Neil Postman observed that "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one." (Postman, 1985)
Like the works of Orwell and Huxley, The Speculative/Science Fiction works Elysium, and I, Robot, are both films that represent the social fears and visions their creators have of the future. This essay will compare and contrast the different visions each filmmaker had for the future, and analyse how those ideas are represented in each film through story, characters, and themes, which communicate the different social fears represented by both. Overall, the creators of I, Robot and Elysium express their point of view through story, …show more content…
Max’s initial goal is to heal himself with Elysium’s advanced medical technology after being exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. However, after uploading stolen brain data into his neural implant, max realises he can re-boot Elysium’s system and make everyone eligible for proper health care. A problem occurs when he finds out the brain data he stole is encrypted with a protection virus that will kill him if he tries to download it from his brain. His realisation changes his goal from being a selfish act, into an act that is selfless as he chooses to die in order to bring justice to society and level the divide (Blomkamp et al., 2013). Resemblance can be drawn between Max and Jesus from the Bible. The goal of Jesus was to bridge the gap between God and sinners which is made clear in Luke 23:26-46 NIV. In verse 45 “…the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” This is symbolic of the death of Jesus bridging the gap, as the temple was the only place someone could be with God. Individuals are now able to communicate with God through the death of Jesus, rather than the use of the temple. Max’s fears of the societal divide continuing and earth’s poverty getting worse is representative of the same fears that Blomkamp has. His realisation of those fears embody the vision of hope that Blomkamp has for the future as he bridges the gap between those on earth, and those on Elysium. Similarly, Detective Spooner fears robots capabilities, although comes to a greater understanding of technologies place in society, through solving the case of Dr. Alfred Lanning’s death. He progresses through the story as the sole character with a pessimistic attitude towards intelligent technology, “Those robots don’t do anybody any good.” (Proyas et al., 2004). The reason for Spooner’s pessimistic attitude is due to
Like the works of Orwell and Huxley, The Speculative/Science Fiction works Elysium, and I, Robot, are both films that represent the social fears and visions their creators have of the future. This essay will compare and contrast the different visions each filmmaker had for the future, and analyse how those ideas are represented in each film through story, characters, and themes, which communicate the different social fears represented by both. Overall, the creators of I, Robot and Elysium express their point of view through story, …show more content…
Max’s initial goal is to heal himself with Elysium’s advanced medical technology after being exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. However, after uploading stolen brain data into his neural implant, max realises he can re-boot Elysium’s system and make everyone eligible for proper health care. A problem occurs when he finds out the brain data he stole is encrypted with a protection virus that will kill him if he tries to download it from his brain. His realisation changes his goal from being a selfish act, into an act that is selfless as he chooses to die in order to bring justice to society and level the divide (Blomkamp et al., 2013). Resemblance can be drawn between Max and Jesus from the Bible. The goal of Jesus was to bridge the gap between God and sinners which is made clear in Luke 23:26-46 NIV. In verse 45 “…the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” This is symbolic of the death of Jesus bridging the gap, as the temple was the only place someone could be with God. Individuals are now able to communicate with God through the death of Jesus, rather than the use of the temple. Max’s fears of the societal divide continuing and earth’s poverty getting worse is representative of the same fears that Blomkamp has. His realisation of those fears embody the vision of hope that Blomkamp has for the future as he bridges the gap between those on earth, and those on Elysium. Similarly, Detective Spooner fears robots capabilities, although comes to a greater understanding of technologies place in society, through solving the case of Dr. Alfred Lanning’s death. He progresses through the story as the sole character with a pessimistic attitude towards intelligent technology, “Those robots don’t do anybody any good.” (Proyas et al., 2004). The reason for Spooner’s pessimistic attitude is due to