The Kid refuses to cheat and loses against The Man.
However...
The Kid cheated on his girlfriend and won her back.
So, cheaters never prosper
and
Cheaters prosper???
What am I missing???
Doesn't it give you a headache asking stupid questions?
Pépé le Moko
[deleted]
People may forgive you, cards don't? :)
You almost had it right... Cheaters always win. Both scenarios you mentioned, the cheater came out on top..
shareSteve McQueen refuses to cheat with Karl Malden's help and loses. Edward G. Robinson cheats with Joan Blondell's help and wins. It's not exactly what you'd want to teach your kids, but that's the way it goes in real life.
shareI'm afraid there is a bit more to this masterfully done film . . . analyze further . . .
shareWell, I will give it a try.
The Kid early on feels ambivalent about Christian, his girlfriend. But as events proceed, he realizes he cares for her. Before doing anything that amounts to a commitment to Christian, he has the one night stand with Melba. But he doesn't really want Melba, and then is immediately confronted when Christian shows up while Melba is still in the apartment. This parallels the two ways the Kid could proceed with the card game. Cheat or win it without cheating. (Here to be clear I DON'T think the analogy or comparison is the literal term cheating in a relationship so much as that Christian is the authentic choice, while for the Kid, further dalliances with Melba would not be.)
Or of course lose by not cheating. But I think it reasonably clear as the film ends that while the Kid has lost the poker game, he has "won" Christian, and in so doing has obtained both a degree of humility and self knowledge. If he had won by cheating, by comparison what would he have really achieved?
In other words, love and integrity, which must go together, are more important than ill gotten gains.
Humility and self-knowledge I'm not so sure about . . . he does gain strength, to be his own, he doesn't need what the're offering . . .
shareI addressed this in another thread. The Kid loses because he cheats. He probably did "have" Lancey until he cheated with Melba. He turned his back on everything he stood for and luck turned on him. The only reason he "won" anything in the end -- Christian -- is because the moviemakers made it happen; they didn't want viewers to feel cheated, too. Viewers always want a happy ending and Hollywood usually gives it to them even when it's dishonest, as this one was.
Melba was a cheater and The Kid joined her ranks. Simple as that. They are both losers.
It is not dishonest . . . it's the whole point of the film . . . his doing sanything with Melba was a slap-in-the-face to Shooter . . . it has absolutely nothing to do with "happy endings" . . . masterfuly done film, perhaps the last great work of the classical era . . .
shareDoesnt make me happy. They could of made it to where he never cheated and she left him for another reason and then came back. Now I dont really like either of them. i do like the movie still just one of those movies that is really well done and a lot like real life. Girls come back even when they are don extremely wrong....
shareCincinnati kid, was a typical poker player who thought he was the best.
When you think you are the best you don't care about anyone else except you. Then he decide to face a real challenge to accomplish what he tough was going to make him happy; "I want everything he got [Lancey Howard].", said Cincinnati Kid early in the movie. What he want, that Lancey already have:
- power
- money
- recognition
In the end of the movie, he realizes that what he really wants is to be happy with the person he loves.
Yes . . .
shareI addressed this in another thread. The Kid loses because he cheats. He probably did "have" Lancey until he cheated with Melba. He turned his back on everything he stood for and luck turned on him. The only reason he "won" anything in the end -- Christian -- is because the moviemakers made it happen; they didn't want viewers to feel cheated, too. Viewers always want a happy ending and Hollywood usually gives it to them even when it's dishonest, as this one was.
My father was widely regarded by his friends and peers as an extraordinary gambler and poker player. When I was very young he taught me:
a) if you gamble, never forget that the House always wins.
b) ego can & will defeat even the best player.
c) only suckers cheat.
Too bad the Kid didn't learn these until it was too late...as it was the lessons were painfully expensive. Sure, he played a clean game. But sleeping with Melba was both stupid and mean.
The cards, and how we play them, reveal more about ourselves than many people can handle. That's how I read the moral of the film. The beautiful thing is that it's different for everyone-just like the game.
How about: when you got nothing left, you still have the girl who truly loves you?
No?
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www.1up-games.com Last watched: imdb.to/K4tvL9
Interesting discussion. No matter how that game went down, The Kid won when he won Christian. It's just like the end of Rocky really.
shareMessage is this: fuck 'em!
share