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Let's Talk About the Magic Beans in 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'

Photo credit: Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX © 2020
Photo credit: Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX © 2020

From Esquire

I don't think Aaron Sorkin really meant it to be, but it's the only bit of The Trial of the Chicago 7 which I'm still thinking about since watching it: was Jerry Rubin actually right about the magic beans?

No, it isn't a stupid question. These beans are very important. Like the rest of the scenes Jeremy Strong's in, it's one of the better bits of the film. As dominant as Sacha Baron Cohen's Hoffman and Eddie Redmayne's Hayden are, Jeremy Strong's version of Rubin gets the best lines. He’s both Cheech and Chong at the same time.

Anyway: the beans. A row about whether Hayden or Hoffman should take the stand turns into a row about whether Hayden or Hoffman's approach to politics is the right one. Hoffman explains his daft stunts are a cheap way to get news coverage; Hayden thinks it's dumb.

"You're trading a cow for magic beans," he says.

Slumped at the side of the room, Rubin chips in: "Hey, that actually ended up working."

He goes on: "There was a giant up there... I can't remember what happened after that. The little boy may have gotten eaten."

Another defendant chips in: "The giant turned out to be nice."

"Are you sure?" asks Jerry.

"Uh. No."

But, OK, hang on: was Jerry right?

Photo credit: Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX © 2020
Photo credit: Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX © 2020

Let's recap: Jack is a poor country boy too dim to help his family by getting a job, and when entrusted with taking the family cow to market he trades it with an old man for some magic beans which he says will grow quite big. When he gets home his family really get on his back about it. They were big cow fans. His mum, particularly hawkish on the beans issue, throws them out of the window.

By morning though they've turned into a beanstalk. Jack decides to go up it for some reason (lust for further beans?) and finds that there's a house up there, home to either a giant or a married giant couple, depending on who you listen to. Jack hides in the oven, the giant does his spiel – "Fee, fi, fo, fum, etc" – and then sneaks out while grabbing a goose that lays golden eggs. Jack chops down the beanstalk, the giant falls to his death, everyone lives happily ever after except the giant.

So, no, on first glance, Rubin is not right. The giant is not friendly. The swapping of the beans does not look like a sensible transaction for much of the story. Magic beans are still derided as a choice for your pension investment.

Photo credit: Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX © 2020 - Netflix
Photo credit: Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX © 2020 - Netflix

But! Ruben isn’t actually wrong; it’s just that the story is a bit more convoluted than he makes it sound. The beans grew to gigantic size, just like the guy said. That in itself didn’t solve the destitute family’s dinner plans, obviously. A goose that shits bullion sorted that out. No beans, though, means no goose. It also means no threat of death by giant, but again: that goose shits bullion.

Hayden would have taken that cow to market, got a sensible price for it, and then what? In a month the family’s destitute again. Jack needed those beans! His family needed those beans! The beans, while unorthodox, turned his family into a wealthy dynasty which would have dominated their low-income rural area for generations to come.

So while Sorkin’s Hayden definitely comes out of their little exchange on top, long term, he’s going to wish he chose the beans.

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