Arrested Development and Philosophy (8 page)

Meet the Fünkes

Lindsay Fünke, daughter of George Sr. and Lucille, wife of Tobias Fünke, and mother of Maeby Fünke, has benefited from her parents’ wealth, too. She has lived luxuriously off the family money without ever having a steady job. In the course of the show, she has tried her hand at being an actress, an administrative assistant, a maid, a musician, and a saleswoman at a clothing store, among other things, and all without success. She even dropped out of college because she “had a job, what was the point?” This “job,” of course, amounted to being paid by the Bluth Company for doing nothing. Her marriage with Tobias is beset by problems, as Tobias is a failed “analrapist” (analyst and therapist), a successful never-nude (he is psychologically incapable of being naked), and, quite possibly, a closeted homosexual—problems she tries to solve with an unsuccessful open marriage.

Lindsay shares many traits with her family members. Like her mother, she is more concerned with her public appearance than her character. (For example, she throws charity galas for social causes that she doesn’t care about in order to raise her social standing.) She is a neglectful mother, sometimes forgetting her daughter entirely. Like Gob, she has tried much, and been good at almost nothing, but whereas in Gob’s case it is likely from a strong division of labor combined with low natural capacity and no support, for Lindsay it is predominantly from a combination of no natural capacity, support, or attempt to be excellent to begin with. Lindsay has bought into the ideology of capitalism so thoroughly that she has no
real
passions or causes—she raises her status and consumes lavishly to make up for her marital unhappiness and meaningless existence. In short, Lindsay is entirely focused on
having
and not focused on
being
at all—the most alienated of existences.

When we first meet Tobias Fünke, he is a recently unemployed “analrapist” who lost his medical license for administering CPR to someone who didn’t need it. Tobias decided to try his hand at acting, then later as an understudy for the Blue Man Group (although he originally joined because he thought they were a group of sad men). He also has stints as a security guard, owner of The Queen Mary, co-founder of Gobias Industries (with Gob), and other minor jobs. Tobias’s main difficulties stem from his phobia of being naked (ruining his relationship with his wife), his repressed homosexuality (which is not explicitly confirmed but likely
also
is ruining his relationship with his wife), and his lack of skill in his newfound career of acting.

In
The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State
, Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), Marx’s friend and collaborator, argues that the monogamous nuclear family developed to give a smooth line of inheritance for private property. Engels describes this process as resulting in the oppression of women as a sex. If this theory of the origin of the heterosexual nuclear family is true, then a Marxist
should
conclude something along the lines that homophobia is a reaction to a relationship (man to man or woman to woman) that makes patriarchal relationships and inheritance norms problematic. This would codify itself in a social aversion to homosexuality (which is actually a natural phenomenon) and imbed itself deeply in social thought, especially religion. In short, Tobias’s repressed sexuality (and perhaps his phobia of being naked, stemming from subconscious discomfort with himself) can be seen as the result of private property–based economic systems (in this case, capitalism). His alienation from his true sexual identity can thus be attributed to capitalism.

Michael

Michael is the most rational and self-sacrificing character in the show, and takes over the presidency from his father (except in Season 2, where he is vice president . . . but let’s be honest—he’s
still
president, Gob’s just sitting in his chair). Despite all this, Michael still exhibits a desire for too much control in situations and in his relationships.

Thanks to his personal moral code, Michael is far more functional and successful than any of the other Bluths. He tries to be a good father to George Michael, a good son to his parents, a good brother to his siblings, a good manager to his employees. In fact, he spends the whole show trying to save his family and their business—except, of course, for the few times he tries to leave his crazy family entirely (but who can blame him?). He is not an alcoholic or a womanizer, and he does not let his desire for too much control (which may or may not be necessary with a family so crazy) become pathological (like his father) or passive-aggressive (like his mother).

At the same time, Michael, good as he is personally, is forced in his attempts to save the family business to view the world in terms of profitability, success, and failure. This is a view that has been pushed on him by his disapproving father, himself judging the world and his sons by that standard. As a result, Michael is too self-conscious and too self-critical and has difficulties finding a relationship after the death of his wife (it’s always “too soon” or “bad for George Michael”). And despite the fact that he sees his father for what he is, Michael still seeks his approval.

In short, Michael’s worldview (which he struggles against) is the product of alienation produced by the capitalist system. He adopts a set of priorities that don’t suit him personally. Indeed, he doesn’t seem to have the choice to see the world in any other terms if he wants to save his family.

Don’t Buy This Book! Down with Capitalism!

