In life, have you ever had such an experience—
when a relative or friend notices your "abnormality" and wants to know what's wrong with you.
But you hesitate to speak, and finally mumble out three words: "I'm fine."
Pressure always comes unexpectedly.
In the adult world, there is no such word as "easy".
In the drama we are going to talk about today, when faced with inquiries and concerns, the protagonist gives the same answer—"I'm fine."
Is everything really okay?
No, in fact, his life is already on the verge of collapse.
One day, he wakes up from the darkness, with a severe pain in the back of his head.
Glancing sideways, he sees another man lying in a pool of blood beside him.
Frightened, he hurries away.
When he gets to the yard, he slips and falls into the swimming pool.
At that moment, he can't help but wonder how his life has become so chaotic and unbearable.
It all starts four months ago.
01 There is a classic line in the life-changing movie Trainspotting:
"Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a big television, choose a washing machine, a car, a compact disc player and electrical tin opener. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home..."
In today's story, Andrew Coop (played by Jon Hamm) is also making choices.
Like most people, after graduation, he chose to work, get married, have children, strive for promotion, change cars and houses... Years of hard work finally made him a senior executive in the financial industry, living the life of a successful person.
Of course, he can also be called a "rich man".
However, life took a dramatic turn.
His wife, Mel, had an affair with Andrew's good friend, and the "cuckold" situation came unexpectedly.
Andrew chose to divorce, split the assets, and end their 18-year marriage.
Later, in a bar, when a strange lady took the initiative to strike up a conversation with him, he was hesitant but somewhat receptive, and at that moment, he made another choice.
This choice got him into trouble.
Andrew was shocked by the bad news: he had been fired.
The reason was that affair he had in the bar; the company did not allow improper relationships between senior executives and employees.
He tried to exonerate himself, explaining that the woman was not his direct subordinate, but it was useless.
Unemployment in middle age had become a reality.
What was worse, the capital account used for work was frozen, he couldn't withdraw his own money, and all his previous clients were lost.
Wanting to re-employ?
It was not that simple.
The original company kept putting pressure on the industry, and no one dared to hire Andrew.
Finally, a company was willing to employ him, but because he had signed a two-year non-poaching agreement with the original company, he couldn't start work at all.
To put it simply, one word - "difficult". Two words - "confused".
Andrew used to be a rich man, but that was only in the past.
In order to maintain the superficial glory, his financial situation, which was already constantly overdrawn, became even more stretched after unemployment.
There were a lot of bills, the deposit balance was getting less and less, and sitting idle and eating away at the savings was definitely not a solution.
He took time to go back to his former home. Apart from a war of words with his ex-wife, he received the news that his son wanted to buy a new drum set and his daughter wanted laser body shaping.
Money, money, money, it was all about money.
As he was leaving, another bolt from the blue hit him: his 17-year-old daughter actually had a boyfriend.
The old father's heart was completely broken.
For the sake of face, Andrew didn't tell anyone about his unemployment. At the family gathering organized by friends, he was in a low mood and drank a little too much. When going to the bathroom, he simply wandered around this mansion.
Andrew found that in the drawer in the cloakroom, there were various famous watches and a lot of cash. He picked up a roll, looked at it and put it back. But in the evening, that roll of money appeared prominently on Andrew's coffee table.
At this time, a casual thought came to his mind.
02
Striving to Make Money
Buying a drum set for his son, swiping the card, paying the bill.
The money that should be spent still has to be spent.
However, when delivering the drum set, he accidentally caught his daughter in an intimate moment with her boyfriend.
Andrew was so angry that he lost his temper on the spot, directly fulfilling his previous "promise" and throwing a punch at the man's vital area. Troubles came one after another.
Andrew's sister's anxiety seemed to have worsened. He had been paying the rent for his sister's apartment before.
Now, he didn't know what to do.
The pressure was overwhelming. Looking again at the roll of dollars he stole from his friend Miller's house, Andrew decided to strive to make money. The wealthy neighborhood where Miller lived had almost zero crime rate, so residents were easy to let their guard down, and forgetting to lock the door was a common occurrence, which also gave Andrew an opportunity. Taking advantage of the family's trip, he sneaked in quietly.
He first set his sights on a Patek Philippe Nautilus 18k white gold watch. The retail price was 70,000,andthemarketpriceexceeded160,000.
Andrew suddenly remembered the advertising slogan of this famous watch: "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation."
The next generation? Young people all use mobile phones to check the time; who wears a watch anymore... Let me "look after" it for you.
He put the watch into his pocket, took another roll of cash, and had a full harvest.
At that moment, the doorbell rang loudly, and police lights flashed outside the window.
Was he going to be caught red-handed on his first crime?
Andrew quickly came up with a plan. He put on his pajamas, messed up his hair, and pretended to be drowsy.
