“The Big Short” won all kinds of accolades for its vivid depiction of the 2008 financial crisis, which managed to turn complicated financial instruments into a riveting morality tale.

The movie, a Hollywood adaptation of a Michael Lewis book by the same name, apparently counts Members of Congress among its fans, judging from a recent congressional hearing in which lawmakers cited specific scenes in angrily demanding answers from hearing witness. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), in particular, thundered with what he surely thought was righteous anger about the glaring conflicts of interest exposed by the film concerning the ratings agencies, essentially three companies given special authority by regulators to determine how safe a broad variety of loans and debt instruments are for investment purposes. These rating agencies are Moody’s; Standard & Poor’s, a division of McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI) and Fitch Ratings .