In this essay I will analyze the film Snowpiercer, and relate how the themes in it are relevant not only to key theorists, but to current political issues as well. The post apocalyptic world presented in the film Snowpiercer serves as stage, wherein the ideas of neo-liberalism, slow violence, and biopower are practiced in their most basic forms, without traditional governmental intervention. Moreover, the conductor of the train’s implementation of these ideologies is essential in conveying the message that Snowpiercer serves as a valuable cautionary tale, amidst the current American political discourse. Snowpiercer is set in the year 2031, following a global ice-age caused 17 years earlier by an attempt to prevent global warming. The entirety …show more content…
It has been praised by some for allowing for rapid economic growth, while others detract it citing concerns that corporations may have malicious intentions, and oftentimes gives rise to a trend of indifference towards poverty. Wendy Brown, a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, writes of neo-liberalism, “In popular usage, neo-liberalism is equated with a radically free market: maximized competition and free trade achieved through economic deregulation, elimination of tariffs, and a range of monetary and social policies favorable to business and indifferent toward poverty, social deracination, cultural decimation, long term resource depletion and environmental destruction” (Brown …show more content…
The imagined community at the front of the train has little knowledge of the conditions that the less fortunate passengers of the train are subjected to. The existence of the imagined community that is comprised of ticketed passengers is integral to the sustenance of the train. Nixon writes, “the modern nation-state is sustained by producing imagined communities” (Nixon 167). While the train is by no means a modern nation-state, the privileged passengers are vital. Unlike the unimagined community in the back of the train who are decidedly rebellious, they seem to have largely submitted to the authority of Wilford. Without this submission the train would not be the microstate, it is. Rather, the train would be little more than a shelter from the icy wasteland earth has become. This reliance on an imagined communities is paralleled in all nations today. Without a submissive faction that realises and legitimises their government, the state holds no actual
The presence of an overwhelming and influential body of government, dictating the individuals of contextual society, may potentially lead to the thoughts and actions that oppose the ruling party. Through the exploration of Fritz Lang’s expressionist film, Metropolis (1927), and George Orwell’s politically satirical novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948), the implications of an autocratic government upon the individuals of society are revealed. Lang’s expressionist film delves into the many issues faced by the Weimar Republic of Germany following the “War to end all wars” (Wells, 1914), in which the disparity between the upper and lower classes became distinctively apparent as a result of the ruling party’s capitalistic desires. Conversely, Orwell’s,
“Thoughts in the Presence of Fear” is a manifesto written by Wendell Berry, dated October 11, 2001. It is a post-September 11 manifesto for environmentalists. Berry uses terms such as “we” and “they” as he expresses his ideas, regarding how our optimism for a “new economy” was founded upon the labors of poor people all over the world. I will conduct a rhetorical analysis of four sections of Berry’s manifesto; Sections XI, XII, XIII, and XIV; and discuss his use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Berry uses pathos more often in his paper, to instill feelings of guilt and fear in his readers. While many areas of his paper can be thought of as logos, Berry makes little use of ethos.
It is no easy task to create a work - through writing or film - that has an impact on society. In writing, one must discuss and analyze a relevant topic that will have an impact on the readers. One must also present stunning sensory images through words in order to create a complete understanding for the reader. In filmmaking it is not much different, but there must be striking visual imagery in combination with a fitting musical score in order to give the viewer of the film the full experience. There must also be historical accuracy, both in writing and film. In either case, it can take years to create such a captivating piece of work. David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on Cedars and its cinematic counterpart of the same name combine all of the aspects of good writing and filmmaking to create an emotionally provocative and historically accurate masterpiece.
Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced conditions of happiness and well being. Their struggle is to hide this fact from the state’s relentless supervision of (supposedly) everything. This leads them to eventually come into conflict with some hand of the state which serves as the authors voice presenting the reader with the ‘absurdity’ of the principles on which the society is based. The similar fear of the state’s abuse of power and technology at the expense of human individuality present within these novels speaks to the relevance of these novels within their historical context and their usefulness for awakening people to the horrendous consequences of their ignorance.
Fahrenheit government is an oppressive, powerful force, insuperable by any singular person. Not only has this group of dictators suppressed the individuality of the people, they have turned each person against the best interests of society itself. Montag, the main character and do-gooder protagonist of the novel, tries to revolt against the government, yet soon realizes its true strength. The governing administrators of Fahrenheit’s America prove to have attained true power; the power to alter people’s minds to control and manipulate them. Power is not what it is commonly believed to be: one is truly powerful when they can completely obliterate the personalities of each human, and make them, essentially, robots, whose minds can be not only influenced, but operated, by this one powerful individual.
Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation they portray many of societies flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that roles ability to motivate and inspire change. Whether you’ve read or viewed the novels or feature films I’ve discussed I have no hesitation in saying any text or film you have seen has been used in some way, shape or form to convey the criticisms of our ‘perfect’
Tragic events occur daily around the globe in 2015, these occurrences have become routine. The world has considerably changed in the past five years; this is mainly due to the Arab spring (A term that symbolizes the fall of oppressive regimes in the Middle East. While in the Middle East the Arab Spring is TAKING PLACE, in America gun control is a major issue. One of the many letters written by George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty Four is that of oppressive governments and the basic freedoms of humanity. This specific article and 1984 share similarities in how both discuss the nature of humans. The main themes they discuss are: Death, Loss of innocence, as well as hope.
