Film Analysis: Would You Leave A Conformed Society

Would You Leave a Conformed Society? In today's society, people say that they want to stick out and want to be different; but do they actually want to be individualized and not conform to society? In some instances, there are those few people that do “stray from the path”, but most are too scared to be different from everyone else and face ridicule. The film Powaqqatsi by Godfrey Reggio and the book
Anthem by Ayn Rand both show how conforming and going against society can change people. one of the first scenes in Powaqqatsi are many male workers, in a developing country, filling bags full of mud then hauling the heavy bag up a hill in an orderly line. They would then dump the bags for other men to sift through for gold. They then proceeded

This is shown when he says, “ I am. I think. I will. My hands… My spirit… My sky… My forest… This earth of mine… This, is my body and spirit…” ( Rand 94). This is the first time that he uses the word “I” to express himself instead of “ We”. After he realizes that he doesn’t want to live in the society anymore, he leaves and goes into the Uncharted Forest, an abandoned forest that the people weren’t allowed to go into since it was from the Unmentionable Times; the time before the conformist society began, Throughout his time in the forest he meets up with the Golden One; they find a house in the forest and they decide to stay there and make a family. There he states, “ And here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die, should we all perish in the battle. The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory. The sacred word: EGO” ( Rand 105). Equality 7-2521 can now think about his life as a free man; with his life now gone in the conformist society. He realized that the most important thing is in the world is to be individualized and free, to do and think for himself. The life of Equality 7-2521 as an individual is represented in Powaqqatsi by the people in the Third World Countries who didn’t conform with Western advancements. By the end of the film Reggio shows how most people in the Third World Countries had become influenced by the idea of Western Industrialization. The Director, Reggio, presents the Third World Countries conforming to Westernized advancements by displaying buildings and the people within the society. He lets the audience know that the buildings are made within a conformist society by the dull colors and similar structure to show there is no true freedom or expression