What's Yours is Mine

Term 2: Play or Be Played; Module 3

Thesis: Historically, heists have embodied the paradox of ‘what’s yours is mine,’ blending ingenuity and moral ambiguity. This allure has been amplified by the characters-both fictional and non fictional-in this module, no matter their motives, they ultimately girlboss too close to the sun.

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I Wanna Rob

We live in a society that thrives on consumerism. During a casual scroll through your TikTok FYP you are likely being targeted or marketed an item in the majority of the videos, even if it is subconscious. Whether it is a $15 lipgloss or a $20K handbag, there is a pervasive desire to constantly want new material items, creating a culture where wealth and material success are idolized.

Heist films like Ocean’s 8 and Ocean’s 11 tap into this material obsession by transforming the thieves' crimes into a spectacle of brilliance and charm, where you find yourself rooting for them to succeed in their mission. In Ocean’s 8 specifically it is hard to not root for a successful heist when their group is an all female cast made up of some of our favorite actresses such as Sandra Bullock, Mindy Kaling, and Anne Hathaway. Seeing the group of eight working together is somewhat endearing.

As someone who frequents The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in any normal circumstance I would be appalled at the idea of theft. Yet, in the context of the film, I feel validated in rooting for the success of the “bad guys,” aka Debbie Ocean and her group of jewel thieves. As a viewer I also get caught up in the thrill of their heist and am proud when they are ultimately successful. This highlights and exemplifies how easily our perceptions of morality can be reshaped.

Oftentimes life imitates art, you watch movies and then see similar headlines in the news or vice versa. The Bling Ring by Nancy Jo Sales is a novel based on the true story of how a group of friends stole more than $3 million from their favorite celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom and more. They wanted everything these celebrities had and would go on shopping sprees in their closets.They were so obsessed with the thrill of robbing that it became a game for them. They didn’t realize the ramifications of their actions until a year into the robbery when they were caught on surveillance cameras at Lindsay Lohan’s house. 

Our obsessions can also lead us down paths where our values are constantly being challenged, it begs the question, how far are we willing to go for what we believe should be ours?

What If I Told You None Of It Was Accidental 

One of the most sought after luxuries is art, something often imitated but impossible to replicate. Because of this, there is extreme value in preserving the art and keeping the legacy of the artist alive. Preserving the art comes at a high cost – museums have to keep rooms at specific temperatures, around the clock security, and more. How much access does someone working on the inside have to the art?

In Portrait of a Thief, author Grace D. Li dives into a story of a Chinese American college student recruiting his friends to help steal and restore pieces of his cultural heritage. Enter Will Chen, an Art History major at Harvard. At first, he appears to be your typical Ivy League student, until you realize he has successfully stolen an artifact from a museum he was working at. Will is then recruited for the heist of a lifetime: to steal back stolen Chinese art for a $50 million payout.

His motives are shaped by both doing what he feels is right and the desire for wealth. Will argues that “Art belongs to the creator, not the conqueror. No matter what the law says, or what treaties are signed. For too long, museums have held on to art that isn’t theirs to keep, bought more because they know they can.” He doesn’t have any moral qualms with his new lifestyle as an international art thief because, in his mind, he is stealing back what is owed to China. While reading, you understand how Will came to the conclusion and allowed himself to feel proud of his decisions. It raises broader questions about ownership, justice and identity. It is easy to sympathize with Will’s perspective, but does that make his actions justifiable?

Will doesn’t ever apologize for wanting it all, instead, he poses the question - what’s wrong with wanting everything? This mindset is common among those involved in heists, yet it's often the "more, more, more" mentality that leads to their ultimate downfall. It’s the desire for excess becomes their undoing, proving that greed often has a way of catching up to them.

End Game

All good things must come to an end, and for the most part there are no exceptions with heists. Whether you are caught by the law or are living with guilt, there is always going to be a price to pay for your crimes.

Orlando Whitfield’s memoir All That Glitters: A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art goes into detail about his 15 year friendship with Inigo Philbrick, convicted felon and “mini-Madoff” of the art world. In their friendship, Whitfield was enamored by Philbrick in a way that wasn’t always reciprocated. Whitfield never gave up wanting to be in Philbrick’s circle, even at his lowest point finding himself in a mental institution on suicide watch after being scammed by him. So much of our lives are consumed by wanting things. Those wants can be as intangible as love and friendship or as materialistic as money and physical objects. Whitfield isn’t alone in letting his desire to be a part of Philbrick's life consume his own mental health and decision-making skills.

For each heist, both fictional and non fictional, there is a common theme: the pursuit of desire. Whether driven by thrill, allure, or financial gain, the individuals involved are often driven by a pervasive longing that overrides reason. We saw this in the way Will rationalized his actions as reclaiming stolen history, aligning his heists with a higher moral cause. Similarly, Whitfield justified his compromises as acts of loyalty, driven by his longing for friendship. 

What makes the heists compelling and why the media has a tendency to obsess over them is not the heist itself but the emotional and psychological toll on the individuals involved. Whether fictional or real, the allure of the heist lies not only in the crime itself but the humanity of those who commit it. The end game is often marked by disillusionment and loss even if at once the results seemed promising. It leaves us wondering, what would we risk for the things we want most, and at what cost?