Although George Orwell’s Animal Farm was created in order to mimic individuals as well as occurrences that took place during the Russian Revolution period, it is still possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the text without a past knowledge of history through the exploitation of human nature’s imperfections. Following the publishment of his novel, Orwell confirmed that his goal in writing this fable was to expose the wrongdoing of the Soviet Union as well as the treachery of the true ideas of the Revolution. Nonetheless, there have been several other examples of events such as the French Revolution that can effortlessly be contrasted against components of the allegory. However, we need not to dig no deeper than to the fundamental faults in human nature to witness the catastrophic consequences that attributes such as hierarchy, propaganda and betrayal have on today’s society.
The 2006 film V for Vendetta, a cinematic remake of the classic graphic novel series by the same name, is the epitome of a Marxist fairy tale. The film is complete with a bourgeoisie government who spreads their ideology, via mass media, to a citizenry composed entirely of proletariats, and a hero who sets out to break said citizenry from the prison of false consciousness. If one examines the setting and environment of the film, and follows the main characters as they fight against, or break free from, false consciousness, evidence of Marxist themes are present throughout the film.
1984, a book by George Orwell, offers an alternate reality for what the future could have been. The concept of a totalitarian society is but a far off, if not long dead, ideal. In the past totalitarianism was not just an ideal but an actual living, breathing menace to people of the late 1940s. Totalitarian governments would go to horrific lengths in order to sustain and increase their power. In the novels 1984, by George Orwell, and Anthem, by Ayn Rand, propaganda, class distinction, and naivety are explored in fictional societies. Orwell’s and Rand’s stories are based on dystopias and the individuals of those societies who dare to stand out. George Orwell uses Winston Smith, the timidly rebellious protagonist; The Party, the ruling government; and Big Brother, the face of The Party; and Ayn Rand utilizes Martyrdom, the sacrificing of oneself; Naming, a process using words and numbers as a means of identification; and Collectivism, everyone is the same and refers to themselves as we, to illustrate how dangerous a naïve working class, spin and propaganda, and an unacknowledged class distinction can be in a society.
Meneghetti, Michael. “Review: Ellis Cashmore (2009) Martin Scorsese’s America.” Film Philosophy 14.2 (2010). 161-168. Web. 6 Apr. 2014
Dystopia represents an artificially created society to where a human population is administered to various types of oppressions, or a human population lives under the order of an oppressive government. The novel Fahrenheit 451 and the film V for Vendetta both effectively display this dystopian concept in their works. The nature of the society, the protagonist who questions the society, and the political power that runs the society are examples of how the novel and the film efficiently capture the main points of a dystopian society. The authors of the novel and the film use their visions of a dystopian future to remark on our present by identifying how today’s society is immensely addicted to technology and how our government has changed over the past decades. Furthermore, the authors use our modern day society to illustrate their view of a dystopia in our
The future holds a different meaning for everyone, for some it holds hope while for others it holds despair. This constant wondering about the future has influenced many works to be written about the future. Some of these works propose a blissful future, but the majority paint the picture of an unfortunate dystopian world. Recently I read Daughters of the North, a novel in which the dystopian future of England is shown. Shortly after reading Daughters of the North, I watched The Road. This film showed a similar view of the future, yet more grim and unappealing that Daughters of the North. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting these two works to show two different points of view of what a dystopian world is. After watching The Road I realised there was a large amount of books and movies that believe the future will be grim. I believe this is because as humans we fear what may be in our future due to the conflicts that we face today and wish to warm the world.
Hannah Arendt was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. After witnessing the atrocities of both World Wars and the worldwide tension during the Cold War, no concepts or theoretical understandings of the crimes and events that occurred were developed, inciting Arendt to comment on political violence. She considers these events to be a failure of politics and tradition. However, On Revolution seeks to provoke revolutionary thought, ideally with society reverting to the opulence of public life and politics as seen in Ancient Greece. Modern warfare echoes that of Roman antiquity, as we begin to see justifications of these conflicts, with rationalisation of violence accepted by society, seeing the amalgamation of violence and politics, as Marx highlights. Therefore, this structural violence must overcome with an overhaul of the political realm, with emphasis on speech, conversation and debate, creating radical upheaval and reform. Arendt emphasises this separation of politics and violence with great conviction, as politics in the modern world has greatly failed humanity as evidenced through the atrocities of the 20th century. This goes against the theories of Marx, who argues that the ruling class’ violence struct...
I turned on my laptop one hot September, and as I decided to re-watch Snowpiercer, then a thought occurred to me about what happens when a huge disaster comes to drain most of humanity's population to short numbers. Sadly, Snowpiercer takes my thoughts into a reality that I can't stop from keeping my eyes from being glued to my screen. Knowing very well what the movie had in store for the viewer, yet I knew I was going for another roller coaster ride that would make me question humanity for justice. Snowpiercer, a wild roller coaster ride takes us to a place where humanity has almost become extinct. The only thing keeping them from total extinction is a train and its social standers in living difference.