Amazingly, he managed to muddle through with the police by posing as the homeowner. The next day, Andrew went to a pawnshop. The offer was quite substantial—he could get $180,000.
But without the certificate and packaging, the owner didn't dare to accept it.
Andrew didn't want to take the risk of going back to look for them, so under the owner's guidance, he went elsewhere.
The owner of this place swung his "big knife" and directly offered a rock-bottom price.
There was no way around it; both the seller and the buyer knew perfectly well that it was stolen goods.
Andrew reluctantly sold the watch, but this little "income" was still a drop in the bucket.
Child support, tuition fees, legal fees, mortgage loans for two houses, property taxes, insurance premiums...
There were still so many expenses, so many holes to fill.
Once you've done it once, there's a second time.
You can't keep fleecing the same sheep. Andrew knew too many rich people—he could just move on to the next one.
He still targeted famous watches—a "Richard Mille" with a market price of $350,000.
Unexpectedly, the shop owner refused to accept it this time.
Andrew wasn't discouraged and directly said he could go a bit cheaper.
But it was clear that this female shop owner was not someone to be messed with, and Andrew had to leave in disgrace.
Andrew had no idea that his frequent acts of selling stolen goods had already aroused the shop owner's suspicion.
Or rather, "interest".
He was being watched.
03
Behind the Absurdity
The Chinese translation of this drama is brilliant: Covering One's Ears to Steal from the Neighbor.
By deconstructing a well-known idiom, it highlights the main thread of the story—Andrew's theft.
Judging from the current plot of stealing from one house per episode, he certainly won't stop. I'd bet that the murder scene mentioned at the beginning is also a big trouble encountered during a theft.
The setup of Andrew, who is separated from his wife and children and unemployed in middle age, resorting to theft to cope with a financial crisis is indeed quite absurd.
After all, this is a crime.
Yet Andrew can find a way to justify it to himself. He thinks it's only temporary, and once he gets through this rough patch, everything will get better.
Will things really get better?
I'm afraid it's unlikely.
First of all, his dismissal was a conspiracy.
The female employee didn't expose him or stab him in the back; it was all a result of the power struggle among the company's top management.
They just wanted to kick Andrew out.
The female employee was also a victim. She once wanted to clear Andrew's name, but was easily tempted by the bait of a promotion.
Capital has always been like this, hasn't it?
In the work circle, those willing to hire Andrew are basically coveting his resources, aiming to steal his client base.
Nepotism is everywhere. Getting ahead by real ability?
Don't dream about it.
Andrew's social circle isn't any better.
The one who cheated on him with his wife was a friend in the circle, his lover was from the circle, and the targets of his theft are still from the circle.
The relationships between men and women are complicated and messy.
A netizen on Douban commented that they really wanted to send all these people to the "White Lotus Resort" next door.
This "circle" is actually the so-called "class community".
It can help Andrew in his work—by helping rich people invest to earn commissions.
But it can also shatter Andrew's life into pieces—if he confesses his current situation, he will definitely be kicked out.
At the same time, as a man with no way out, he now relies on the rich in the circle to maintain his life—by stealing their property.
And to gain a long-term foothold in this social circle, one has to pay a "price".
This price is both material and emotional—an annual club fee of $100,000, as well as the flattery and obsequiousness that one has to do.
As said in the drama, all this stems from social-level extortion. Andrew, who sees the essence, has no choice but to go with the flow.
The reason his thefts are repeatedly successful is also because of his understanding of rich people.
Andrew knows where they keep their valuables and which things won't be noticed missing in a short time.
Watches worth hundreds of thousands of dollars are casually thrown in the corner of a drawer, never to be worn by their owners for a long time.
The saying "The gates of the rich reek of wine and meat" fits perfectly here.
Therefore, "robbing the rich to help the poor" may be a kind of "satisfying point", but behind the black humor and absurd plot, the main theme of this drama is criticism and satire.
Under the double influence of capitalism and consumerism, the whole society is cold and ruthless, with excessive desire.
Returning to the "human" level.
The "unease", "anxiety", "pressure", "sense of crisis", and "a mess" described in the drama can actually resonate with many viewers.
As mentioned at the beginning, "I'm fine" may just be adults putting on a brave front.
In our world, there is no "ease", and there can be no "weakness".
But this kind of "empowerment" from both subjective consciousness and objective reality may really be too distorted and unhealthy.
In the drama, the narration of a teenager receiving psychological counseling is surprisingly relatable.
Life is indeed not easy, and everyone needs an outlet for their emotions.
Choosing to endure, to be strong, and to maintain an image of mental maturity may be the need of the times, but it is by no means a cure for oneself.
Hopefully, the next time we say "I'm fine", we will mean it from the bottom of our hearts.