ESSAY PLAN

Introduction 
Science Fiction genre theory 
Introduce Elysium (2012) and Invasion of the body snatchers (1956)

Page 7
"science fiction, stories based around advanced technology, robotics, space exploration or time travel are likely candidates of such standard genre narratives."
Keith M. Johnston, Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction

Page 167

"Social class is intertwined with the every fabric of everyday life." 
Susan T. Fiske, Hazel Rose Markus, Facing Social Class: How Societal Rank Influences Interaction 

Section 1
Elysium (2012), An allegory for the social inequalities  
Textual analysis of the opening scene, Mise-en-scene
Textual analysis of Max's sacrifice scene  

Quotes : 

"Britain is one of the most unequal countries in the western world: the richest one per cent own a vast proportion of the wealth"
http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/class-in-contemporary-britain-/?isb=9780230238664

‘Earth is a giant slum, a totalitarian nightmare in which citizens live like rats with Elysium glowing above them, like "Bel Air in space," says Blomkamp.’
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview 

"Power lies in position of authority in key economic and political institutions."

"the world into two groups:

1.     Ruling class

2.     Class that is ruled"

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/16/karl-marx-ideas-resonate-today

Page 6

"Decorum, this doctrine is the idea that genre and styles are ordered hierarchically, and that the hierarchy of literary genres should reflect and maintain social hierarchies"
David Duff, Modern Genre Theory

"Ordinary people are now convinced that there is no alternative to the morality of the acquisitive society; that Britain's seemingly intractable economic problems are quite beyond human control; that social inequalities are therefore unalterable."
Gordon Marshall, Howard Newny, David Rose, Social Class in Modern Britain 

Theories: 

Marxism
Narrative Pleasure, Audience Identification 
Semiotics 
Generic Conventions, genre 

Section 1.5 
Elysium (2012), the effects of capitalism and the exploitation of the working class  
Textual analysis of the scene when Max is beaten by the droid  
Amazon, example of exploitation Panorama - Amazon: The Truth Behind the Click - YouTube
Use of traditional science fiction conventions, robots, space shuttle

Quotes :

"Marx defies capitalism sociologically by the institution of private control over means of production"
Google Book: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy- Joseph A. Schumpeter

“its impoverished inhabitants abused and herded by robotic police.”

"the space station was a form of gated community, the ultimate version of the well-guarded estates where capitalism’s super rich keep themselves isolated from the ordinary public."
Media Magazine Issue 47

"Hall argued that audiences do not necessarily accept the ideology of texts passively, but instead draw on their own cultural and social experiences to create their own interpretations.”
Media Magazine 51 (Representation Old and New)

Page 4
"The reader of science fiction is caught between that which exists outside of the laws of a known world and that which might be read as a logical extension of the known world."
Christina Correa, Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy and Reality 

"The British upper class was adaptable and confident, driving forward what economic historians have called 'gentlemanly capitalism', which was embedded in imperialist power and development"
Mike Savage, Social Class in the 21st Century

Theories:

Capitalism 
Audience theory, Encoding and decoding model (Hall)
Science fiction as a genre
Alienation (Marx) 
Stereotype, reinforces 
Escapism 

Section 1.75
Issues and wider debates, the misrepresentation in the media. 
Representation of immigration
Poverty and overcrowding on earth, Elysium 

Quotes:

"The British mass media hardly ever portray the upper classes in a critical light, nor do they often draw any serious attention to inequalities in wealth and pay"

"Newman argues that when news organisations focus on the working class, it is generally to label them as a problem, e.g. as welfare cheats, drug addicts or criminals"

"Studies of industrial relations reporting by the Glasgow University Media Group suggest that the media portray ‘unreasonable’ workers as making trouble for ‘reasonable’ employers."
http://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-disability:

Theories:
Representations of the working class (Newman) 
Stereotypes 
Neo-marxism 

Section 2
Science fiction as a genre that enforces social issues and public fears
Historical text, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)  

Quotes:

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers goes beyond Cold War politics into an anxiety more deeply rooted in human consciousness - the fear of loss of identity, dehumanization, and of not knowing who can be trusted in an increasingly complex world."
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html

"a metaphor for the creeping threat of Communism, portrayed at this point in U.S. history as soulless, without feeling or sense of beauty"
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/invasion-of-the-bodysnatchers-1956

"its main theme was the alien (read 'Communist') dehumanization and take-over of an entire community"

http://www.filmsite.org/inva.html

"hat makes Invasion of the Body Snatchers so memorable is that, even in its own low-budget, B-picture context, it taps into a believable paranoia." 

