Herostratus

Herostratus came out in 1967.

It follows an unhappy young man named Max who has run out of money.

Since he's out of money, he can't pay rent, so he throws a fit in his apartment and gets himself kicked out.

He makes his way to an advertising office and forces his way into a meeting with a big executive.

There, he makes the executive an offer.

Max will kill himself provided the executive uses his advertising skills to draw the maximum level of attention.

It's plain that Max is out for recognition.

He's never achieved anything, he isn't part of anything, and he doesn't even have a particular cause in mind.

He feels advertising executives have put people up to wasting their lives, but he doesn't offer much in the way of a positive vision beyond that.

Since he has no clear commitments, he's easy to exploit, and the executive decides to see how things play out.

He has Max put up in a nice flat, and there he begins to plan the big event.

The film is not shot in linear order, and its narrative is periodically punctured with images of meat or clips of post-war politicians giving speeches.

We get a sense that a number of things happened, but we don't know precisely in what order.

It's clear that the executive intends to use Max's suicide not to critique the existing order, but to defend it.

Now, it might be said that Max's suicide won't accomplish anything on the grounds that no one really cares about the suicide of a person with vague, idiosyncratic grievances.

But that isn't precisely the angle the film takes.

Rather, the executive plans to have Max give a reactionary speech in which he underlines his commitment to democracy.

It's hard to imagine anyone giving a toss about that.

The executive has a secretary, a woman, whom he pays to have sex with Max.

The woman is used to spy on Max and gain insight into his motivations.

There is also an advert in which a young Helen Mirren offers to have sex with the viewer if the viewer purchases gloves for her.

In this film, feminine recognition is merely a promise used to extract labor from men.

The women in the film seem bent on using men to obtain things.

They have regrets about this.

The secretary weeps over her role in exploiting Max.

Herostratus came out in 1967.

It follows an unhappy young man named Max who has run out of money.

Since he's out of money, he can't pay rent, so he throws a fit in his apartment and gets himself kicked out.

He makes his way to an advertising office and forces his way into a meeting with a big executive.

There, he makes the executive an offer.

Max will kill himself provided the executive uses his advertising skills to draw the maximum level of attention.

It's plain that Max is out for recognition.

He's never achieved anything, he isn't part of anything, and he doesn't even have a particular cause in mind.

He feels advertising executives have put people up to wasting their lives, but he doesn't offer much in the way of a positive vision beyond that.

Since he has no clear commitments, he's easy to exploit, and the executive decides to see how things play out.

He has Max put up in a nice flat, and there he begins to plan the big event.

The film is not shot in linear order, and its narrative is periodically punctured with images of meat or clips of post-war politicians giving speeches.

We get a sense that a number of things happened, but we don't know precisely in what order.

It's clear that the executive intends to use Max's suicide not to critique the existing order, but to defend it.

Now, it might be said that Max's suicide won't accomplish anything on the grounds that no one really cares about the suicide of a person with vague, idiosyncratic grievances.

But that isn't precisely the angle the film takes.

Rather, the executive plans to have Max give a reactionary speech in which he underlines his commitment to democracy.

It's hard to imagine anyone giving a toss about that.

The executive has a secretary, a woman, whom he pays to have sex with Max.

The woman is used to spy on Max and gain insight into his motivations.

There is also an advert in which a young Helen Mirren offers to have sex with the viewer if the viewer purchases gloves for her.

In this film, feminine recognition is merely a promise used to extract labor from men.

The women in the film seem bent on using men to obtain things.

They have regrets about this.

The secretary weeps over her role in exploiting Max.