The Seeds of Ideology: 'Another Country' and the Performance of Privilege

Okay, so I just re-watched 'Another Country' and I have SO many thoughts. Specifically about how the film subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) depicts the performative nature of privilege and how that absolutely feeds into Guy Bennett's eventual defection. Like, Rupert Everett is amazing – he really nails that brittle, cynical exterior. But it's more than just a good performance; the character is constantly performing. He's performing his wit, performing his detachment, even performing his rebellion. It's all a calculated act to survive in that stifling environment. What really struck me this time was the contrast between Bennett and Judd (Colin Firth!). Judd is genuinely, deeply ideological. He believes in Marxism, and it's not just some pose. Bennett, though? He's more about disrupting the system because it's a system. He wants to be noticed, to be different, and the only way to do that seems to be by playing the game but playing it with a wink. That scene where he's basically forced to renounce his sexuality to even have a chance at leadership is brutal. You can see the calculation in his eyes – is this the hill he's willing to die on? And he decides it's not. That, to me, is the moment he truly loses something, and it's the moment the film suggests that maybe, just maybe, he's already planting the seeds of his future disillusionment and ultimate betrayal. I wonder if the film is suggesting that the rigid class structure of that school, that country, actually created the very thing it feared. By forcing Bennett to suppress his true self, society made him vulnerable to an ideology that promised him acceptance and a place of belonging, even if that belonging was on the 'other side'. The system broke him, and that felt really sad to see. Also, I know people have talked about this before, but it’s interesting to see how some of this still resonates today. People still find ways to break systems of oppression in an attempt to gain freedom, but sometimes those systems cause more harm than good. What do you guys think? Am I reading too much into it?