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html

Theories: 

McCarthyism 

SF genre theory 

Audience, identification 

Social commentary 

BOOKS

Rick Altman, Film/Genre, 1999, British Film Institute, London

Page 14
"Genres may be defined as patterns/forms/styles/structures that transcend individual films"

"genre as structure, as the formal framework on which individual films are founded"

Owen Jones, The Establishment, 2015, Penguin Books, Great Britain

Page 6 
"Politicians and media worked almost hand in hand in glove to promote the myth that people who should be held responsible for the nation's multiple social and economic ills are those at the bottom of the pecking order, rather than those at the top."

Page 8
"The modern Establishments relies on a mantra of 'There Is No Alternative': potntial opposition is guarded against by enforcing disbelief in the idea that there is any other viable way of running society." 

Steve Neale, genre and Hollywood, 2000, Routledge, Fetter Lane

Page 101
"Thus 'the major visual impulse of all SF films is to pictorialize the unfamiliar, the non-existent, the strange and the totally alien - and to do so with a verisimilitude which is, at time, documentary in favour an style.' 

Mike Savage, Social Class in the 21st Century

"The British upper class was adaptable and confident, driving forward what economic historians have called 'gentlemanly capitalism', which was embedded in imperialist power and development"

"Classes are indeed being fundamentally remade."

Susan T. Fiske, Hazel Rose Markus, Facing Social Class: How Societal Rank Influences Interaction 

Page 167
"Social class is intertwined with the every fabric of everyday life." 

"Social-class identity is fundamentally shaped by subjective perceptions of rank vis-a-vis others."

Page 167
"We have outlined how rank perceptions guide the behaviours of upper-and lower-class individuals and provide the basis for the ways in which social class is signalled to face-to-face interactions." 

Christina Correa, Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy and Reality 

Page 2
"Science fiction as that branch of literature that deals with the human response to changes in the level of science and technology"


Page 4
"The reader of science fiction is caught between that which exists outside of the laws of a known world and that which might be read as a logical extension of the known world."

Page 7
"Science fiction has certainly borrowed from both the musical and horror film... numerous moments in science fiction films when the narrative flow is stalled to make way for visual spectacle resembles the way in which song and/or dance number are commonly structured into the narrative of a musical film." 

Keith M. Johnston, Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction 

Page 7
"genres do not exist a priori...genres are cultural creations that are formed and reformed on a regular basis, prone to shifts in emphasis and meaning."

Page 7
"science fiction, stories based around advanced technology, robotics, space exploration or time travel are likely candidates of such standard genre narratives."

David Duff, Modern Genre Theory

Page 6
"Decorum, this doctrine is the idea that genre and styles are ordered hierarchically, and that the hierarchy of literary genres should reflect and maintain social hierarchies"

Gordon Marshall, Howard Newny, David Rose, Social Class in Modern Britain 

"Ordinary people are now convinced that there is no alternative to the morality of the acquisitive society; that Britain's seemingly intractable economic problems are quite beyond human control; that social inequalities are therefore unalterable."

"Within Britain this is creating much more diverse and uneven economic structure sectors (and thus geographical locations) may well be increasing." 

References: Books

Altman, R., & British Film Institute. (1999). Film/genre. London: BFI Pub.

Bould, M. (2012). Science fiction. London: Routledge.

Bukatman, S. (1993). Terminal identity: The virtual subject in postmodern science fiction. Durham: Duke University Press.

Cornea, C. (2007). Science fiction cinema: Between fantasy and reality. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Duff, D. (2000). Modern genre theory. Harlow, England: Longman.

Fiske, S. T., & Markus, H. R. (2012). Facing social class: How societal rank influences interaction. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Johnston, K. M. (2011). Science fiction film: A critical introduction. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

Jones, O. (2014). The establishment: And how they get away with it.

Marshall, G. (1989). Social class in modern Britain. London: Unwin Hyman.

Neale, S. (2000). Genre and Hollywood. London: Routledge.

Pomerance, M. (2006). Cinema and modernity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Savage, M. (2015). Social Class in the 21st Century. Penguin Publishing Group.

Sardar, Z., & Cubitt, S. (2002). Aliens R us: The other in science fiction cinema. London: Pluto Press.

References: Web Pages

Class war is back again – and British politicians are running scared | Society | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/30/class-war-is-back-again

Come on, Britain – it’s the 21st century. Stop this obsession with social class | Hadley Freeman | Comment is free | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/26/britain-stop-obsession-social-class

Elysium director Neill Blomkamp: 'You'd have to change the human genome to stop wealth discrepancy' | Film | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview

History of science fiction films - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_fiction_films

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers: Don Siegel’s fatalistic masterpiece | Film | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/invasion-of-the-bodysnatchers-1956

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - Articles - TCM.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.htm

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), review - Telegraph. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11198302/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-film-review-tim-robey.html

Is Marx still relevant? | Books | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/16/karl-marx-ideas-resonate-today

McCarthyism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

Science fiction film - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_film#Genre_as_commentary_on_social_issues

