Line #7 Fridge/TradingPlaces


1	[[WMG:FridgeBrilliance]]
2	* During the final scene, after the Secretary of Agriculture gives out the real crop report, Louis and Billy Ray stop selling and wait for the price to bottom out before they start buying back the contracts they need. Billy Ray is visibly being specific on ''who'' he buys from. He wants to make sure that Wilson--the Dukes' personal trader--was unable to unload his contracts, despite being in range of both Winthrope and Valentine.
3	* Before the Dukes made their bet, Louis had just found out about Clarence Beeks and his "research". [[HeKnowsTooMuch So, by having him thrown out of their business, they were also making Louis powerless to stop their other scheme]]. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't counted on Billy Ray learning about Beeks and continuing where Louis left off.
4	* Penelope [[BitchInSheepsClothing turning out to be]] a GoldDigger makes a good deal of sense: remember, she is related to the Dukes, two rotten humans who can also pretend to be nice when it suits them. It isn't hard to imagine that they instilled their selfish worldview into their grand-niece, and because of that, she would become the kind of person willing to ditch her "beloved" the second he gets in trouble.
5	* When Louis shows up at the club, Penelope is already hanging on to one of Louis' friends. This adds even more fuel to the idea that Penelope's affection for Louis was fake: she already moved on from him in less than a week.
6	* The President of the Exchange is ''quite'' happy to kick the Dukes out of their seats on the Exchange. It is possible this is not the first time the two used insider knowledge to game the system, which would annoy someone who feels they've gained their success unfairly. On top of them being pretty classist assholes, it is small wonder the President would want them gone.
7	* In the movie, the degeneration of each rich character is reflected [[TraumaCongaLine by the speed and extent to which they fall from grace]] but also underlines how supposedly good people can behave once they lose their comforts:
8	** Winthorpe, after losing his job, reputation, support network, and wealth in a short amount of time doesn't just become a desperate lout but goes so far as to mooch off the buffet, point a weapon at Billy Ray, plant drugs on his desk, angrily threaten partygoers with a gun, and even attempt suicide. When he found out the truth, Louis was sorely tempted to use a shotgun on the Dukes. Even when Billy Ray was homeless, he never pointed weapons at people or used drugs (aside from that one joint).
9	** The Dukes go ''even'' more ballistic as their reputation and wealth are practically wiped out overnight. Randolph suffers a heart attack while Mortimer abandons all pretenses of civility and throws a '''monstrous''' tantrum, not even caring about his brother lying on the floor in agony.
10	* Considering Randolph's age, it is no surprise the shock of losing his wealth caused him to suffer a heart attack.
11	* Why does Ophelia willingly let Louis, a total stranger she has no obligation to care for, into her home?
12	** Ophelia is the only character in the movie who doesn't take others at face value. Being a hooker in the rough part of town, she has to use her guile and will to get through life.
13	** Ophelia only chatted up Louis as a prank and was crestfallen to realize she had ruined his life.
14	** It is shown that even as a snob, Louis was never truly a ''bad'' person. While he was (somewhat understandably) harsh to a homeless Billy Ray, Louis was always genial to his friends, bosses, butler, and fiance. The fact he went to his friends for help, albeit in vain, shows that ''he'' would be there for his friends if they ever got in trouble. Louis greatly rewarded both Ophelia and Coleman, who was part of the scheme to ruin his life, proving that he was generous to those he considered his friends. Ophelia pegged Louis as a sheltered person but still a decent guy deep down.
15	* The theme of classism can be found in the movie as many of the rich characters [[RichInDollarsPoorInSense aren't depicted as smart as they believe themselves to be]]. In contrast, the lower class characters are shown to be [[HiddenDepths quite productive and skilled when given the opportunity]].
16	** The Dukes have the usual snobby attitudes toward the poor and think of themselves as geniuses, but their scheme isn't born from ''any'' real guile or scheming: they bribed someone to get an unreleased crop report. Effectively, they paid someone to do their homework for them. Meanwhile, Billy Ray successfully bet on the price of a commodity using his street smarts without having to pay anyone for information underhandedly. That's not even getting into the fact that for all their success, the Dukes were born into wealth, so they can't exactly be said to have ''earned'' anything they've got. They're so immature as to give their butler a "bonus" of ''[[BadBoss five dollars]]''.
17	** Mortimer mutters about how [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain black people are inclined to criminal behavior]]...but this is blatantly hypocritical since his experiment involves a ton of criminal behavior, like planting contraband on one of his employees. His and his brother's scheme involves someone ''stealing'' nonpublic information for them. These two, with little self-awareness, peg others as criminals while indulging in illegal acts that surpass anything Billy Ray ever did while living on the streets.
18	** The Dukes also made the incredibly arrogant decision of betting ''everything'' they had on one gamble without planning for anything to go wrong and didn't even bother to stay on the trading floor to minimize any potential fallout. Meanwhile, Billy Ray and Louis were conscious enough to ensure their scheme went perfectly.
19	** Penelope is a cultured and (superficially) charming woman, all in all, the perfect girl for Louis. But she proves not to have any self-reliance, wisdom, loyalty, or courage to speak off, ditching her genuinely loving fiance at his lowest point and immediately latching on to one of Louis' former friends. Meanwhile, Ophelia is not only good at money management, showing a degree of grit and self-reliance that Penelope doesn't have, she immediately pegs Louis as a decent man and helps him despite having no real obligation to do so at that point.
