Would You Kill a Fly for $1,000?

So I missed my Critical Thinking Thursdays post.  I had planned to write something about us poor, mixed-up millennials and our troubles finding work, but my research for it started to make me depressed and angry so I stopped (although it's a subject I plan to return to when my head cools).  I've also been a little under the weather the last couple days, so I spent most of my time away from the computer yesterday and watched some movies instead.

I have a Halloween tradition that involves binge-watching horror movies all October long.  This year, it started a little bit early (and I am never more grateful toward Netflix than I am on days I just want to laze on the couch).

One of the movies I watched yesterday actually had an interesting premise from a non-consumer POV, in a roundabout way.  It was called 13 Sins, and it revolved around a clever premise: A down-on-his-luck guy receives a mysterious phone call from someone who knows all sorts of details about his life and says that he's been volunteered for a new type of game show.  All he has to do is complete 13 challenges, each one with a certain pay-out.  If he makes it to the end, he becomes a multi-millionaire.

The challenges start off pretty simple: First he has to kill a fly for $1,000.  Then he has to eat that fly, for $3,000.  But, predictably, the challenges start getting increasingly twisted, and our poor protagonist becomes trapped: Either he can keep completing the challenges (to win the money and see his name cleared) or he can stop (losing all the money and facing charges for all the illegal things he's done).

It's a pretty excellent metaphor for the rat race.  I won't tell you more in case you want to watch it, but I would love to hear your thoughts.  When is money worth the strings that come attached to it?  How far would you go to earn more money?  Or, how far would you go to avoid the rat race?  Much to think about.

You can find 13 Sins on Netflix or click the poster up there to get it on Amazon.