Social class affects white pupils' exam results more than those of ethnic minorities – study | Education | The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/sep/03/social-class-achievement-school

Close Textual analysis of a scene from Elysium

The same establishing shot used to display the carnage of Earth was also used to flaunt the glamour of the space shuttle of Elysium. This is interesting because it accentuates the contrast between the two settings. The resounding contrast in colour between both places also establish contrast between lavish and decaying. On the ravaged earth there is the prominent use of the colour brown. This choice of colour implies that there is famine thus implying poverty. On the contrary, the space shuttle, Elysium, is in abundance of crops with the dominant colour of blue and green. This use of primary colours represents a purity as well as a sense of wholesomeness which. On earth, the overcrowding is very evident as seen with the people living off the sides of the skyscrapers therefore accentuating this sense of poverty. With the use of the long shot, the buildings are made parallel with a decaying plant. This is done through the buildings having rubble stemming from the sides as well as the prominent use of colour black. The slow pace editing allows the audience to bask and to internalise the extremity of the contrast between the two settings. The use of positional communication further outlines the contrast between earth and Elysium. Elysium is placed above earth, looking down on earth thus creating heavenly as well as religious connotations. It creates the sense that the space shuttle is like heaven and for beings that are celestial and are holy. The fact that such a heavy contrast created right from the offset of the film, it instantly creates a binary opposition. This therefore acts as an enigma code for audiences as questions are raised as how earth has got into such a state. The establishing shot of the space station, makes it clear from the get go that this film belongs to the science fiction genre because the futuristic feel as well as the very typical setting of space in the science fiction genre. 

Through this contrast, it exposes the inequalities of wealth. This is created through the massive contrast in wealth; being extreme poverty to excessive wealth. Additionally, this opening sequence acts as social commentary. This is because in modern day society, social inequalities is becoming more and more evident, this supported by the rise in the pay gap. 



    

When both the protagonist and his helper infiltrate the space shuttle's main system room the choice of the colour white for all the appliances in the room shows how the space shuttle is for the pure and the holy because the colour has implications of purity. Also, the use of editing to create the slow motion of the special forces team trying prevent the coup, enhances the climax that is happening because it makes the whole situation more significant. This use of slow motion coupled with the opera music playing in the back accentuates the climax but also this use of parallel it makes the protagonist's sacrifice more moving and sentimental. Additionally, slow motion is used at the end when Max slowly dies. This intensifies the feeling of sorrow and emotion that the audience would feel towards Max's death because the audience are left slowly watching Max's death.   Moments before Max sacrifices himself for the sake of equality, he looks out the window to see Earth. This point of view shot of Max looking over the earth makes his sacrifice synonymous with the crucifixion of Jesus. This is because Max died for the sake of the Earth, just like Jesus this use of internationality further makes Max's sacrifice moving. The flash backs into the beginning of the film, to when he was a child creates a sense that death is near because it shows how he is looking over his life which therefore makes the ending much more climatic as well as emotional.       

Notes

Bill Thompson- What has the internet ever done for me?

1st Jauary 1983-Birth of the internet
Internet-Connects networks together
Freedom of speach, expression with a single connection
Why we use the internet: Connection
Information
Creates voices in your head . Engaging with others, Recreation of reality
Political Action
Campaigning
Fanancial Reward
Games
Learning
Friendship

Downsides: Bullying
Unwanted pron
Images of sexual abuse
Extremeism
Abuse
Scams + Rip offs
Frauds
Conspiracy Theory
The Dark Net

Open to diverse culture = expression and a social equality
The Internet=caused piracy and decline in music industry

Media, Publics, Protest, Power = Natelie Fenton 

Power Over: Media content
Audience
Journalists
Governments

Power to: Censor
Mislead
Set the agenda

Media+democracy: Healthy media=Blood of democracy
Explosion of mobile and internet news
Faster and faster but business' struggling to keep up
Copy and paste journalism effects plurality and diversity
Internet empowers audience: Able to create
Able to define world

The politcal elite court the media elites
Distortion of democracy caused with masive media institutions

UK: 3 Companies control 71% of new circulation

Is the media all powerful?
Journalism that holds power to account?
News enhances democracy?
What doesn't appear in the media, whats absent?

Notes and quotes doc.

http://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-disability:

Representations of the upper class and wealth

Neo-Marxists argue that mass media representations of social class tend to celebrate hierarchy and wealth. Those who benefit from these processes, i.e. the monarchy, the upper class and the very wealthy, generally receive a positive press as celebrities who are somehow deserving of their position. The British mass media hardly ever portray the upper classes in a critical light, nor do they often draw any serious attention to inequalities in wealth and pay or the overrepresentation of public-school products in positions of power.

