As it was, 'twas ever thus. David O Russell is an emotionally sensitive, intellectually curious, spiritually growing director and creative giant on par with the greatest talents of his industry. Every part of this film is extremely well-done, and will reward you for close watching and thinking. BUT, its told and acted in overly silly way, so you can look past the acting and not take it too too seriously and see that what is actually important, the plot and background story, is deadly serious.

The important thing in watching this film is that you will become illuminated with the awareness that what has happened before (richest humans in the group want to anonymously control everyone else) is happening again now, and will happen again in the future, and now that you know what it looks like, you (and I) must be constantly on guard against it and stop it every time. Power and striving Society tries to eliminate the lower class (Doc) & medically subdue creative critical thinkers (Margo) & ignore or intimidate the arbitrarily different (JDW) in order to evaporate even the thought of opposition. By calling it out, as former-insider-turned-enlightened-individual Smedley Butler did in 1934 by saying "War is a Racket," you are revealing the naked emperor to everyone else, who will continue the process.

In the movie, Margo finally rejected the drugs and said she "would never trust them again" in favor of accepting & believing in herself and love. In the movie, the "Committee of Five" started the eugenics clinics to sterilize undesirable people, and then to try to control people around the world they sponsored fascism in Italy and Germany, and yes tried for the USA, conning everyone by using their ownership of the press to make it seem OK. These things actually happened and are a part of everyday real life.

The parallels to today are obvious, but just a mirror image. These people never went away. Their intellectual and genetic descendants are still there, but they are tricky and switched everything over to the other side of the ideological spectrum these days to make you think it's a different beast, but its still the old immortal 1930's wolf in sheep's clothing, with the same impetus and goals.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes." - Mark Twain.