"I also think 'The Hustler' is a great movie, but I don't think it breaks out of the capitalist ideological circle. It never rejects the notion of competition: the triumph of the underdog loser (Newman) is won over the dead body of a woman and expressed, to the end, as a pissing contest between men and exclusively defined by men. The notion of competition and the level playing field is never rejected, deeply questioned, or transcended."
Competition is part of human nature and not strictly a capitalist conceit, though capitalism does corrupt the competitive urge. I don't see the struggle between Newman & George C. Scott as a "pissing contest," but one of exploiter and exploited. Scott doesn't have Newman's talent, but he has power and can make conditions such that Newman has little choice but to play it Scott's way, or he won't be able to play at all.
"The character who goes furthest to question the competition ethos and the notion of 'winners' and 'losers' is the woman (Piper Laurie)-- but she is finally sacrificed to a world that cannot understand anything but competition. If the movie were cast as _her_ tragedy, it would in fact be a critique of Capitalism; but instead, the movie is cast as the triumph of its hero and winds up being more of a 'Rocky' type movie, allbeit about a hundred times better than Rocky."
As William Burroughs once put it, this is a War Universe -- winners and losers all the time. Piper Laurie's death has a profound effect on Newman's character, and gives him the strength to buck Scott's control at the risk of his own demise. Laurie's "sacrifice" is a tragic moment and a reflection of the ugliness around her, and this is noted in the film. Pretty hard to miss, actually. In any event, "The Hustler" has no reason to break out of the "capitalist ideological circle" since it focuses on the basest forms of greed and exploitation (and it's nothing at all like "Rocky"). Why should it hit viewers over the head with some Solemn Message about the horrors of competition? Just watching the film is enough.
DP