Season 3, Episode 2: "One For the Money" reviewed by George Orwell
This was early in March. During the next three months there was much secret activity. Rose Nyland’s speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life. They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by Rose would take place, they had no reason for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime, but they saw clearly that it was their duty to prepare for it. The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the Girls, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the elderly Miami population. Pre-eminent among the womans were two spitfires named Blanche and Dorothy, whom Sophia Petrillo was breeding up for sale. Dorothy was a large, rather fierce-looking Italian woman, the only Italian in the house, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting her own way. Blanche was a more vivacious lady than Dorothy, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character. All the other male pigs on in Miami were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.
These three had elaborated old Rose’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Goldenism. Several nights a week, after Sophia was asleep, they held secret meetings on the lanai and expounded the principles of Goldenism to the others. At the beginning they met with much stupidity and apathy. Some of the ladies talked of the duty of loyalty to Sophia, whom they referred to as “Master,” or made elementary remarks such as “Sophia feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death.” Others asked such questions as “Why should we care what happens after we are dead?” or “If this Rebellion is to happen anyway, what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?”, and the ladies had great difficulty in making them see that this was contrary to the spirit of Goldenism.
Cliff’s Notes
The ladies “remember” different times when they tried to make money. One was when they tried to cater a wedding. The bride learned that the groom had cheated, but the ladies convinced her to get back together with the creep so they wouldn’t lose money. How thoughtful.
Dorothy remembers when she asks Sophia, in flashback, if she could watch her kids so she can work part-time to buy her parents a television. Turns out, Sophia had been doing some tailoring to buy a television for Dorothy and Stan. Like the Gift of the Maji, but not really.
Finally, in what seems like the most simple way to make money is by dancing in a dance marathon. Blanche promises men she’ll take it up the ass for them if they continue being her partner. Rose, meanwhile, hires a stunt double for her big solo number.
This episode also contains one of my favorite lines. When Dorothy sees that Rose has entered the dance contest without telling her (as did Blanche), she makes a Julius Caesar joke:
And Rose, the senile woman they continue to be in denial about her condition, answers, “No, it’s me, Rose!”
The moral of the story: capitalism destroys everyone.
