Even as a child of the 80s, I somehow missed "Trading Places," probably because my parents didn't even have a VCR until 1990-ish, and so this movie, which came out in 1983, had passed me by. But I caught up with it a couple days ago. One commentator seemed puzzled by the racism that ran throughout the movie. I was puzzled by the puzzlement because the whole movie was a social commentary on race and class, showing that, if given the same opportunities, a black man plucked off the streets could fare as well or even better than a white counterpart. Now, is it racist to even suggest that that - wasn't - the case? Sure, but before we castigate a film for bringing up the topic at all, perhaps clumsily, might we remember that nearly all major league sports franchises are dominated by white millionaires and billionaires, and as of 2021, only 6 percent of chief executives in the United States were black, compared with 86 percent white, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so apparently we have a ways to go and racism in society and in business is far from in our rearview mirror, so I can appreciate a movie like this for having something to say in a decade so replete with vapid film fodder.

"Trading Places" had a few funny moments, but it seemed to me that comedy was almost beside the point here. Two old white brothers, on a wager and to explore their longstanding debate over nature vs. nurture, decided to destroy the life of one of their young white employees (Dan Aykroyd), relegating him to life on the streets, meanwhile elevating a black man of said streets (Eddie Murphy). The former fared terribly in his new digs, while the latter proved to be more adept in the stock game than Aykroyd's character. The film also punctuated the fact that, as ever - largely remaining unchanged 40 years hence - old rich, white men are really pulling the strings of society. It has all the flaws one might expect from a not-so-terribly-funny buddy comedy from the early 80s, but it's probably not fair to judge it by today's standards, although if only more comedies today actually had some meat to their message, or any message for that matter. "Trading Places" at least has that advantage over nearly every 90-minute pile of stupid that Hollywood churns out year after year.