The Beekeeper

Dominic Thomas
March 2024 • 2 min read

The Beekeeper

There was a click of the call suddenly ending. She stared at the monitor, the sudden reality of what had just happened began to flood her body. Her account balance stared back at her; it was all gone.

If you have ever been scammed, you will understand the mixture of feelings – shame, embarrassment, anger and a deep despair. “It’s not personal” is a response that has a hollowness of the desensitised. Fraud is a very real form of abuse, abuse of the uniqueness of the human character.

The Beekeeper is an action film that plays to our very ordinary desire for revenge. It may not be your cup of tea, but I found it amusing and cathartic. My inability to understand why some people choose to rip off others without any motive other than greed is just part of my own hardwiring. It makes me very angry.

Jason Statham, a man ticking the box for the perfect assassin, whilst seemingly very able to not take himself or his roles too seriously, plays Adam Clay, a ‘Beekeeper’ which is some black ops Government-sanctioned sword of Damocles, who takes matters into his own hands in the pursuit to end the call centres that scam the vulnerable with their promise of fixing a computer.

Of course it’s daft, but satisfying if, like me, you achieve a sense of a ‘balance in the Force’ through fiction because our reality of justice is often deeply disappointing. It’s not for all, it knows its audience, but even if that isn’t you, the scene early in the story of how a malevolent call centre loots an intelligent elder of their life savings is worth the educational value and disturbance to your sensibilities. I would counsel you to learn about and be alert to this and similar scams. Money is never just money if you understand what it represents.

Here is the official trailer:

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

So where are our blindspots?

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

So where are our blind spots?

The new movie Spotlight is both horrific and brilliant. It is in the same genre as “All The President’s Men” but is about the story of a local community that ignored the child abuse in their midst at the hands of the local catholic church. The collective blind spot on many levels in all walks of life.

Whilst the story is fascinating and a triumph of investigative journalism, the subject matter is of course alarming. Yet whilst we may be disturbed by the, frankly deliberate corruption, there isn’t the typical easy solution of laying the blame squarely at one person or institution. There is very much a sense of collective failure to act on the seemingly obvious.

Don’t misunderstand me, clearly the perpetrators are responsible for their horrendous actions, but the film also exposes the problems of a culture that doesn’t wish to rock the boat if “best interests” are to be served.

A Painful Truth

The great sadness of the film is the damage that is done by the abusers, who largely appear to continue their unrepentant behaviour. Yet of course, whilst this is set in Boston, the uncomfortable truth is that most abuse does not happen in the church, it happens in homes, across the country in alarming numbers…. in our own villages, towns and streets. Yet, I imagine that few of us are confronted by this reality, perhaps I’m wrong.

The truth is often painful which is of course why we generally wish to avoid it. It is easier to believe that abusers damage a small number of people and get caught. The truth is perhaps rather different. The issue of child abuse is of course incredibly delicate, but the mechanics of our ability to see or confront the truth applies to all aspects of life. Our relationship with immigrants, our foreign policy, our sale of weapons to hideous regimes, our spending habits and addictions.

Having a financial plan that is based around your own values will to some degree reflect your ability to face and handle the “truth”. Financial planners are not magicians, we cannot make pain go away, we can help identify your values and goals and build a plan around them, but we cannot cheat death or illness or disaster. We can insure against them. I wonder sometimes if some people do not have a financial plan, because of a reluctance to hear or see the truth of their current situation as any decent planner will be suggesting some changes to behaviours, which may be uncomfortable. The truth is that we all feel like this at times, but at some point, recognise that the truth is far better than denial.

The movie is now out here in the UK and has some great performances, here is the official trailer.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk