In the world of the movie "Son of Man", women on earth have stopped gestating life for nearly 20 years. As the world’s population is declining year by year and the end is quietly approaching, many small countries have collapsed, and a large number of refugees continue to flow into other large countries. The world economy, technology, and culture are basically at a standstill. When the whole mankind fell into an environment of extreme emptiness and despair, the protagonist Dio accidentally encountered a pregnant girl, and the story kicked off. Under director Alfonso Cuarón’s breathtaking long-shot mobilization, extremely refined narrative skills and plot design, the audience witnessed the despair and abandonment of human beings’ self-pursuit of life when facing the "end of the world", as well as all human beings. The enthusiasm for new life.
The movie seems to be a heroic story in which the actor Theo fought alone against the decadent ruling class in a dystopian society, sacrificing himself for the destiny of mankind. However, when we put aside the background and social environment in the movie , it is not difficult to find that this movie is about a father who once failed, saving another child to complete his mission as a father and make up for the regrets in the past. . Its essence is not a science fiction film, but a feature film of personal growth. If we separate the growth lines of the characters and analyze them separately, we can find that it is basically consistent with the model of most Hollywood commercial films. The application of the formula is indeed only a means. If the creator changes well, it will be "Manchester by the Sea" (the creator has rooted his concept-"Don't forgive yourself for your children's faults" on the protagonist), and it will be Kevin Spacey in general. "Nine Lives" (Father becomes a cat accidentally so he can learn about his daughter and learn to be a good father).
Alfonso Cuarón is by no means an ordinary director. His previous successful commercial film shooting experience has taught him how to seamlessly integrate mainstream values into a seemingly maverick story. The protagonist Dio in the movie is set as a man who once had a child and a good marriage, but after the accidental death of the child and the divorce from his wife, he became a walking dead working machine. In the first scene of the movie, when all the middle-aged and old people in the cafe stared at the TV with bated breath, watching the news about the death of the youngest man in the world, only Dio calmly finished buying coffee. He squeezed out the crowd, and he had no expectations for the future of mankind. Theo's indifferent attitude towards the current social phenomenon is actually the first emotional connection with the audience outside the screen. Because for most audiences who watched this movie for the first time, it is difficult for us to directly enter the general environment set by the movie to experience the state and emotions of the vast majority of the people in the movie, as well as the heartache when this news happened. As the protagonist of the movie, Dio also holds a purely spectator mentality, so he and the audience build a layer of emotional resonance, which will more easily mobilize the audience's emotions in the subsequent development of the story. And resonance.
After Tio met his ex-wife and a pregnant girl, the film slowly unfolded with the main line of escorting the girl on a large cruise ship Nozomi. After the death of his ex-wife and learning that the former wife’s partisans had other plans for the child to be born, Tio decided to leave with the girl. At this time, the director has successfully tied Theo, the pregnant girl, and the audience together. As the narrative tension in the film is constantly tightening, the audience is implicitly conveyed a concept- "Children are the future" .
This concept may seem unpretentious, but it is exactly what Xiaobai wants to discuss. Because this concept not only exists in movies, but also penetrates into all aspects of global mainstream culture. From "a child's smile is the most innocent and lovely" to "only having a child can life be complete". Various political terms about children and the future are being repeatedly expressed in many different forms in human society. Lee Edelman 's article "The Future Is Kid Stuff" in the book "No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive" published in 2004 put forward a point- Reproductive Futurism .
Note: "Reproductive Futurism" is Xiaobai's personal translation. There is currently no Chinese translation of this book.
reproductive futurism: terms that impose an ideological limit on political discourse as such, preserving in the process the absolute privilege of heteronormativity by rendering unthinkable, by casting outside the political domain, the possibility of a queer resistance to this organizing principle of communal relations.