But what can the Bluths, or anyone for that matter, do to break the cycle? First, the Bluths (and anyone living under capitalism) need to look closely at the traits and values they have, social relationships they are in, and how they behave in different social roles. They need to examine these in terms of authenticity, and whether they are ultimately more helpful to themselves
and
others, or not. Second, the Bluths need to reflect on how the harmful traits, values, relationships, and so on embed themselves in their actions and choices—they need to see the web of effects. Third, they need to be committed to overcoming these harmful traits on a personal level while also looking for the ways in which society promotes these traits. The Bluths might then become committed to fighting for a socioeconomic system that struggles against these traits rather than one that is built on them.

Let’s be blunt: the Bluths need to be committed to overcoming capitalism in favor of a democratic socialism, in which all people have control over their lives and share equal control over their society.

Toward the end of the series, the dysfunctional Bluths become increasingly caricatures of themselves: The more they try to fix their alienation within the system, the more disfigured and alienated they become. Such is the fate of
any
attempt at change that stops short of the heart of the matter. The volume of their absurdity, the very reason why
Arrested Development
is funny, grows in a manner that shows us one thing: alienation can only be solved by a radical departure from the way things have been done, and any attempt to solve our social problems within the system can end up only one way: hopelessly absurd. In the lives of the Bluths, this is hilarious. In our own lives, however, it all too common—and all too tragic.

NOTES

1.
Karl Marx, “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts.”
Early Writings
, trans. Benton, Gregor and Rodney Livingstone. (New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1992), p. 328.

2.
Karl Marx, “The Holy Family,”
Writings of the Young Marx on Philosophy and Society.
ed. Loyd D. Easton and Kurt H. Guddat (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1967), p. 367.

Chapter 6

FAMILY FIRST

How
Not
to Run a Business

Brett Gaul

“What comes before anything? What have we always said is the most important thing?” Michael asks George Michael in the pilot of
Arrested Development
. “Breakfast,” replies George Michael. “Family,” says Michael. If the Bluth Company has a mission statement, it has to be “Family First.” Of course, the motto is also used to justify everything from George Sr.’s having sex with Lucille in a conjugal trailer before he visits Kitty in a different conjugal trailer (“Visiting Ours”) to George Michael’s scoring some weed for Buster (“Pier Pressure”). But let’s narrow our focus to how the motto shapes the Bluth Company’s business decisions.

According to the Bluth Company’s “Family First” model, a company should always do whatever is in the best interest of the family who owns the largest share of the business, regardless of whether it’s legal or moral. This comes close to the classical theory of corporate social responsibility, according to which, the purpose of the corporation is to legally maximize profits for stockholders. On this account, if something’s not illegal, it’s permissible.
1
Rightly or wrongly, Wal-Mart has been perceived as epitomizing this model of corporate responsibility. And because some have thought that the classical theory of corporate responsibility is too narrow, a much broader alternative has been developed—the stakeholder theory. The stakeholder model—an updated corporate social responsibility with an emphasis on the
social
aspect—doesn’t deny that corporations have a responsibility to look out for stockholders’ interests, but it adds that corporations also have responsibilities to those with a stake in their business decisions, such as employees, customers, suppliers, and communities.
2
Johnson & Johnson’s mission statement is an excellent example of the stakeholder model.
3
What Johnson & Johnson calls “Our Credo” starts by saying that the company’s first responsibility is to the people who use its products. Its second responsibility is to employees, and its third responsibility is to the communities in which they work and live. Johnson & Johnson asserts that its final responsibility is to its stockholders. Clearly, the Bluth Company’s “Family First” motto is much more like Wal-Mart’s theory of corporate social responsibility than Johnson & Johnson’s.

Product Safety: The Cornballer

Corporations have an obligation to design and sell safe products. Because the Bluth Company puts “Family First,” however, the company doesn’t care whether the products it sells are safe. The only concern is whether a product will make the family money. If it’ll make a buck, the Bluth Company will sell it. Consider the Cornballer, a Bluth Company device that deep-fat fries cornballs. There’s a problem with the product design; it gets very hot and can cause severe burns. The Cornballer is first mentioned in “Bringing Up Buster,” where we see a 1970s infomercial clip in which George Sr. attacks Richard Simmons after Simmons splashes hot oil on George Sr. while removing a cornball. Later in the series Michael and Tobias also get burned by the Cornballer. Because the Cornballer is unsafe, it is illegal to sell. Upon seeing the Cornballer, Gob remarks, “I thought these were only legal in Mexico.” At which point the narrator reveals that the Cornballer is actually not legal anywhere, but that George Sr. nevertheless markets the product successfully in Mexico.