Newman (2006) argues that the media focus very positively on the concerns of the wealthy and the privileged. He notes that the media over-focuses on consumer items such as luxury cars, costly holiday spots and fashion accessories that only the wealthy can afford. He also notes the enormous amount of print and broadcast media dedicated to daily business news and stock market quotations, despite the fact that few people in Britain own stocks and shares. 

Representations of the middle classes
Four broad sociological observations can be made with regard to mass media
representations of the middle classes.

·         The middle class are over-represented on TV dramas and situation comedies.

·         Part of the British newspaper market is specifically aimed at the middle classes and their consumption, tastes and interests, e.g. the Daily Mail.

·         The content of newspapers such as the Daily Mail suggests that journalists believe that the middle classes of middle England are generally anxious about the decline of moral standards in society and that they are proud of their British identity and heritage. It is assumed that their readership feels threatened by alien influences such as the Euro, asylum seekers and terrorism. Consequently, newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, often crusade on behalf of the middle classes and initiate moral panics on issues such as video nasties, paedophilia and asylum seekers.

·         Most of the creative personnel in the media are themselves middle class. In news and current affairs, the middle classes dominate positions of authority – the ‘expert’ is invariably middle class.

Representations of the working class
Newman argues that when news organisations focus on the working class, it is generally to label them as a problem, e.g. as welfare cheats, drug addicts or criminals. Working class groups, e.g. youth sub-cultures such as mods or skinheads, are often the subject of moral panics, whilst reporting of issues such as poverty, unemployment or single-parent families often suggests that personal inadequacy is the main cause of these social problems, rather than government policies or poor business practices. Studies of industrial relations reporting by the Glasgow University Media Group suggest that the media portray ‘unreasonable’ workers as making trouble for ‘reasonable’ employers.

Curran and Seaton (2003) note that newspapers aimed at working class audiences assume that they are uninterested in serious analysis of either the political or social organisation of British society. Political debate is often reduced simplistically to conflict between personalities. The content of newspapers such as The Sun and the Daily Star assumes that such audiences want to read about celebrity gossip and lifestyles, trivial human interest stories and sport.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32824770

The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says.
'The OECD warns that such inequality is a threat to economic growth.'


http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview -

'The only way things will change is if we're smart enough to develop technology that can think us out of this, meaning augmenting ourselves genetically to be smart enough to change shit'

 ‘Earth is a giant slum, a totalitarian nightmare in which citizens live like rats with Elysium glowing above them, like "Bel Air in space," says Blomkamp.’

‘Elysium may be set in the future, but it's merely an amplification of an age-old problem. "The issues raised by Elysium have been in existence as long as homo sapiens,"

‘We have biological systems built into us that were very advantageous for us, up until we became a functioning civilisation 10,000 years ago. We are literally genetically coded to preserve life, procreate and get food – and that's not gonna change. The question is whether you can somehow overpower certain parts of that mammalian DNA and try to give some of your money out, try to take your wealth and pour it out for the rest of the planet."

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/apr/03/class-britain-defining-social-status-

 'The way that someone interprets their own place in British society can affect self-esteem, ambition and achievement.'

‘The Great British Class Survey results published by the BBC today claims to brush away the traditional upper, middle and working class categorisation and, based on the responses of over 161,000 people’

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/30/class-war-is-back-again -

'Social mobility is still very much alive: it’s just that it’s now going mostly in the wrong direction'

 “class relates to the way in which people make their living in the labour market, and status relates more to the way they then spend those earnings, their patterns of consumption and their lifestyle and social intimates.”

‘Over the last century we have seen a continual weakening in status distinctions’

 The Labour MP Emily Thornberry’s tweet. On the surface, it was simply a photograph of a house and a van with a factual caption: “Image from #Rochester.” But in matters of class, especially in England, it’s what under the surface that really counts. The St George’s cross and white van are symbols of a certain kind of England that is held in suspicion, if not contempt, by metropolitan opinion. To some, they evoke a belligerent nationalism and an aggressive maleness. There may be legitimate political or ideological reasons for this unease but it’s hard to disconnect them from a fear, or horror, of the white working class.

“Status still matters,” says Goldthorpe. “The difference now is that when people who see themselves being of higher status adopt derogatory positions, there is a sharp response.”

The return of class, says Goldthorpe, has not come clothed in old Marxist fashions. Instead he notes that both in Britain and in several other countries in Europe “it’s the growth of what one might call rightwing popularism that attracts significant working-class support”.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/sep/03/social-class-achievement-school

‘social class is more likely to determine how well a pupil will perform if that child is white than if they are from other ethnic groups.’

‘cultural aspirations and expectations, as well as parental support for education. This appears to have been the case for Indian and Chinese pupils for many years’

‘They also discovered that African and Bangladeshi girls had vastly improved their GCSE grades in the last few years.’