Reproductive futurism refers to words that impose ideological restrictions on the political discourse system. These terms refer to unimaginable connotations and express the resistance of these queer groups to the principles of traditional group relations organization outside the political realm, and through these, the absolute priority of maintaining heterosexual orthodoxy. (Translation by friend Fang Weining)
(This article will not discuss the situation of queer groups in a reproductive futuristic environment)
In short, reproductive futurism is a political term that takes population continuity as the most fundamental goal. It is mainly manifested in the control of the presentation of reproductive desire and the right choice of reproduction, as well as the repackaging and promotion of the image of children. Based on the theoretical basis of population economics, the state builds a close relationship between "children" and "future." In this way, a steady stream of labor can be produced, thereby maintaining the stability and prosperity of a country. Lee Edelman pointed out that reproductive futurism, as a globally dominant and recognized political vision, has invaded every subtlety of human social life and political thought.
Children, as the main labor force and creativity of a country in the future, have unlimited potential development possibilities compared to middle-aged and elderly laborers whose work ability may even decline. Therefore, a country needs not only policies to promote the birth of citizens, but also laws to ensure the healthy growth of children (such as the Youth Protection Law). In the 21st century when population aging and negative population growth are beginning to appear in some countries, there is no problem in advocating and encouraging fertility. But just as the overcorrected feminism in the past few years has evolved into idyllic feminism, reproductive futurism has also begun to expose its own hegemony and injustice (for example, the anti-abortion law implemented in the United States this year is an excessive manifestation of reproductive futurism).
British biologist Richard Dawkins mentioned in "The Selfish Gene" that human beings have the desire to keep their genes inherited. The most primitive desire of mankind to reproduce offspring is understandably the reason why reproductive futurism can be sowed in the soil of global civilization. In order to make this "dandelion" drift farther, the spread of culture is like a strong wind to help it spread.
As mentioned above, an important manifestation of reproductive futurism in cultural life is that the entire society is shaping an image of "children are the most innocent". Whether it is the smiles of innocent babies and cute little girls on advertising posters, or the mainstream popular culture sweeping the world, the entire human society is creating a subconscious that children are the only hope for the future. Mothers who love their children are great, and men with complete families and stable jobs are successful. Even politically, some dignitaries will even use their children to pick up and drop off their children every day to maintain their public image. And Hollywood, as the center of the world's film industry, naturally continues to instill this subconsciousness into the public. In mainstream Hollywood movies, the image of children is often innocent, kind, and harmless. In some movies, children even play an important role in getting the villain to correct evil (such as "Crash" in 2004), or make self-sacrifice directly for the children (such as "Travel in Busan" in 2016). In other words, as a political term, children have become the best spokesperson for reproductive futurism in mainstream Hollywood movies.
Going back to the movie "Son of Humanity", the climax of the scene is that when Theo is carrying his child through the refugees and the army, the rebels and government forces who were still fighting each other just stopped their gunfire and watched blankly. With the crying baby, the world was quiet for an instant, leaving only the cry of the child floating in the air. The scene where the people watch a baby in peace and sacredly is a symbol of the director's deification of the child. Under this extreme social environment, the only baby in human society is naturally turned into the last hope of mankind. Finally, when Theo put the girl and the baby on the boat, he saw the big ship called Hope, and slowly bowed his head and died. At that moment, he completed the sacrifice and life continuation of the newborn, and at the same time completed the director's political expression of reproductive futurism. Perhaps the director did not realize this expression of his own, but this is precisely the place where he shuddered the most.
Although genes are selfish, Richard Dawkins also pointed out in the book: Because of all animals, only humans are affected by culture, so humans can do not succumb to the domination and influence of genes. If we regard childbearing as a right that humans can freely choose (namely the right to reproduce), rather than the instinct and purpose of human existence, then, for some people who want to choose to give up exercising this right, reproductive futurism is undoubtedly An oppressive force.
Socrates once said: "Life without scrutiny is not worth living." I hope you all have the life you really want to live.
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