What makes the "Always Be Closing" scene so famous?

Now Alec Baldwin is just fucking awesome in this scene. My favorite line is "And you know what you'll be saying - a bunch of losers sittin' around in a bar. 'Oh yeah. I used to be a salesman. It's a tough racket."

But what makes this scene so famous? It seems like Baldwin is just ridiculing them to death. I really can't get behind all of it.

14 Comments
 

It'd good because it's what separates the men from the boys. That scene perfectly parallels real life. Plenty of people are exactly the losers he's taking about, and the people who watch that scene and get it are the Al Pacinos of the world, already winning and too busy to care about the losers.

in it 2 win it
 
"Kassad" It'd good because it's what separates the men from the boys. That scene perfectly parallels real life. Plenty of people are exactly the losers he's taking about, and the people who watch that scene and get it are the Al Pacinos of the world, already winning and too busy to care about the losers.

God damn it that really hurt. Id like to use hindsight bias and say I got it but is it too late to become a winner?

EDIT: I also love the irony of Al Pacino being at the bar at that scene

Array
 

It's basically a satire on the cutthroat sales environment - they either sell, or get fired. And he's obviously trying "motivate" them to come out on the top, knowing that someone will fail anyway. Later on, you see that most of the guys are scumbags that apply classic hard-sales tactics, pushing their prospects, even lying. Could be that it's because of their situation, or because that's how the culture is, but they are highly unethical in their ways.

His motivational speech is pretty much equivalent to the old saying "The beatings will continue until morale improves", and I guess people love it because of Baldwins flawless delivery.

And like with movies such as Wall Steet / WoWS / Boiler Room, some people find the whole culture and environment motivating. Probably the same types that only see two types of people in the world: The hunters, and the prey.

 

Oh and context wise, I mean Baldwins speech was nice and all but weren't the leads shit? I haven't seen the movie in a while but they're recycled leads iirc. I know the scene alone is a great sales speech but in general the movie just shows how much of a shit show the place was.

Array
 

We're adding a little something to this months sales contest.

As you all know 1st prize is a Cadillac El Dorado.

Anybody want to see the 2nd prize? ...2nd Price is a set of steak knives.

3rd prize is you're fired.

"A man can convince anyone he's somebody else, but never himself."
 

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