You Can Never Keep Up With “The Jone$es”- Spoiler!

A blatant punch in the face to American consumerism, “The Joneses”, starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, is a smart film that exposes the real cost of materialism. Kate and Steve Jones are the perfect couple and have all the latest gadgets, cars, and fashion items “everyone” wants. Their two high school children also seem to have all the greatest stuff. Everyone in their sphere of influence lusts after the expensive things this family purchases, and lust for these things turns into purchases.

What everyone doesn’t know is that the “Joneses” are really actors paid by a corporation to sell expensive products. The family doesn’t buy any of the things they have- but have to work their way up in the company, selling more and more expensive items. For example, Steve “buys” a fancy sports car that his neighbor and new friend admires. Soon, that neighbor purchases the exact same car. Then, Steve “trades up” and gets an even more expensive car. Frustrated, his friend just can’t keep up, but desperately wants to. He works extra hours, but nothing he can do will ever match what Steve buys next. It’s all based on the lie that the Joneses are an affluent family. Everything is actually given to them with the intent to influence others to buy buy buy. And they do.

Isolation is a strong theme near the end of the film. Since Steve is not really married to Kate, his sense of loneliness is intensified as he has to “pretend” to be in love with someone he’s actually attracted to while they sleep in separate beds. He has to sell whatever the corporation wants him to, and there are things he doesn’t really like but has to pretend that he does. His disingenuous interest in these products begins to weigh him down. Tired of the lies he has to live day after day, Steve starts to change. Meanwhile, in order to pay for everything, others start going into deep, unsustainable debt. Steve clues into this when a pivotal event in the film leads him to change his worldview. He experiences firsthand how greed, lust, and comparison can cause significant destruction and loss in people’s lives. Reformed by the end of the film, he’s a different man.

The film serves as a powerful allegory to all the “Joneses” out there- those early adopters who influence others to consume, often unsustainably. I hope this film inspires us all to look at why we buy what we do. Otherwise, we’ll spend it all on things we actually don’t need or really want. Because no matter how cool an iWhatever is, do you (or I) REALLY need one?

That’s my 2 cents, and you can take that to the bank.