“Is it really bad to want to have more than everyone else?” Or: “Success attracts even more success.” Or: “Come out of your victim role.” – “Concreta” company founder Christopher Komann (Robin Sondermann, 40) uses phrases like these to motivate his mostly male employees in “Tatort: Pyramide” (January 14th, 8:15 p.m., the first). They all strive for power, money, great houses and big cars. In reality, the fulfillment of these dreams is only reserved for the top of such pyramid schemes. Therefore, one of the questions raised in this crime thriller is whether everything that is legal is also legitimate?
“The sales pyramid system is an absolutely classic and still very successful fraud model that is difficult to tackle legally,” says screenwriter Arne Nolting (born 1972) to the broadcaster. And he adds: “Almost everyone on the production team knew people from their personal environment who had fallen into such a system and had lost a lot as a result. Money, years of life and perhaps worst of all: the trust of friends and family.” Through these reports, the crime writers gained “a deep insight into the methods and seductive power of the fraudsters”, “so that we knew what we were talking about,” recalls Nolting.
As to whether the “pyramid” principle is a classic example of toxic masculinity, his screenwriter colleague Jan Martin Scharf (d. 1974) says: “A pyramid system works best when an ideological superstructure obscures the view of reality. And hardly Something works better than an appeal to supposedly male values such as success, strength and assertiveness, including all status symbols.” He continues: “In any case, the internet is full of self-proclaimed power sellers who just beat toxic masculinity into their followers’ ears. But if you look behind the surface, you see: the real driving force for such a system is always greed – and it can affect both men and women,” he clarifies.
“It is a thoroughly toxic principle and in our case also toxically male,” confirms director Charlotte Rolfes (born 1987). But the much more interesting question for them is: “How far would YOU go for power, fame, money? That has a lot to do with the prevailing values with which we grow up and with which we build an attitude. I think We have to pay attention to these values,” she warns. However, she has “not yet found any crystal clear answers” as to why people fall for seducers like Komann. In this respect, she “didn’t want to give too simple answers” with her production.
And actor Klaus J. Behrendt (63) adds: “The promise of big money appeals to us all. And how nice it would be if the hard-earned savings actually yielded huge profits through the right investment tip. But what if friends and family members are recruited for the supposedly surefire stock investment?” People’s trust is being systematically abused here. “Rip-off companies like ‘Concreta’ in ‘Tatort’ follow a perfidious system. Who cares if friendships are broken and families fall apart. In the end there are only a lot of losers and a handful of unscrupulous rip-offs who are the big ones “Collect profits,” summarizes the inspector actor (Max Ballauf).