In “The One Where They Build a House,” George Sr. evades U.S. law enforcement by fleeing to Mexico. Mexican police mistake George Sr. for his twin brother Oscar—who is wanted in Mexico on marijuana charges—and arrest him. The police officers recognize George Sr. as the man from the Cornballer infomercial that airs in Mexico in Spanish (dubbed so that George’s angry outburst is changed to “I’m crazy for these cornballs!,” further illustrating the Bluth commitment to deceiving the consumer—Family First!). Each of the police officers has a large scar on his arm from being burned by the Cornballer. George Sr. avoids retribution by bribing them to say that he’s dead. Two episodes later in “Good Grief!” a political cartoon titled “Frito Bandito” in a Mexican newspaper depicts George Sr. sitting on a deep-fat fry utensil being lowered into a Cornballer by a hand that has “MEXICO” written on the thumb. Apparently Mexicans weren’t too impressed with the Bluth Company’s Cornballer. In “Righteous Brothers,” the Cornballer maims again. This time Oscar’s fingerprints are burned off when he grabs the device with both hands. Having no fingerprints then makes it difficult for Oscar to prove to U.S. law enforcement that they’ve got the wrong man in custody after he’s mistaken for George Sr.

Marketing Ethics: The Model Home

“Family First” also impacts the Bluth Company’s marketing ethics. The issue here is the use of deceptive advertising tactics in the marketing of homes designed and built by the Bluth Company. Deceptive advertising is wrong because it is disrespectful and unfair to consumers. To market its homes, the company builds model homes. Potential homebuyers tour model homes, and, if they like a particular model enough, they enter into an agreement with the homebuilder to build that style of house. New homeowners don’t get the house they tour, but instead get a new home of the same model. Given this, homebuilders may not want to give a model home the same level of care and attention they would give an actual home. After all, the new homeowners will be living in a new home, not the model home. However, in a subdivision like the Sudden Valley development depicted in
Arrested Development
, even the model home will eventually be sold. So the Bluths shouldn’t cut too many corners in building a model home. Moreover, if the quality of a homebuilder’s model homes are poor, one wonders how that builder will sell any homes at all. If the builder can’t even build a decent model home, why should a potential buyer be confident that the builder can build a decent actual home? Consequently, there are very good reasons to build model homes with the same level of care and attention that would be given to actual homes. Unfortunately, these reasons are lost on the Bluth Company.

Bluth homes are first criticized in “Key Decisions” when environmental activist Johnny Bark camps out in a tree on land owned by the Bluth Company to protest the company’s decision to rip out some trees to make room for more homes. Michael hears about the protestor from the local Fox affiliate. As he’s watching television in the model home, a reporter states that Bark is protesting “the expansion of high-cost, low-quality mini-mansions, like this one here.” The reporter then taps on the living room window of the house Michael is in and breaks the window. As the series progresses, the Bluths learn that the model home in which Michael, George Michael, Tobias, Lindsay, and Maeby live is poorly built. In “Let ‘Em Eat Cake” George Michael accidentally knocks off a piece of the balcony railing. “Buddy, you got to take it easy, okay?” says Michael, “I’m showing this as the model again. I don’t want people to think we have shoddy workmanship.” As soon as Michael says this, a piece of wood falls off the television cabinet and bumps a speaker, knocking it off the wall. “That might not have been your fault,” he says to George Michael. Later in the same episode a knob falls off a kitchen cabinet and Tobias breaks the handle on the oven door. “That doesn’t inspire confidence,” says Lindsay.

In “Switch Hitter,” more things go wrong with the house. The same piece of wood falls off the television cabinet again, and Tobias leans on the refrigerator and moves it backward a few feet. “Don’t worry,” he says, “it has not fallen into the garage. Knock on wood.” Tobias then proceeds to knock on the wall, at which point the refrigerator does fall into the garage. Later George Sr. thumps the attic wall with his fist, causing the oven’s overhead vent to fall on Lindsay’s foot. Fortunately, Lindsay is so loaded up on Teamocil that she doesn’t even notice that her foot is bleeding. In “Righteous Brothers” Michael discovers that the model home is sinking because the drain pipes aren’t hooked up. They just empty under the house. All that’s down there, a housing inspector tells Michael, is a lot of blue paint and some denim—remnants of Tobias’s Blue Man Group dreams and his never-nude ways.

While the original model home might deceive potential homebuyers into thinking that the Bluth Company builds quality homes, the Bluths engage in a similar form of deception in “The One Where They Build a House,” the episode in which they build a second model home to make it look like the company is doing well. Michael thinks they can build the home within two months, but Gob, who at the time is serving as the president of the company, demands that they do it in just two weeks. Given their severe time constraints, Michael tells his crew of George Michael, Buster, Oscar, and actor Tom Jane from the movies
Homeless Dad
and
Junk
(“They Shoot Heroin, Don’t They?”), that the house “doesn’t have to be good, it just has to look good.” All that this inexperienced crew manages to build in two weeks is the outside of the house, which falls down at the ribbon cutting ceremony, revealing that neither the house nor the Bluth Company is “Solid as a Rock” despite what Starla, Gob’s “business model,” suggests.

