Edward Norton’s character of Miles Bron in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has been compared to Elon Musk, which helps make him a better antagonist for the film. The comparisons came about due to the film’s release coming at the same time Elon Musk has been frequently in the news due to his acquisition and subsequent mismanagement of Twitter. However, as Rian Johnson wrote the film in 2020, he called these similarities a coincidence.
In Glass Onion, Miles Bron is the CEO of a technology company called Alpha, who has invited his friends for a murder mystery weekend on his island in Greece. However, soon an actual murder occurs, and private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is tasked to find the offender. It turns out that Miles Bron murdered his former partner Casandra Brand (Janelle Monáe) to prevent her from proving she is the true founder of Alpha, and he also later murdered men’s rights YouTuber Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) after he finds out about Casandra’s death .
Miles Bron’s Elon Musk Parallels Are Good For Glass Onion
The comparison between Miles Bron and Elon Musk stems from how, like Musk, Miles is perceived by his admirers as a tech genius but by others as someone whose success comes only from claiming other people’s ideas as his own. At least, that is how supporters of Elon Musk have criticized Glass Onion and, more specifically, Rian Johnson for writing. The biggest of these criticisms comes from Ben Shapiro, who went on a Twitter tirade saying, “[Johnson’s] take on the universe is that Elon Musk is a bad and stupid man, and that anyone who likes him – in media, politics, or tech – is being paid off by him,” (via Variety).
While it would be too much to say that Elon Musk is an idiot like Miles Bron, the latter makes for a good villain because it is entirely plausible that someone like him exists in the world. Rian Johnson says as much in an interview responding to the comparisons, where he says, “there’s a lot of general stuff about that sort of species of tech billionaire that went directly into it. But obviously, it has almost a weird relevance in exactly the current moment,” (via Wired). Despite his Glass Onion estate on a Greek Island appearing like the cartoonish lair of a James Bond villain, there is still enough real-life resonance with Miles Bron and his motivations. He is obsessed with achieving immortality and does not care about the consequences of his actions.
What Miles Bron REALLY Represents In Glass Onion
Ultimately, the most significant comparison between Miles Bron and Elon Musk is that they are both wildly successful billionaires whose immense wealth allows them to get away with practically anything. Because Miles ends up destroying the only piece of physical evidence linking him to Cassandra’s murder, he gets incredibly close to getting away with the crime since his friends are too reliant on Miles’ wealth to testify against him. Only at the end of the film, when Helen burns down the Glass Onion, destroying the borrowed Mona Lisa, does Miles finally receive his comeuppance.
However, in the real world, the wealthy elite rarely get their comeuppance. Aside from losing advertisers and staff, there have not been any real consequences for Elon Musk’s mismanagement of Twitter. Many still consider Musk a business genius, and if Miles Bron got away with his crime in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, he would also probably still be considered one.
