A lot of 80's movies glorified the American Dream of becoming a millionaire. It was the age of Reagan, and greed was good. The Secret of My Success is the ultimate cultural artifact of this era -- MJ Fox starts out in the mail room, cons his way into the upper ranks, and gets it all without any serious repercussions. Although it is all played for laughs, the movie asks you to root for this guy who is basically unprincipled and greedy.
Almost as a rebuke, in early 1987 Street Smart arrived. It is the flip side of Secret of My Success. Christopher Reeve plays a journalist who fabricates a story about a pimp, and he becomes the toast of the town. But there are very serious consequences to his actions. The dream of attaining success by any means necessary is really a nightmare.
I disagree with a lot of posters who say that the ending doesn't work. In fact, I think it is brilliant. Reeve's character has attained notoriety by exploiting Fast Black (and by extension, the whole subculture that keeps Fast Black in business). In the end, Reeve manipulates events so that Fast Black gets killed, and one of Fast Black's minions gets busted. Reeve uses all of this carnage as fodder for his "Street Smart" TV segments. Once again, he uses a lie to gain the upper hand -- he has gone from print journalism to tabloid TV.
Reeve originally entered the world of Fast Black out of desperation, to keep his job at a magazine. One lie begets another and another, until there is plenty of collateral damage -- the prostitute gets killed, Reeve's wife gets stabbed, Fast Black ends up dead. None of these events would have occurred if Reeve hadn't told that first lie.
There is also the parallel between journalism and prostitution. Reeve is just as bad as Fast Black, but he covers his tracks better, and he has a reputable facade. Reeve's journalistic exploits not only have ruined lives but ended them.
If you look at Reeve's character objectively, he is not really the good guy. He has broken the law and not only gotten away with it, but he's profited from it as well. Rather than a prison term, he gets promoted.
Reeve's image as a nice guy makes the character even creepier -- after all, he sleeps with a prostitute and exposes his wife to danger at a predominantly black bar. Reeve's character seems like a clean-cut yuppie, but deep down he is corrupt and devoid of morals.
Almost as a rebuke, in early 1987 Street Smart arrived. It is the flip side of Secret of My Success. Christopher Reeve plays a journalist who fabricates a story about a pimp, and he becomes the toast of the town. But there are very serious consequences to his actions. The dream of attaining success by any means necessary is really a nightmare.
I disagree with a lot of posters who say that the ending doesn't work. In fact, I think it is brilliant. Reeve's character has attained notoriety by exploiting Fast Black (and by extension, the whole subculture that keeps Fast Black in business). In the end, Reeve manipulates events so that Fast Black gets killed, and one of Fast Black's minions gets busted. Reeve uses all of this carnage as fodder for his "Street Smart" TV segments. Once again, he uses a lie to gain the upper hand -- he has gone from print journalism to tabloid TV.
Reeve originally entered the world of Fast Black out of desperation, to keep his job at a magazine. One lie begets another and another, until there is plenty of collateral damage -- the prostitute gets killed, Reeve's wife gets stabbed, Fast Black ends up dead. None of these events would have occurred if Reeve hadn't told that first lie.
There is also the parallel between journalism and prostitution. Reeve is just as bad as Fast Black, but he covers his tracks better, and he has a reputable facade. Reeve's journalistic exploits not only have ruined lives but ended them.
If you look at Reeve's character objectively, he is not really the good guy. He has broken the law and not only gotten away with it, but he's profited from it as well. Rather than a prison term, he gets promoted.
Reeve's image as a nice guy makes the character even creepier -- after all, he sleeps with a prostitute and exposes his wife to danger at a predominantly black bar. Reeve's character seems like a clean-cut yuppie, but deep down he is corrupt and devoid of morals.