In “Mr. F,” Gob attempts to fool Japanese investors—who may have heard that the development site has a mole problem—by building a miniature city outside a window of the original model home and telling them that it’s far away. “It’ll look real if you squint,” promises Gob. “God knows they’re squinters.” The Bluths are worried that these badly needed investors will back out once they realize that the company hasn’t built anything. Just as Gob is showing the financiers the fake housing development, Tobias, wearing a mole costume (because he thinks he’s auditioning for a role as a mole) starts rampaging the tiny town in front of the horrified investors. At this point a jetpack-wearing George Michael enters the picture and knocks down the giant mole a few times. “I ache with embarrassment,” says one of the Japanese investors, who were never heard from again.

Treatment of Employees: The Banana Stand and Child Labor

“Family First” is sadly reflected in the company’s treatment of employees. Time and time again we see the Bluth Company treating employees poorly so that the company can make a buck, beginning with Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand. Contrary to the name, the idea for such a stand was not “original” with the Bluths. Although George Sr. started the banana stand in 1953, the series finale reveals that he and Lucille stole the idea from a Korean businessman and had him deported. Annyong, that Korean businessman’s grandson, would later come to live with Lucille, who adopts Annyong because she thinks the company could use some good publicity—and to teach Buster a lesson, because he won’t finish his cottage cheese.

As we know, the banana stand often employs Bluth children. George Michael spends a lot of time there, sometimes with help from his cousin Maeby—who is also later employed as a film executive for Tantamount Studios. In fact, in the pilot George Michael is introduced as “Frozen banana salesman/child.” And Michael often worked at the banana stand as a kid, too. In “Top Banana” we see a clip of hot, overwhelmed, and young Michael apparently working the stand by himself. He has chocolate on his forehead and cheek and sweat pouring down his face; the line of customers is long; and he looks like he desperately needs a break and some help. In that same episode, George Michael tells Michael that he’d like to work more hours at the banana stand. George Michael wants to work more because his attraction to Maeby is dominating his thoughts, and he thinks some time away from her will quell his incestuous desires. Unfortunately for George Michael, his father makes Maeby join him in the banana stand so that she can learn the value of work—something she can’t learn from her unemployed parents. Michael makes George Michael the manager (Mr. Manager, but we just say, “manager” . . .) of the banana stand and offers his son the following advice for managing his new employee: “You stay on top of her, buddy. Do not be afraid to ride her. Hard.”

Besides the fact that working in the banana stand with Maeby makes George Michael uncomfortable, there’s a problem with having children work there at all. Both Michael and Maeby are under sixteen years old, and U.S. child labor laws place significant restrictions on the number of hours they can work.
4
The Bluth Company probably violates child labor laws again in “Staff Infection” when Lucille says Annyong—whose “work ethic is unbelievable”—is heading off to work a ten-hour shift at the banana stand. I say “probably” here because no one really knows how old Annyong is. Lucille does call him a “young boy,” however. Perhaps using so much child labor is the reason why at the end of “Top Banana” Michael realizes that the banana stand is the only profitable part of the Bluth Company. And if you’re going to break the law so that the family can make some money, why not put family—especially young family—to work first?

The banana stand isn’t the only money-making venture in which the Bluth Company exploits children, though. In “Making a Stand” we learn that George Sr. provoked his sons to fight one another and then taped these fights—which were popular in Latin America—and sold copies under the name
Boyfights
. The
Boyfights
series included the titles “Boyfights: A Day in the Life of American Boys,” with bonus footage of Baby Buster in “I Don’t Want to Go to Bed”; “Boyfights 2: Boys Will Be Boys,” with bonus footage of Baby Buster in “Too Old to Breastfeed”; “A Boyfights Cookout,” featuring “Run for Your Life!” with bonus footage of Baby Buster in “A Fifth Grader Wets His Bed”; and “Backseat Boyfights: The Trip to Uncle Jack’s 70th,” with bonus footage of Crybaby Buster in “I Don’t Want to Be on This Tape!”

Treatment of Employees: The Office and the Construction Site

The Bluth Company’s poor treatment of employees using the “Family First” motto isn’t limited to the banana stand—it permeates every aspect of the company, including the office and the construction site. In the realm of the office, consider Gob at the company Christmas party in “Afternoon Delight,” in which he alienates employees by constantly referring to his expensive suit, which, he tells different people at various points in the episode, is valued at $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $6,300, and finally $3,600 (for the pants alone). Then, at the Christmas party, Gob fires all of the employees for laughing when Tom—whom George Sr. had once fired at a previous Christmas party for joking that the company’s numbers haven’t been adding up because “George has been into the kitty” (an obvious reference to George’s Sr. affair with his secretary Kitty)—toasts Gob by reluctantly saying that “Gob seems like he’d be a really smart boss” and that “he’s a great magician.” As some consolation, the next day Michael throws another Christmas party for the employees at the banana stand to assure them that they have not really been fired.