Alphas In Media: Glengarry Glen Ross

This will be an ongoing feature in which I try to point out examples of Alphahood and Alpha behavior as expressed in the arts, primarily movies.

The 1992 crime thriller Glengarry Glen Ross is a middle-of-the-road film about a bunch of mostly broken Men trying to salvage something of their lost lives.

But it opens with one of the most dynamic representations of Alpha/beta Hierarchy ever put to film. Alec Baldwin (in his only appearance in the film) plays a dynamic, successful corporate sales manager sent in to motivate the flagging sales team. The way he does it establishes himself firmly as the God Alpha among the other males. Kevin Spacey plays his beta-dom suck-up. Among the group, guys like Jack Lemmon are like beta cucks.

Only Ed Harris exhibits any potential Alpha qualities, initially fighting back against Baldwin’s bluster. However, Baldwin’s God Alpha character kicks Harris back into place.

Here is the scene: