To what extent do
contemporary sci-fi films such as ‘Elysium' comment on social class?
Through the years of science fiction
(SF), the genre has always sought to act as a medium for expressing
the anxieties of their contemporary audience. However, in recent years
this genre "has generally been quite poor (too much CGI in place of
character development, too many explosions in place of ideas)”[1].
This lack of finesse and articulation in the plots of modern science fiction
cinema, questions whether they still create the same effect as they did in
previous years. In the 1950's, where science fiction was considered to be at
its pinnacle, Don Siegel's 'Invasion Of the Body Snatchers' was and still is a
prime example of how the SF genre can act as a social commentary and raise
social awareness. Although this film is classed a "black and white
B-picture", it was very effective in bringing to life
the fears that inhabited the public. The main reading of this film
"was the alien (read 'Communist') dehumanization and take-over of an
entire community" which was the prominent apprehensiveness of America
in the 1950's. It is proclaimed that Siegel's 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers'
"takes pride of place in a chain of 1950s sci-fi classics of the questioning,
doubting, paranoid variety"[2].
Science fiction as an allegory could also be seen in modern SF films, such as
Neil Blomkamp's 'Elysium'. Blomkamp's long awaited film hit cinemas in the
summer of 2013. Its international box office sales were $193,141,974 and world
wide, a total of $286,192,091. The audience response were mixed with positives
and negatives, positives being the spectacular use of CGI and negatives being
the lack of character and setting development, but the resonating subject
matter were the overhanging subliminal messages within the film's narrative.
Through the binary opposition in the film, rich vs poor, it can be argued that
Blomkamp’s ‘Elysium’ is an allegory portraying the inequalities of social class
in the 21st century. This representation of social class in 2053 makes this
provides personal identification to all audiences as “social class is
intertwined with every fabric of everyday life.”[3]
Firstly, Blomkamp’s ‘Elysium’ is seen
to be an allegory for the social inequalities prominent in the 21st century. In
the opening scene, 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 colours of blue and green. This use of
primary colours represents a purity as well as a sense of wholesomeness. On
earth, the overcrowding is very evident as seen with the people living off the
sides of the skyscrapers further accentuating the 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 and
the 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 and religious connotations. It creates the sense that the space
shuttle is like heaven and is for people 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 offset of
the film 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. This inequality is ever prominent as “the gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says.”[4] Also, through the binary opposition outlined by the two settings established in the opening scene, it draws likeness to Karl Marx’s ideology the the world is set into two groups, “Ruling class, class that is ruled”[5]. By the order of wealth represented, being parallel with the order of wealth in contemporary society, it links with the decorum doctrine. “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”[6].
Another excerpt in the film that
expresses social inequality is the final scene. 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.
By Max pioneering social quality, it
defies the pre notion of the ordinary person. "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."[7]
This positive resolution allows audiences to see that there is always hope for
change therefore providing the audience pleasure personal identification.
Secondly, Blomkamp’s ‘Elysium’
presents the effects of capitalism and the exploitation of the working class.
In an excerpt of the film when Max goes to work assembling and repairing
droids, the conditions of his work place was far from ideal. The use of low-key
lighting in shows how he and his fellow colleagues are kept working in darkness
which highlights the poor working conditions workers from earth deal with.
These life threatening conditions are further seen when Max gets trapped in a
radiation chamber and then begins to suffer from radiation poisoning. After
this event in the film, Max’s make-up changed to being very pale
and always perspiring. This physical change of the protagonist becoming very
sickly and weak accentuates these hazardous conditions hence making Marx’s
theory of alienation very applicable. Exploitation of workers is also very
prominent in the 21st century. In BBC’s Panorama, an episode called ‘Amazon:
The Truth Behind the Click’, it documents how amazon employees work from day to
day. Workers work with a scanning device which directs them to the item in the
warehouse and gives them a specific time limit to get that item. The BBC
reporter experiencing being an Amazon employee says how the shifts are very
intense and are very physically tough, this is synonymous with the other employees.
