Why Are There So Many Biopics About Grifters?
A comedic workplace drama based around the true story of a ruthless scammer who climbed a mountain of private funding and destroyed employees into brief success and eventual infamy. Why does that sound like an accurate description of three or four series airing on various streaming services right now?
If one is willing to ignore the unpleasant implications, it's easy to see how grifters are the living embodiment of the American dream. There's something hugely compelling about someone destroying themselves and everyone around them in pursuit of pure profit. America's eyes are always glued to one big-time court case or another.
The Dropout Star Amanda Seyfried Almost Didn't Play Elizabeth Holmes
At the time of writing, The Dropout is just about to stream its sixth episode, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber is preparing for its fifth, and WeCrashed is just about to drop its fourth. Meanwhile, Joe vs. Carole premiered its limited run on Peacock. Every single one of these tells the story of an unethical and morally bankrupt business owner. The Dropout centers around Theranos CEO and convicted fraud Elizabeth Holmes. Super Pumped is about widely despised ride-share company co-founder Travis Kalanick. WeCrashed centers on the man who made and ruined WeWork, Adam Neumann. Holmes is the clear front-runner, both in notoriety and quality of biopic, but each of these figures has captured an audience simultaneously.
The scammer biopic isn't a new phenomenon, it's just experiencing something of a boom period at the moment. The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short almost a decade ago chronicled big-money scammers of the past. If there's one recent source of inspiration for this trend, it's unquestionably David Fincher's 2010 film The
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