‘Poverty affects grades less among non-white children with social divide noticeable from primary school’

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/26/britain-stop-obsession-social-class

‘You can tell a lot about a country’s neuroses by what’s on its television sets... Britain’s TV schedules, by contrast, are completely steeped in class, and have long been so. From laughing at poor people on Benefits Street to laughing at rich people in You Can’t Get the Staff, this is how Britain likes to unwind in the evening: by sneering at other classes, and sneering at people for sneering about class.’

‘All countries are interested in status – in the US this is usually expressed by a fascination with money and, increasingly, fame. But only in Britain is there this kind of paralysing myopia where a person is defined eternally by where their parents sent them to school, where snobbery and inverse snobbery clash with equal force and explode into a fiery ball of angry arguments involving such seemingly random – but actually deeply significant – things like grammar schools and John Lewis.’

‘Perhaps Britain’s class obsession is a way of consoling itself that old rules still exist, even if the empire doesn’t.’

‘You guys can barely hang on to Scotland – no wonder you try to distract yourselves by talking obsessively about schools and cutlery.’

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/16/karl-marx-ideas-resonate-today

Elite Theory

The theory posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power and that this power is independent of a state's democratic elections process.

The aristocratic version of this theory is the classical elite theory which is based on two ideas:

1.     Power lies in position of authority in key economic and political institutions.

2.     The psychological difference that sets elites apart is that they have personal resources, for instance intelligence and skills, and a vested interest in the government; while the rest are incompetent and do not have the capabilities of governing themselves, the elite are resourceful and will strive to make the government work. For in reality, the elite have the most to lose in a failed government.

Mosca emphasized the sociological and personal characteristics of elites. He said elites are an organized minority and that the masses are an unorganized majority. The ruling class is composed of the ruling elite and the sub-elites. He divides the world into two groups:

1.     Ruling class

2.     Class that is ruled

Mosca asserts that elites have intellectual, moral, and material superiority that is highly esteemed and influential.

Marx

According to philosopher Karl Marx, "class" is determined entirely by one's relationship to the means of production, the classes in modern capitalist society being the "proletarians": those who work but do not own the means of production, the "bourgeoisie": those who invest and live off of the surplus generated by the former, and the aristocracy that has land as a means of production. Class consciousness is not simply an awareness of one's own class interest but is also a set of shared views regarding how society should be organized legally, culturally, socially and politically. These class relations are reproduced through time.

http://juni.osfc.ac.uk/Aim_Higher/Media/class.asp

"The media tend to reinforce the popular prejudice"

"The lives of royalty and the jet setting lifestyle of the rich are portrayed as a glamorous world we can only dream about" This idea of audience dreaming is lined with the genre of science fiction.” 

Google Book: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy- Joseph A. Schumpeter 

"We have thus, fundamentally, two and only two classes, those owners, the capitalists, and those have-nots who are compelled to sell their labour, the labouring class or the proletariat."

"Marx defies capitalism sociologically by the institution of private control over means of production"

http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/class-in-contemporary-britain-/?isb=9780230238664

"Britain is one of the most unequal countries in the western world: the richest one per cent own a vast proportion of the wealth" 

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Romantic-Comedy-Yugoslavia/Science-Fiction-SOCIAL-CRITIQUE.html

“Though some 1950s films contained anti-war messages, science fiction turned much more sharply to the left in the 1960s and 1970s, addressing issues such as corporate corruption, government duplicity, and ecological destruction.”

“The film portraying the greatest ecological disaster is surely Soylent Green , in which the greenhouse effect has made Earth into an inferno and overpopulation is extreme.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_film#Genre_as_commentary_on_social_issues

“The science fiction film genre has long served as a useful vehicle for "safely" discussing controversial topical issues and often providing thoughtful social commentary on potential unforeseen future issues.”

“Most controversial issues in science fiction films tend to fall into two general story lines, Utopian or dystopian. Either a society will become better or worse in the future. Because of controversy, most science fiction films will fall into the dystopian film category rather than the Utopian category.”

“In the 1970s, science fiction films also became an effective way of satirizing contemporary social mores”

“More recently, the headlines surrounding events such as the Iraq War, international terrorism, the avian influenza scare, and United States anti-immigration laws have found their way into the consciousness of contemporary filmmakers.”

Black Space Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film By Adilifu Nama 2008 

http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/namblk

“the genre offers the audience the opportunity to vicariously experience a world without many of the challenges a society presently faces and, in doing so, to contemplate ramifications of and potential responses to an urgent social problem and present a hypothesized outcome or solution.”

“Science fiction films, with their fantastical plots and far-off worlds, have the luxury to create any kind of character, social system, and world within the confines of their narratives.”

“common sense tells us that biological traits such as eye color, pigmentation, or hair texture does not entitle one group of people to rule over the other on the false pretense of racial superiority.”