20	** Louis' own co-workers, despite singing about brotherhood, are all too quick to ditch their "brother" once he gets into a lick of trouble. It is ultimately Louis' butler, a prostitute, and eventually a formerly homeless man who do more for Louis in his time of need.
21	* Billy Ray not only manages to learn the commodities game but also uses human behavior to predict that the price of pork bellies would keep going down. But how would he understand this? Billy Ray is aware that people fear losing their money because he's experienced genuine poverty and knows how frightening it is. The Dukes, men born with silver spoons in their mouths, wouldn't understand this feeling and wouldn't be able to make the exact guess.
22	* Coleman showing genuine remorse over kicking Winthorpe out is understandable: live-in-butlers are often at the mercy of their employers, and Louis being genuinely kind and gracious to him is no small thing.
23	* Also, Coleman shows genuine concern for Billy Ray. Being a working-class guy, it makes sense why he would feel bad for Billy Ray and resent the Dukes for their classism and scheming. Being from England, he might not have the same degree of racism Americans possess.
24	* The shallowness of the Dukes and their take on NatureVsNurture is not only shown by them ditching Valentine just because he's black but by ditching Louis. Granted, their writing off Louis for waving a gun and bringing narcotics into the office is somewhat understandable. Still, they seemingly ignore that it's ''[[NeverMyFault their fault]]'' Louis lost his mind. Once Billy Ray learns the truth, and he and Coleman nurse him back to health, Winthorpe regains a lot of his business savvy and charm [[CharacterDevelopment while still being a lot more humble and empathetic.]]
25	* Coleman's advice to Billy Ray just before Billy goes into the Commodities building, "Just be yourself, sir. No matter what they can't take that away from you." Coleman, being a long-term employee of the Dukes (the house was owned by them), probably saw something similar happen in the past.
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28	[[WMG:FridgeHorror]]
29	* As the Dukes discuss their wager, which means ruining Louis' life and raising Billy Ray to take his place, Randolph says "We've done it before. This time, it's for a good cause." So how many lives have they previously shattered ForTheEvulz before this? And if this is a "good cause," how bad were their other schemes? Considering Louis nearly killed himself ''twice'', it is frightening to think how blissfully these two men have ruined the lives of others.
30	* While the Dukes undoubtedly took the vast majority of the damage, Billy Ray and Louis's violent upheaval of the market would have also caused some collateral damage to comparatively innocent traders. And unlike the Dukes, they probably weren't guilty of ruining lives.
31	** In their defense, they not only do far less damage than the Dukes would have, the incident likely prompts an investigation into the brothers' dealings, which means less bad deals in the future. Also, they are ultimately just doing what any savvy trader could do with enough forethought. "Violent upheavals" of the market have been common from the beginning.
32	* Penelope becomes convinced that her fiancé is a philandering crook due to her uncles' schemes, and their ruin will likely devastate her finances as well, especially if she doesn't have relatives, friends, or a career to support her. And it's likely Louis won't be coming to bail her out of trouble either. She might not be a very good person, but she probably doesn't deserve to end up in the poor house.
33	* Getting trapped in a gorilla costume and shipped off to Africa (as another gorilla's lover, no less!) is horrifying enough. But he's stuck in that (likely very hot) suit with duct tape over his mouth. He can't eat, drink, or even call out for help. It's a much more life-threatening situation than it initially appears: [[CruelAndUnusualDeath he could either starve to death, dehydrate or get mauled by the gorilla]]. Granted, [[AssholeVictim he was an asshole who ruined people's lives]], but it is still a nasty fate for anyone to go through.
34	* Penelope starts the movie with deep affection for Louis. Then he gets into a lick of trouble and [[NoSympathy she starts treating him especially coldly, not caring about the horrible night he's had]], and then ditches him just because of something that could easily be a prank (which is how Ophelia takes it). Considering how quick Penelope was to leave Louis over the smallest sign of trouble, [[AwfulWeddedLife what kind of married life would Louis have had with Penelope]]? The fact that she turns on him so quickly implies that her "love" was [[GoldDigger pure opportunism]], and Louis could've been trapped in a cold and abusive relationship if not divorced with half his assets given to Penelope with no prenuptial agreement to protect him. The Dukes may have (inadvertently) done him a favor by having Penelope dump him, allowing Louis to find a woman who would genuinely love him.
35	* Going on the above, if Louis had been married, divorced, and taken to the cleaners by Penelope, would any of his friends have been there for him? Or, considering their classism, would they right him off for being poorer and look down on him for a failed marriage?
36	* The humiliation Louis endured drove him to frame Billy Ray for drugs, angrily run around a party waving a gun, and ''two'' suicide attempts. If [[SpannerInTheWorks Ophelia]] hadn't taken pity on Louis and given him a place to stay, how far would he have gone? Could Louis have shot someone? And if Louis had died, how would Billy Ray have defended himself against the Dukes, who no doubt would've planned something horrible to ruin his career?
37	* Randolph went bankrupt the same day he suffered a severe heart attack. Unless he can somehow get Medicare or some government aid, his long-term health is not going to be good.

Context Fridge / TradingPlaces