Elites are the villains we love to hate. It’s American culture’s most paradoxical obsession

These days, nobody seems to like elites. In movies and pop culture, they’re cutthroat villains that people love to see destroy each other. They’re what make The White Lotus, Triangle of Sadness, Knives Out, Succession, and The Menu so hate-watchable. And as new movie Send Help continues to defy box office expectations, its anti-elite plot deserves some of the credit.

Elsewhere, elites are framed as bureaucratic, academic know-it-alls – and get sucked into the culture war in the process.