The dupes and the marks
What would the film industry be without dupes, marks, and charlatans? Certainly, some of the best film noir would never have been made. Because in order to GET made, a certain array of characters must be omnipresent.
We need the dupes and the marks — the deceived. These are the people who have no idea they’re the pawns in the game of chess designed by the charlatans and created to outwit and outplay the dupes and the marks.
And then there are the charlatans. These are the cheaters, the liars, the ones who play the long game of the con and whose every move is designed to screw with the life of whoever dupe or mark they’re playing their game with.
This game also exists in real life. And this week, we got to see a bit of that game, did we not? We got to see the charlatan completely bamboozle his ever-obedient and willing dupes and marks.
Donald Trump announced his collection of digital trading cards. Of course, we laughed about it. We could not believe THAT was his big announcement. The reason we felt that way is that we are not dupes and marks.
But alas! In this great giant globe of a world, there will always exist an audience of dupes and marks. And that just might be why Trump’s digital cards sold out early Friday. I kid you not.
Yes, there are actually people willing to PAY for this junk. And some of them evidently did. Perhaps some of these dupes fancy themselves having dinner with assolini. Maybe some of them dream of hitting a few golf balls with his royal narcissist.
The reasons matter little. The point is that there still remains, in a sea of American faces, the dupes and the marks who think the charlatan loves them and has their best interests at heart.
It’s a sad fact that there will always be some of them who will not see the light — even eagerly offering to part-way with their hard-earned money to the charlatans like Trump who smile in fake benevolence at them, pretending the dupes are getting their money’s worth.
And they will go on believing. I suppose they have to. That’s why the game of the dupes, the marks and the charlatans continues to exist.