“Both SF cinema and the social construction of race rely on the acceptance of fictions of the highest order to work”

Media Magazine Issue 47

“its impoverished inhabitants abused and herded by robotic police.”

“the super-rich have escaped the deprivations of Earth to live in a utopian idyll where any sickness can be cured at the flick of a switch.”

“the space station was a form of gated community, the ultimate version of the well-guarded estates where capitalism’s super rich keep themselves isolated from the ordinary public.”

 “The most recent parallel is the tragic and continuing death toll of migrants, who in their desperation to escape poverty and war, attempt lethal crossing from Africa in leaking overcrowded boats, to reach their own version of ‘Elysium’ in Italy and the rest of Europe.”

“The Sci Fi notion of the rich escaping to an ultramodern paradise whilst leaving the massed poor behind can be found way back in Metropolis itself.”

“Science fiction can be a uniquely poetic and thoughtful genre.”

“Yet with the modern blockbuster, the underlying assumption seems to be that audiences cannot handle – and do not want – depth.”

“Eye-catching spectacle, always a part of the genre, becomes everything, with splashy visual set pieces needing to be laid on every few minutes.”

“Hollywood has often been accused of infantilising its content to appeal to young audiences”

Media Magazine Issue 50

“1930s, science fiction was not a film genre as such, but a type of narrative that lent itself to adventure, fantasy, horror or spectacle.”

“they wanted to distinguish themselves from ‘sci-fi’, and to promote SF as a ‘proper literary genre.”

Media Magazine Issue 51

“sci-fi film and TV has come to be seen as a place where a diverse range of sexualities are represented.”

“These relatively rare examples of female sexuality – as something other than submissive and virginal damsels in distress”

Media Magazine Issue 50 (Sci-fi fans and the power of the tweet)

“sci-fi on TV has gone from strength to strength.”

“sci-fi generally has flourished because of the power of audiences in using social media to create a commentary around their favourite sci-fi texts.”

“Sci-fi audiences are traditionally seen as articulate, intelligent and passionate”

“while Sci-Fi at the cinema has generally been quite poor (too much CGI in place of character development, too many explosions in place of ideas)”

Media Magazine 51 (Representation Old and New)

“that media products were constructed carefully in order to create meaning. It is the combination of media language choices that construct a representation. Understanding how representations are created, and how they create meaning, is central to an understanding of the media, as everything that appears in the media is in fact a representation.”

“Traditionally, the power to create representations has been in the hands of media producers working within media institutions.”

“Representations are always, in some way, filtered through someone’s point of view, and carry particular meanings or values. In other words, they are ideological.”

“Hall’s critique is known as the ‘Encoding/Decoding Model’…Hall argued that audiences do not necessarily accept the ideology of texts passively, but instead draw on their own cultural and social experiences to create their own interpretations.”

Critical investigation, research

Working title

To what extent are contemporary sci-fi films such as 'Elysium' and 'The Hunger Games' franchise commenting on social class? 

Angle

E.g.: What impact are these increasingly violent games having on their audience? Is this simply a moral panic of the 21st century or is further regulation required?

Hypothesis

There's definitely comments regarding social class in the undertones of contemporary science fiction films. It is somehow inevitable that science fiction films would represent social class as the genre that provides imaginative concepts on the future, the question is whether these representations are accurate.

Linked production piece

A scene from a film

MIGRAIN

InstitutionMedia Rights Capital distributed this film and Sony Pictures bought the film who gave a $115 million as a production budget. Director, Neill Blomkamp stated that the film is a statement on the human condition. He added ‘This isn’t science fiction. This is today. This is now.’ This is a commercial institution. The difference it makes ultimately, the producers would want to produce a film that is impressive regarding special effects and has an interesting plot. This means that their personal ideology wouldn’t be a priority but producing a film that is profitable would be. Sony originally intended to release the film at the end of 2012. Sony announced that the film would be reformatted for imax theatres so the films release date was pushed back to August 9 2013. The film was available on DVD and Blu Ray on December 17 2013. 

Genre The film isn’t gender specific as there is an even amount of characters between both genders. However, the genre that this film belongs to would make the audience more likely male. This is because the sci-fi genre is more appealing to the male audience. This film would appeal to mainstreamers because the director of the film is the director of a previously successful film District 9. Also this film would appeal to explorers as they would want to see someone’s vison for the future which this film provides. As the film is based in the future, an assumption that could be made is that, the audience would want to see how the Earth would be in the 22 century. It could be assumed that the audience would be visionary. Originally, the film was scheduled to be released at the end of 2012. This could possibly mean that it would be a film that are for working people. This is because at the end of the year, people would be off work because it would be Christmas. Another assumption that could be made is that it could be a film for teenagers as at the end of the year, they’d be on holiday off school.