This documentary exemplifies how the discrimination of the working class is
very relevant even in the 21st century. In SF movie, plots tend to fall into
two categories, utopian and dystopian; in the future, society will either
become better or worse. “Because of controversy, most science fiction films
will fall into the dystopian film category rather than the Utopian category.”[8]
In ‘Elysium’, Blomkamp also chose to take the dystopian approach to his science
fiction blockbuster. “Elysium may be set in the future, but it’s merely an
amplification of an age-old problem.”[9]
Furthermore, the effects of capitalism
is seen in the scene where Max is beaten by a droid, which results in Max’s arm
breaking. In the Media Magazine they wrote that earth’s “impoverished
inhabitants abuse and herded by robotic police.”[10]
Verb choice ‘herded’ suggests that the people of earth are like sheep which has
connotations of submissiveness and inferiority.
The ‘robotic police’ is a convention of the science fiction genre. This
fantasy of droids being police catches the audience between that which does and
doesn't exist and which might be a logical extension of what exists. This presents how SF film can provide the
audience pleasure of escapism. And how the audience encode and decode the films
plot, characters and narrative structure are through their personal cultural
and social experiences. With Hall’s model it would definitely support that
Elysium is a projection of 21st century society as all the interpretations of
the film is based around the problem faced in society.
In addition, another reading of
Blomkamp’s ‘Elysium’ is that it represents issues of immigration, poverty and
overcrowding. In the film, Secretary Delacourt, the head of Elysium’s defence,
orders two ships carrying people from earth down causing numerous casualties.
These deaths are parallel with the continuing death toll of migrants who try to
escape poverty in war crossing “from Africa in leaking overcrowded boats, to
reach their own version of ‘Elysium’.”[11]
This shows how the science fiction genre is a “vehicle for ‘safely’ discussing
controversial topical issues”[12].
Furthermore, 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 representation of race is more
straight forward as it follows common stereotypes. When Max seeks help to be
smuggled to Elysium, he approaches Julio, the pioneer in smuggling people from
earth to elysium. Right from choice of name of the character, the audience will
realise that he is from hispanic descent. Furthering this, two of his helpers
who equip Max for is mission also embody the stereotype of the hispanic male.
This is done through the costume and the make up of the characters. The main
helper is seen covered in tattoos and people who have them are often associated
those that are uneducated and/or are involved in some crime. Additionally, this
sense of crime and anti-establishment is created within this sequence because
the low-key lighting creates a sense of secrecy as well as concealment; also,
the graffiti on the walls would also support the underground,
anti-establishment reading. Moreover, the use of props would suggest a sense of
crime. The surgical tools that were used to attach the exo-suit to Max were
tools to deal with metal like welding irons, drills and metal cutters. The
increased pace of editing when flashing the utensils accentuates the danger and
provokes a sense of tension and anxiety. The use of dialogue further stresses
the distrust of Julio’s helpers. When Max asks “will it hurt?”, they respond in
laughter. This gesture would defiantly question the helpers’ reliability and
trustworthiness because this sarcastic and sadistic laughter would evoke a
sense of evil. This negative light that the hispanic race is represented in
would tie into (x) theory of stereotyping. That those in power create
stereotypes of those who are in less power. This is seen as the hispanic race
in America as always seen to be the minority race hence those that are in less
power. This use of stereotyping could be interpreted as just trying to
“organise and simplify”[13]
and not actually enforcing any ideas upon the audience. However, it is
inevitable that this use of stereotyping tries to convince the audience to this
“certain representation”[14]
of the hispanic race; that they are all criminals and are people that aren't to
be trusted.
Dating back in the history of science
fiction film, the genre has always served as a vehicle in which the anxieties
of the era can be presented. Don Siegel’s ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’
would be a prime example of this. In this film, the audience sees that the town
that is inhabited by protagonist Miles, is acting very strange. People begin to
make conclusions that their family members are not acting the way they usually
do. Some of these accusations that are made protagonist, Miles, considers
deranged because “there is no difference you can actually see. He looks, acts,
sounds and remembers…” This would link to the era’s “dangerous path of
McCarthyism”[15].
