The Rules of Con in Guy Ritchies Revolver

http://www.alexanderbecker.net/ Alexander Becker

May 28, 2007

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May 28, 2007

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Abstract
In 2005, Guy Ritchie made an extraordinary movie thats apparently not recognized for what it is. Here is the plot summary from IMDb Jake Green is a hotshot gambler, long on audacity and short on common sense. Hes rarely allowed to play in any casino because he is a winner. Jake has taken in so much money over the years, he is the only client of his accountant and older brother Billy. One night, Jake, Billy and their other brother Joe are invited to sit in on a private game, where Jake is expected to lose to Dorothy Macha, a crime boss and local casino owner who cant play for squat, but always wins because people are too scared to beat him. Jake isnt afraid of Macha, and not only beats Dorothy in a quick game of chance, but takes every possible opportunity to insult the man. Jake and his brothers leave the game, and Macha puts out the order for a hit on Jake, who ends up working for and being protected by a pair of brothers, Avi and Zach, who are out to take Macha down.

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Outline

Outline

Overview Quotes Liberation? The Trick Insight

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Overview

Overview

Overview

You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent. Lets take a look beyond the plot and see what the characters say, who is who, and what is what. You obviously need to see the movie before reading the comments, in fact, they may appear to make even less sense than the lm itself but once youve seen the lm, everything will be ne. Really.

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Overview

Layers

Layers

1 2 3 4

Literal: The gambler vs. his nemesis, the casino boss Symbolic: The characters as chess pieces Moral: The ght against ego Hidden: Colors, Numbers, Sequences

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Overview

Spoiler warning

Spoiler warning

What is so fascinating about the rules of con besides the fact that they do apply to all of us? Without exception. To be clear, this is not about teaching you the rules of condence tricks in order to con other people. Quite the opposite; take a look at how you (in)advertently con yourself and make it work for you instead of having it work against you.

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Overview

Jake Green

Jake Green

Jake Green after leaving prison One thing Ive learned in the last seven years: in every game and con theres always an opponent, and theres always a victim. The trick is to know when youre the latter, so you can become the former. Jake Green, upon deciding against taking the elevator, which he fears Why should a man do, what he doesnt like to do? The color green: ambition, greed, and jealousy. Thats why Jake has to defeat Mr. Green.

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Quotes

Chapter Quotes

Chapter Quotes
The quotes that accompany the chapters of the movie The greatest enemy will hide in the last place you would ever look. Julius Cesar; 75 BC What about the mind itself, right behind fear? The only way to get smarter is by playing a smarter opponent. Fundamentals of Chess; 1885 Whos your ultimate opponent? You. First rule of business, protect your investment. Etiquette of the Banker; 1775 Protect your belief? There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of your enemy. Niccolo Machiavelli; 1502
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Quotes

Dorothy Macha

Dorothy Macha
Dorothy Macha, meeting Jake on the gambling table Whats in it for me? Dorothy Macha, trying to evoke fear in Jake. Youre a man who needs a master. Macchiavelli. Jake Green, while winning the game of chance against Macha. Purple, between blue and white on the color spectrum. In fact, Macha is always presented in blue light, while Lord John comes in red purple emerges right between them.

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Liberation?

Jakes intuition

Jakes intuition

On his way out, Jakes got a hunch, he encounters his intuition which has gotten reinforced after Jakes winning the game of chance against Macha. Jake decides to act against intuition, he takes the stairs and breaks down and falls. Another hunch prevents Jake Green from being assassinated by Machas killers. Hes on the right path now. Saved and rescued by intuition. The killer himself Sorter is getting doubts integrity. The queen on the chess board.

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Liberation?

Avi and Zach

Avi and Zach

Loan Sharks. They force Jake to do everything he doesnt like to do, as the only way to cure his fatal disease under two non-negotiable conditions
1 2

You have to give away all your money. Do not argue and do answer any question asked.

The knights in chess. A to Z.

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The Trick

The Condence Trick

The Confidence Trick

Jake Green, after facing choice and fatal disease From now on, I am bending all the rules, because desperate men do desperate deeds. . . . and not any earlier than that. If theres a rule, you can bend it. If theres a law, it can be broken. Jakes awakening puts to sleep everybody else. There is no such thing as problems, only situations. Avi & Zach

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The Trick

Money

Money

Jakes money is his pride it even smells proud, says Avi. People come to Zach and Avi, the loan sharks, only as the last option, the last resort, when they have no choice anymore. People only get sensible when its (almost) too late.

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The Trick

The Three Eddies

The Three Eddies

Three Eddies, ash, loud, proud, and stupid, where proud refers to Macha, who happens to stand between loud and stupid. In the next scene, Jake takes the proud spot between the Eddies. The three Eddies, ash, loud, and stupid are dead. Evolution. Pawns. Jake Green, citing one of the principles of the con I know nothing hurts more than humiliation and a little money loss. . . . and slowly starts accepting his reality Dont try to make sense out of it, not now, because it doesnt make sense. I just know if you start a job then nish it. Jake Greens conning the three Eddies Nobody kills a man whos going to make him money.
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The Trick

Sam Gold

Sam Gold
Macha and Sam Gold. Lilly Walker represents Gold. Eight pawns by her side, the rules of the game: Gold/Walker sets the rules and the pawns. Ego. Everyone serves Gold. Gold is ego, evil, the devil. The powder is for Gold, it is food for the ego, pride, vanity, arrogance, addiction. Mr. Gold doesnt give second chances: once the ego fails, awareness sets in. Gold the ego isnt able to touch Zach and Avi. Why? Even ego cannot silence the conscience. Avi & Zach providing some hints to Jake You cant see whats right in front of you.