A possible reading for this text is that women who don’t follow general expectation and are defiant will be punished. This is seen in the character of Secretary Delaware as she organises a coup and in the film she ends up being murdered by her own hitman.  Another possible reading is that, the wealthy are exploiting the working class. This seen as the workers in the film aren’t getting enough money to provide in order to fulfil their basic commodities. Furthermore, they are treated very poorly in the work place as the droids that are supervising them treat them inhumanly. 

Audience
The main pleasure that this text provides is escapism. This is done through the plot being something that is relatable to majority of people. Being set in the 22^nd century it allows people to immerse themselves to how the standard of living would be like in the future. Also, with the audience being positioned as omniscient, it would make them form an identification with the hero as they would want there to be a resolution.

Representation The representation of women is interesting in this film because there are two women that are represented in two very different ways. The character named ‘Fray’ is represented as a traditional woman (dominant representation). This is done through her occupation as a nurse in the film and through her following the role as a carer because she nurses her daughter suffering leukaemia and the protagonist Max when he is wounded. The other woman secretary Delacourt, is the head of defence in Elysium. This is unconventional as women are generally linked to war and battle. Also, her character is ruthless and relentless as she shoots down 2 ships carrying citizens from Earth causing 46 casualties. Furthermore, she is the character that organises a revolution. Her character defies the expectation of women because she is so desensitised to death that she will murder at any cost for power. The protagonist Max, is represented as a man who was raised in the streets. This is seen through his appearance. He has a shaved head and tattoos all over his body. However, in the film he turns out to be a sacrifice because through his death, there is equality between the citizens of earth and the citizens of Elysium.       

Max is represented a man that has turned away from the life of crime but can’t fully escape from crime. By Max saving Earth shows how everyone is able to redeem themselves and that everyone is capable of changing the world. The character of Fray is represented as a traditional woman and she survives to live happily. This shows that woman that conform to the norm will survive to live happily. On the other hand, Secretary Delacourt dies in the film which gives the message that women who are defiant will be punished.   

Mise-en-scene
The setting of Earth is shows how it’s decaying. The streets are filled with rubble and the houses are very primitive. Also, the colours brown and grey really demonstrate how Earth has turned into a desert of bleakness. Also, the setting of Earth is clearly shown to be overpopulated which would explain the extreme poverty and the lack of natural resources. However, the setting of Elysium is contrasting. The use of green, blue and yellow show how there is life and that things are growing. These colours connote the season of spring which is significant as it shows things are evolving and growing. Furthermore, there is a prominant use of the colour of white. This gives a sense of purity and perfection which further presents Elysium as ‘heaven’. The contrast between how Elysium is presented and how Earth is presented is relevant to showing the reality of social class. Those who are wealthy have too much and are only getting richer. Also, it shows how the wealthy are living in their own bubble and have left the others just to survive. On the other hand Earth shows how there aren’t enough resources in order to survive. Also, as the inhabitants are kept in order by droids, it shows how they have no freedom, that they have been put into chains by the wealthy. Furthering this, as kids are getting ill it shows the suffering that is happening on Earth as it shows that parents can’t provide basic needs for their children.  

The space station being directly above earth, it connotes that the citizens on the station ‘Elysium’ have taken a God-like stature as by being above the Earth, it connotes how they are judging them. By the space station being named Elysium meaning a conception of the afterlife and a place where the Greek Gods dwell, it reinforces the connotation that the wealthy people living there have been elevated to being God-like.

SHEP

Apply the Wider Contexts (Social, Historical, Economic, Political) to your text/topic, including at least three bullet points on each one. 

Social

• 'In every city there is an Elysium...the gap between those who have and don't have.'
• Although this film is set 141 years into the future, the events and themes are by no means futuristic but are in our immediate lives.
• The 

History

• Neil Blomkamp the director of this film has had previously directed a successful science fiction film District 9. Similarly with Elysium, District 9 also has undertones that comment on social class. Blomkamp intended to portray despicable human practices upon the aliens in a way reflective of South African apartheid, for American audiences the images of alien abuse also bring forth the resonant iconography of immigration controversies.
• The title Elysium derived from Greek mythology meaning a heaven for the righteous to go once they die. This knowledge allows for a deeper analysis for what the space station 'Elysium' represents. 
• Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception and time travel, along with futuristic elements such as spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar space travel or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition as well as bring to life the fears the society is facing at that certain period of time.

Economic

• Elysium grossed $93.1 million in the domestic box office and $193 million internationally for a worldwide total of $286 million.
• Had a production budget of $115 million
• The film opened on August 9, 2013 and grossed $11,088,228 on its opening day, ranking #1. It proceeded to rank #1 for the weekend, grossing $29,807,393.

