1997's Good Burger Is Capitalism

On the surface this may appear to be a late 90's cash grab targeted at children, a shallow adaptation of a TV sketch stretched over 90 minutes à la Night at the Roxbury, or Coneheads. If you look deeper, however, it's clear that this is a blatant critique of modern day capitalism, the byproduct of human greed. 

Enter Ed, portrayed by Kel Mitchell, Ed is a man removed from society and all its sins, he has no desire for money, no hatred in his heart, his only goal in life is to serve others and make them happy. He may have his own personal flaws, and exhibit characteristics associated with the likes of Asperger's Syndrome, but on the whole he is a good man. Works his job cheerfully, is friendly to all, and immune to temptation of sin. 

The plot kicks off with a variation of the broken window fallacy, a common argument against capitalism. Dexter, portrayed by Kenan Thompson, indulges in the lusts of the modern day American capitalist society: a flashy sportscar, hip clothes, he brags that he will hedonistically lounge around a pool all Summer. As a consequence of his irresponsibility, and his lack of self actualization as a man, he crashes his car into his teacher's sedan, portrayed by Sinbad. He blames his actions on Ed, a common gambit by the players of capitalism, "it wasn't my fault, it was the socially unadjusted Ed." Sinbad tells Dexter that he must pay for the repair of his sedan, lest he alert the authorities that he operated a vehicle without a license. Remember, this is the backbone of capitalism: Dexter wrecked Sinbad's vehicle, and must work at Good Burger to pay off the damages, which get transferred to Sinbad, then to the auto repair shop. None of these actions provide a net benefit to the overall economy, this transfer of wealth is a non-factor that can be isolated in a closed system. Had this event never occurred, nothing would be changed outside that system. This plot device is an excellent framing tool, it tells you that for all the flailing around we do as "independent members of the free market," nothing benefits by our actions. 

Dexter assumes the role of the minimum wage literal burger flipper at Good Burger, and joins the underprivileged working class, making $5/hour. He is literally in indentured servitude. However, a restaurant giant known as Mondo Burger opens across the street. Mondo Burger offers burgers twice as large as Good Burger's, at the same price point, quickly killing off Good Burger's business and potentially destroying the lives of all its employees. Mondo Burger is successful because it taps into our primal, reptilian brains; it's simple, bigger meat, it is unmistakably Freudian. When Dexter brings back the Mondo Burger to Good Burger, the female employees are overwhelmed by its size, and visibly crave it, the head Good Burger chef Spatch inspects the burger and exhibits absolute misery, for he has been cuckolded by the Mondo Burger's larger meat. How does Mondo Burger make such large meat? It's simple, they use an illegal food additive called Triampathol, unapproved by the FDA, and a secret to all outside of Mondo Burger's kitchen. The CEO of Mondo Burger, Kurt Bozwell, is capitalism personified. He expresses zero concern for the affects of his burgers on his customers, his only goal is to crush Good Burger and maximize his profits. This is a common theme that has been repeated in our nation's history again and again and again, when a corporation is given unlimited freedom with no oversight, it will exploit its workers and its customers to ensure its own success. That is what happens when currency becomes our God. Disregard the safety and well being of others, look out for only yourself, community is a hamper on our own success, et cetera.

After being thoroughly cuckolded by Mondo Burger, Dexter discovers that Ed has made a delicious secret sauce, and realizes that he can exploit Ed to save Good Burger. Good Burger forces Ed to make large quantities of Ed's secret sauce, which brings a new wave of customers and saves Good Burger from closing down. As a reward, the owner of Good Burger gives Ed a meager 10 cents for every burger sold, and Dexter's response is to write a crony contract that Ed unknowingly signs, giving Dexter 80% of the bonus. This exemplifies perfectly a major pitfall of capitalism, true work is not rewarded, ownership is, a make believe concept, why should Dexter receive 80% of the profits? Because a piece of paper says so. Work is not rewarded, manipulation is. 

Mondo Burger soon realizes that Ed's secret sauce is cutting into their profit margins, in response CEO Kurt Bozwell decides to covertly pour shark poison into the sauce. This is another common practice in capitalism, it is okay to disregard the health and safety of the common people when your goal is maximizing profits. Underhanded tactics like sabotaging your competition at the expense of public health is paramount in our modern day capitalist economy. 

When Ed and Dexter discover Kurt's plot, Mondo Burger goons kidnap them and throw them into a mental healthcare facility, filled with caricatures of "insane" people. Deranged people in straight jackets, drooling, and flailing about, this is our current society's perception of those that don't conform to societal norms. It is easier to disregard others as "crazy" if they don't agree with what our corporate overlords say is normal, and the default course of action is to throw them into a padded room and let them wither away and die in isolation. The blatantly exaggerated mental asylum in Good Burger is a brilliant critique of the current status of mental healthcare in America today, and asks us as viewers if this is an acceptable treatment for those "unfit" members of society, or should we provide better healthcare for all? 

Ultimately, Ed and Dexter escape from the facility, and sabotage Mondo Burger by pouring high volumes of Triampathol into the Mondo Burger meat, causing them to violently explode. The police arrive, arrest Kurt Bozwell, and shut down Mondo Burger for their illegal practices. The true hero of the story is the police, oversight, and regulation. Had it not been for FDA regulation, Mondo Burger would have surely been a massive success, and poisoned and harmed many of its customers. This is no different than lead based paint used during the 50's, this is no different than tobacco companies trying to assure the general public that smoking isn't dangerous, this is no different than the factory workers of the United States Radium factory dying from radiation poison. When a corporation is given absolute freedom, it invariably exploits the working class for its own self interest. 

Good Burger does an excellent job of placing a spotlight on these issues. We cannot ignore the underhanded capitalistic tactics that it portrays, this is our lives. The only solution is transparent government regulation, to protect us from the predators, the real life Mondo Burger. When corporations are forced to play by the rules, the working class grows stronger. We grow stronger. We are the the drivers of the economy, not our capitalist overlords.