Vice: A Modern Macbeth

Stars, hide your fires: Let not light see my black and deep desires

- Macbeth, to himself, Act I Scene V

For many, the life of Dick Cheney is a story of a war criminal and a hawk who sought American dominance across the globe. Even calling him a controversial figure is difficult, as he was almost universally despised at the end of his reign in the White House, tallying a record low 13% approval rating as Vice President in 2008. Taking what is typically a symbolic and quiet backseat role in the Vice Presidency, Cheney would leverage his 8 years underneath George Bush's shadow to completely innovate the role.

It is precisely because of this preconception of Cheney's philosophy and the presumption of his motives (i.e. to thrust the country into a new age of heightened American imperialism) that made critics of Cheney chastise the film Vice as completely missing the point. Although Vice certainly does not hold back punches against Cheney's actions and the resulting snowball of consequences, some have pointed out that it is too humanizing of the man. Rather than focus strictly on the ideas and philosophy, Vice repeatedly takes a a look one layer deeper that results in an interesting movie.

Vice's Cheney: Cold and Calculating, but to What End? 

Perhaps for purely cinematic purposes or perhaps due to some aspect of Cheney's story that resonated with the directorial team, Vice came across to me as a oft-told tale of power - not only the endless thirst to wield it, but also what such power does to an individual's soul. In this sense, Vice's Dick Cheney seems to conjure shades of Macbeth, a politician from a different age hell-bent on acquiring influence and ripping his life apart in the process. We'll focus primarily on the Dick Cheney, the movie character here.

Vice is consistently ambiguous about what really drives Cheney. The film clearly establishes that he seeks power and influence...but the question remains, to what end? Is it really a vision of America on a certain stage that drives him, or a vision of Cheney himself? One of the first portrayals of Cheney's puppeteering that we get to see in the movie comes in an important meeting with president-hopeful George H.W. Bush

There's a lot that's interesting that feeds into this scene. The editing is sporadic and choppy. Although this is a style commonly employed by Adam McKay (see: just about any scene from The Big Short), I think it's perhaps used here to mirror what we can presume is Cheney's internal state - calculating, calibrating, searching for an angle. At about 1:36 there is even a strange dissociative moment where Cheney's voice over continues while the camera pans to Cheney leaning back on his chair, taking a sip of lemonade. Once again, this does a really interesting job of creating a split between two worlds - the cold and calculating internal machinations with the cool and calm exterior. 

With these scene and a multitude of several others, the movie makes it painstakingly clear that the portrait of Cheney they are attempting to paint is one of a cold and calculating individual who put in a great deal of effort and planning into exerting his influence. To what end is more mysterious. However, regardless of what the initial or ongoing motives were, I feel there is one aspect of the film that makes it clear that the proverbial "loss of soul" was the end result.

When It All Comes Crashing Down

Although considered controversial by some, the movie takes a humanizing angle to the character study that I found both refreshing and interesting from the perspective of a Macbethian arc. One of the best ways to shed a light on the human element of any character is through their relationships and Vice chooses to do this via Cheney's family. Cold as he may be portrayed waltzing through the Capitol Building's walls in Washington, it is a different story at home with his (equally ambitious) wife and daughters.

In particular, there is one scene that I felt spoke volumes. Below is an emotional clip where Cheney's daughter, Mary, comes out to her parents:

After a deafening and uncertain silence, Dick embraces his daughter and reassures her that he loves her. This embrace is immediately juxtaposed with a remark from Lynne, his equally ambitious Lady-Macbeth-esque wife, where she says "This...is going to make things so hard for you". She's not talking about Mary. She's talking about Cheney's run for office.

It's a uniquely human moment and especially highlighted in contrast to his wife's rebuttal. Later in the film, Cheney makes a decision to not speak out against same-sex marriage on the campaign trail in solidarity with his daughter. We can appreciate the difficulty, politically, associated with this. There is love in that beating heart.

This set up is especially important for a heartbreaking moment that comes later in the film where Cheney is confronted with a decision regarding whether to appease his masses - his kingdom - and speak against same-sex marriage publicly. In a tense moment where Cheney puts his head down and reflects, he gives the nod. The political aspirations have outweighed his respect for his daughter.

A Tragic Ending

What happened in between these two moments? It only went up for the Vice President in between as he acquired new privileges and powers never before seen in that position. Objectively speaking, he is better off and more powerful at this later stage in the film, than he was in the clip above where he embraces his daughter and puts his political quest aside for the time being. To me, that isn't the type of motivation that's driven by practical foreign policy desires. Rather, it's a far more intrinsic motivation. An intrinsic desire for more. In metaphorical "selling of the soul" instances, I think this moment of disregard for his own blood certainly fits the bill. Cheney, the movie character, has lost his soul - his human grounding - in his quest for power.

Like Macbeth, Vice's Cheney saw what powers he could wield if he took the necessary steps. In both journeys, the quest for power for its own sake eventually trumps whatever practical motives of influence and riches they may have had. Alas, both journeys also veer each character to a fork in the road and for both, the blinding allure of ambition metaphorically demands their souls in exchange.