McCarthyism is the practice of making unfair allegations without proper regard
for evidence which. In the 1950’s also known as the McCarthy era, thousands of
Americans were accused of being communists, the primary targets of suspicion
were government employees, entertainers, educators and union activists.
Moreover, these accusations being made amongst the family was also seen in
America in 50’s where the Red Scare was at its epitome, to the extent to where
people began to suspect family members of being spies.
Additionally, it would could be seen
that the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers goes beyond Cold War
politics into an anxiety more deeply rooted in human consciousness”[16].
These anxieties are seen in Siegel’s SF blockbuster when the people are swapped
with the pod people double. In the film, when the people are swapped, the pod
people act with no emotion and arguably lose their individuality and
eccentricity. This ties in with the stereotype of how the America represented communism
in the 1950’s - making “all its citizens lockstep into a sameness of purpose
and behaviour.”[17]
This ‘red-scare’ was very prominent in America in the 50’s; many citizens in
America feared communism “could destroy American society from the inside as well
as from the outside”[18]
This would definitely present that the science fiction genre has served as a
medium in which society’s fears is represented. Furthermore, the way in which
the narrative is constructed further illustrates
“America’s political paranoia".[19]
Although there were no deaths seen on screen, the
use the slow build up in tension allows for the audience to bask in the fear of
the inevitable, the inevitability of the rise of communism. This lack of
aggression would draw a parallel Gramsci’s hegemonic control; that control is
taken through the people’s consent through creating ideologies and views that
would be seen as common sense and the norm.
Words: 2,838
Cited
BOOKS
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.
Marshall, G. (1989). Social
class in modern Britain. London: Unwin Hyman.
Media Magazine Issue 47
Media Magazine Issue 50 (Sci-fi fans and the power of
the tweet)
WEBSITES
Gap between rich and poor 'keeps growing' - BBC News.
(n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32824770
Invasion
of the Body Snatchers (1956), review. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11198302/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-film-review-tim-robey.html
Retrieved December 20, 2015, from
Retrieved
January 10, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview
(n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/16/karl-marx-ideas-resonate-today
Retrieved January 10, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/invasion-of-the-bodysnatchers-1956
Turner Classic Movies - TCM.com. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 17, 2015, from http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html
The Role of Stereotypes - Media Criticism. (n.d.).
Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://media.litmuse.net/essays/the-role-of-stereotypes
Turner Classic Movies - TCM.com. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 17, 2015, from http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html
Works
Consulted
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.
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.
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
WEBSITES
History of science fiction films - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. (n.d.)Retrieved December 2, 2015,
fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_fiction_films
VIDEOS
Elysium
2013 opening scene
Elysium
hacking ending scene
Panorama
- Amazon: The Truth Behind the Click
Invasion
of the Body Snatchers (1956) - The pods open
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLsjlmrQ6Mw
[2] Retrieved January 10, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/27/invasion-of-the-bodysnatchers-1956
[3] Fiske, S. T.,
& Markus, H. R. (2012). Facing social class: How societal rank influences
interaction. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
[4] Gap between rich and poor 'keeps
growing' - BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32824770
[5] (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/16/karl-marx-ideas-resonate-today
[8] Retrieved December 20, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_film#Genre_as_commentary_on_social_issues
[9] Retrieved January 10, 2015, from
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview
[12] Retrieved December 20, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_film#Genre_as_commentary_on_social_issues
[13] The Role of Stereotypes - Media
Criticism. (n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://media.litmuse.net/essays/the-role-of-stereotypes
[14] The Role of Stereotypes - Media
Criticism. (n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://media.litmuse.net/essays/the-role-of-stereotypes
[15] Turner Classic Movies - TCM.com.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2015, from http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html
[16] Turner Classic Movies - TCM.com.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2015, from http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html
[17]Turner Classic Movies - TCM.com.
(n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2015, from http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers/articles.html
[19] Invasion of
the Body Snatchers (1956), review. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2016, from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11198302/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-film-review-tim-robey.htmlc
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