Thursday, January 19, 2023

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Makes Its WIld Way to ERISA

The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon trope has become so omnipresent that I guess it should not be surprising that a connection between ERISA and Kevin Bacon would eventually surface. I was just giving the 1998 film Wild Things another peek, and I . . . 

[SPOILER ALERT - THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILERS AHEAD (although they're minor spoilers, in my view)] 

. . . took note of the fact that his Sgt. Ray Duquette, in connection with other sanctions directed his way, was stripped of his (public) pension. Not much more was made of the point, and its interesting that they would go in that direction where, in a lot of jurisdications, forfeiture of pension benefits for bad acts is by no means straightforward, if possible at all. It would appear that in Florida, where Wild Things is set, there may indeed be a path to forfeiture, so the forfeiture may well not be a plot hole. At least they didn't have to navigate or otherwise worry about ERISA Section 206(d) and Code Section 401(a)(13). 

Two other things I would note. First, what a soundtrack! I've lauded some other soundtracks here, but never mentioned this one. It really drives the movie and helps define its vibe. Second, I don't think I've ever seen another movie where the in-credit (not really post-credit but rather in-credit, in this case) scenes unravel, explain and even change the narrative as much as they do here. Incredibly creative; incredibly effective. It's so rare that there's true originality in a movie's presentation, and this, I think, is a great example.

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