 2008 style bailout. Tourists' diminished confidence in the ability of their casinos to pay out causes a chain effect. Las Vegas is ruined. And maybe there's some good in the ruin of the casinos, if you consider gambling to be an immoral, unBiblical vice, but the livelihood of the hundreds of thousands of people in the Las Vegas region is something we Christians should take into consideration.

The long-term fallout of the crime of the century is hard to calculate, but does not look good. Someone has to pay. Perhaps corrupt cops will rush to arrest innocent scapegoats. There could be a Congressional hearing and special investigation. Maybe Las Vegas is put under martial law following wide-spread rioting. The mob could come back to fill the void left by the ruthless but law-abiding Terry Benedict. Actions do not happen in a vacuum, no matter how sleek Soderbergh makes it look. Soderbergh and Damon later went after corporate price-fixing, but did they truly consider the consequences of their actions here? Further down the line we might find a ruined city, Las Vegas scrapped completely to resume nuclear testing, which would have disastrous environmental consequences but will be helpful when the WAR comes because the blowback of the $150 million dollar robbery, insurance chain reaction and collapse of one of the largest tourist cities in the world has global consequences.

Rampant unemployment. Rioting. Martial law. Rise of The Mob and downfall of an entire city. An international depression. Nuclear war.

And these, ladies and gentlemen, are your heroes.

But don't they all look so cool?