Political

• Capitalism results in exploitation in working class. This exploitation is seen in the hazardous and life threatening working conditions. 
• 
  

Issues/Debates

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using the Media A-Z to help you think about this:

• Representation and stereotyping

The lower class is represented as the victim of social class. This is seen through the poverty in the setting of Earth, where they have been abandoned. However, the upper class is represented as unethical and purely and solely interested in financial gain. This is seen in the lack of support that the upper class offer those in poverty and the excessive opulence that the space shuttle is adorned with. In this film the representation of class is negative, which could give a sense of realism as it portrays the flaws in society. 

• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral Panics

A moral panic about the fear of inequality is created in such a stark contrast between the standard of living between the higher and lower class. There is also the sense that what social problems presented in the film aren't things that audiences aren't familiar with but are issues that are embedded in our lives. The panic is that for the moment the problem is still solvable but if action isn't taken, then it could lead to the point where there is too big a gap between the higher and lower classes. This is already seen in some statistics that the pay gap between the classes are increasing. This social realism in the film causes moral panic but only to the working and lower classes.  

• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship

This film is rated 15. At 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. The risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers is also considered. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting. I believe that the age certificate is just right for this film as it doesn't breach any of the regulations. 

• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century

Because of the advances in digital technology, the special effects that are available to the director adds a greater sense of realism as well as adding to the spectacle of the whole film. It gives greater dimension to the film because the use of technology and special effects really heightens the contrast that is seen between the rich and the poor. The rich are immersed in luxury with the latest gadgets and tools and the poor are using primitive resources like fires and swords.    

• The effect of globalisation on the media

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

• Semiotics

A symbol that is used throughout this film is the space shuttle Elysium. This symbol is meant to represent the divide between the higher and lower class. The way it is positioned portrays how the inhabitants on the shuttle are see as higher beings almost like Gods in the heavens. This is as the shuttle is looking down on the ravaged Earth which further shows how the inhabitants are judging them and are watching over them which further links with the interpretation that the inhabitants are like God.

• Structuralism and post-structuralism
• Postmodernism and its critiques
• Gender and ethnicity

Gender stereotypes are used playfully in this film as the audience sees both the 'typical' and the 'atypical' woman. The one that is represented first is the woman who doesn't adhere to the norm, Secretary Delacourt. She is the head of defence and is presented as ruthless. This is seen when she orders the ships breaching the Elysium air space to be shot down. With this order she kills 53 people. With this ruthlessness and violence, she doesn't fit with the stereotype of women but rather challenges it. However on the other hand, the stereotypical woman is seen in the character of Fray. Her character is all the things woman are usually expected, she's nurturing, compassionate and a caring mother.    

• Marxism and hegemony

The way that social class is represented in Elysium ties in with Marxism and hegemony because the Marx discuses how workers being exploited stems from capitalist structure. This is seen in the exploitation of the workers on Earth and the extreme poverty seen. 

• Liberal Pluralism
• Colonialism and Post-colonialism
• Audience theories
• Genre theories

This film falls under the science-fiction genre. This is because it uses fictional science depictions for example, the spacecrafts, cyborgs and space travel. Also this film shows technologies that aren't available in the contemporary world. This film also presents the future to have a sense of dystopia.    

• Contemporary Media Landscape

Explain how your study fits into this.

Media texts
Elysium(2012)

TV documentaries
The Guardian - Interview with Neil Blomkamp - This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now.
BBC One - Panorama, truth behind the click - Theory of alienation, capitalism

Academic texts/books
F Parking: Marxism & Class Theory: A Bourgeois Critique (1983)
Peter Saunders: Social Class and Stratification (2006)
Hal Draper: Karl Marx's theory of Revolution, Vol II: The politics of social classes (1978)
John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York: The Ecological Rift: Capitalisms War on the Earth (2011)
Michael Perelman: The Invisible Handcuffs of Capitalism (2011) 

Internet Links
1. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview - 'The only way things will change is if we're smart enough to develop technology that can think us out of this, meaning augmenting ourselves genetically to be smart enough to change shit'
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/30/class-war-is-back-again - 'Social mobility is still very much alive: it’s just that it’s now going mostly in the wrong direction'
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/apr/03/class-britain-defining-social-status- 'The way that someone interprets their own place in British society can affect self-esteem, ambition and achievement.'
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/sep/03/social-class-achievement-school1 -  'White pupils perform at school is that white working-class parents may have lower expectations of their children than working-class parents from other ethnic groups'
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/26/britain-stop-obsession-social-class - 'Britain likes to unwind in the evening: by sneering at other classes, and sneering at people for sneering about class.' 

2.http://www.jstor.org/stable/586750?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MRg5crpAOBIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=capitalism&ots=oIZtYi9nqY&sig=dpJ5MXhBrY8Nxqa82lmB9zkbtoQ#v=onepage&q=capitalism&f=false
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=572771