While viewing North by Northwest today, I was struck by how clearly the film catered to wealthy white men (understandably, since they would have been Hitchcock’s customers). Firstly, the “everyman” main character is a white business executive with enough money to go on tipping and bribing pretty much anyone he meets, just from his pocket money (since he wouldn’t have access to a bank as a federal fugitive). Not only that, he’s athletic enough to climb wherever he wants in full business attire, clever (enough to get out of the auction), and supposedly handsome enough to attract at least 4 women (the two instances we see being pretty blondes and apparently at first sight). This is pretty much the standard white male power fantasy.

Then there’s the dismissal of the entire public (composed entirely of white people) as a actual threat to him, with absolutely no one recognizing him and taking action at any point except the main cast and law enforcement (and even the police need prompting outside NYC). And then there’s the fact Roger (the MC) steals a presumably poorer man’s truck (and with it his livelihood) and we’re supposed to root for him anyways. Roger is just generally rude and demanding of everyone the film has marked unimportant, from the various hotel staff he questions to the two policemen who get him out of the auction.

Finally, Roger has ridiculous amounts of plot armor (because of course the ideal rich white man can’t fail). First is his luck avoiding all obstacles driving drunk in the dark. Then there’s the aforementioned failure of the entire public to recognize him. Neither train conductor checks the toilet to ask for tickets. The crop-dusting plane flies over his head in the second pass when the first pass showed it clearly could have flown lower, then crashes into the oil tanker (why does the pilot have no sense of self-preservation? There must have been a pilot because they didn’t have drones.) The oil tanker conveniently doesn’t explode in any direction except up, and there happens to be someone to stop and gape so Roger can steal his truck. Roger’s box of matches manages to survive all his ordeals immaculately enough not to look out of place in Vandamn’s Mt. Rushmore house. The knife-wielding villain (and isn’t it odd none of them have their own guns?) conveniently decides to throw himself at Roger (risking missing and falling) when we know he’s confident in his knife-throwing (since he killed the UN diplomat that way) and he was presented both Roger’s and Eve’s backs as targets. Finally, Roger manages to hold on to the monument after having his hand crushed long enough for rescue despite starting to slip even before getting stepped on. And, of course, the mysterious organization the FBI was so worried about is completely ignored in the end.

If one was willing to turn off one’s brain, I guess the film was enjoyable enough. As is, it was mostly just laughably unrealistic and cringe-worthy.