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The Trick

Chess

Chess
Jake keeps winning in games of chess against Avi. He learned the game and honed his skills in prison, between a chess master and a master con man, after all. The objective is now to . . . create the ultimate con and win the ultimate game. When Avi asks Jake how he keeps winning in chess he replies You do the hard work, I just help you along. . . . to feed pieces to you and make you believe you took those pieces. In every game and con there is always an opponent and there is always a victim, the more control the victim thinks he has, the less control he actually has.

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The Trick

The Ultimate Game

The Ultimate Game

Jakes already in the ultimate game. Here are the rules You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent. The more sophisticated the game, the more sophisticated the opponent. Jake nally releases himself and stops resisting I pay for my own pain and a part of me dies every time I think about it. Your ego dies and thats the whole point. Jake Green learns that everyone has to pay what he owes.

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The Trick

The Formula

The Formula

The formula is completely consistent. . . . inside an environment he can control. The bigger the environment, the easier the control. . . . so the opponent simply distracts their victim by getting them consumed with their own consumption.

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The Trick

The Trick

The Trick
The bigger the trick and the older the trick, the easier it is to pull, because They think it cant be that old, They think it cant be that big, . . . for so many people to have fallen for it. Eventually, when the opponent is challenged or questioned, it means the victims investment and thus his intelligence is questioned, no one can accept that. Not even to themselves. Youll always nd a good opponent in the very last place youd ever look. In your own mind.
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The Trick

The Game

The Game
Avi explains the game Youve heard their voice for so long, you believe it to be you. Mr. Gold is pretending to be you. Everyone is in his game and nobody knows it. Hes behind all the pain there ever was. Behind every crime ever committed. Embrace the pain and you will win this game. If you change the rules on what controls you, you will change the rules on what you can control. The more power you think you have in Golds world, the less power you have in the real world.

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Insight

More Revelations

More Revelations
Jake Green gains some more insight There is something about yourself that you dont know. Something that you will deny even exists, until its too late to do anything about it. Its the only reason you get up in the morning. The only reason you suer the shitty puss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. Fear or revere me, but please, think Im special. We share an addiction. Were approval junkies. Ego gratication. Even the car accident would have been some sort of approval.
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Insight

Lord John & Dorothy Macha

Lord John & Dorothy Macha

Lord John, with a hot girl under his eyes and a beautiful assassin under his command Beauty is a destructive angel, how could anything that looks so good be so bad? The beauty; greed, Lord John; red: wrath, rage. and anger. Dorothy Macha, after the foiled assassination attempt Greed gets them all in the end. Dorothy Macha; blue: power, but also cowardice, stress, and depression.

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Insight

Lesson

Lesson

Avi lectures Use your perceived enemy to destroy your real enemy. Use your perceived, external enemy to destroy your real, internal enemy. Controlled vs. free man. Forgiveness is the ultimate act of liberation. No pride.

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Insight

The End of Pride

The End of Pride

Jake donates to charity in Machas name to further illustrate and manifest the dierence between the both of them. Jake apologizes to Macha. Both are kings in chess, unable to directly kill one another. Fear me! Macha

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Insight

The End of Ego

The End of Ego

Jake Green, struggling with ego, pride, and fear Wherever you dont want to go is where you will nd him. Meeting the ego in the elevator. Stuck in the voluntarily taken elevator between the 14th and the 12th oor, Jake is struggling with his ego, the ultimate showdown. The greatest con, that he ever pulled. . . was making you believe. . . that he is you. Avi You are not your ego.

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Insight

Ultimate Liberation

Ultimate Liberation

Liberation. Jake is invincible now. Macha isnt able to shoot nor impress him anymore. No fear of death. Macha gets and takes the credit for the donation, thus again feeding his vanity and ego which earns him a strange applause from Mr. Gold. Macha demonstrates his adherence to the system by eventually begging and submitting to Gold. Fear.

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Insight

None Of This Is Real

None Of This Is Real

Sorter, the hitman integrity and Rachel, Jake Greens niece; good, pure, innocence; in a twisted scene, hinting at the bigger picture None of this is real. Avi and Zach, the chess master and the master of con ultimately arent real either. Consciousness, cons & chess. . . Liberation. Zach and Avi nally reveal it We didnt do this because we like you. We did this because we are you.

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Insight

Avis Epilogue

Avis Epilogue

Nobody knows where the enemy is. They dont even know he exists. Hes in every one of their heads. And they trust him because they think they are him. If you try to destroy him to save them, theyll destroy you to save him. Jake loses the last game of chess with Avi, he left the game through his own liberation.

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Insight

The Ultimate Con

The Ultimate Con

The ultimate con, the ultimate condence trick, is absolute yet delicate condence in your self. Beyond ego, that is. The greatest con, that he ever pulled. . . was making you believe. . . that he is you. Avi

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