"Elysium": Class struggle continues

Kailyn 2021-10-18 09:29:59

It seems that Western developed countries are evolving into a "universally homogeneous country" in the sense of Strauss\Kojeff. With the high level of social welfare and the end of the Cold War, this trend seems to be increasingly reflected in Fukuyama. However, the reality is obviously not so simple. Even Fukuyama himself has proposed amendments to the "historical conclusion"-the "China model" is one of the biggest challenges. The Party Constitution of the Communist Party of China revised at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated in the general outline: “Class struggle will continue to exist for a long time within a certain range, and it may be intensified under certain conditions.” This is mainly based on the situation in our country, but let it go. Looking at the whole world, in fact, it has quite a universal meaning.

Bromkamp’s "pseudo-documentary" science fiction films have always maintained their sensitivity to reality. From "The Ninth District" to this "Elysium", the story changes from South Africa to the future United States (Earth), but the core of the story is always It is thought of as ethnic struggle in real society-the aliens in "The Ninth District" are said to allude to the problem of illegal immigration in South Africa, and the core drama contradiction of this "Elysium" can still be interpreted as smuggling. , Illegal immigration, these practical problems, in "Elysium" where the national identity is relatively weakened, the life and death of the bullets is very connotation of class struggle-under Matt Damon's interpretation, class struggle is obviously intensified.

Putting it in the coordinates of sci-fi works, "Elysium Space" actually inherits the dualist population setting since Wells's "Time Machine". Of course, the humans in "Elysium Space" did not evolve into Eloys and Morlocks. There are two completely different types of people, and there is no such direct and cruel setting of one race to kill another race, but behind the veil of "civilization", the fierce struggle behind the crowd\class has not weakened-when the earth becomes dirty After the chaotic hell, the space station named "Elysium Space" has become a high above "heaven". People living in it do not have to face the threat of poverty and disease, but intend to "smuggle" from the earth to the "Elysium Space". The male protagonist in "became a "revolutionary" who challenged the authority system and the ruling class.

Zizek interpreted "The Rise of the Dark Knight" as "the dictatorship of the proletariat in Gotham City." Terrorists led the mob in Gotham City to establish a short-lived Jacobin regime. "Elysium" firstly refers to the real problems of the United States such as illegal immigration and medical reform, while Bromkamp from South Africa is obviously more sensitive to the unequal international political and economic order than the local director of the United States. Baudrillard To say that the United States is a "realized utopia", this "promised land" "flowing with milk and honey" in the context of Christianity is nothing more than the "blissful space" "after the end of history". And those third world illegal immigrants looking up to the aloof America just want to get the minimum medical guarantee in this "paradise".

Is history over? Is the world "generally homogeneous"? In this so-called "globalization" era, the gap between the North and the South is widening. After destroying the Iron Curtain and overthrowing the Berlin Wall, the developed countries in the West chanted the concept of "human rights above sovereignty" and interfered in the "humanitarian disaster" of other countries; The people of the country ran to their turf. Logically speaking, if "human rights are higher than sovereignty," then there is no reason to prevent people from other countries from crossing the border to improve their living conditions-isn't this also interference in other people's human rights?

The "Elysium Space" was established, but the class struggle continued. Of course, from the operating mechanism of popular culture, once a topic becomes the content of film consumption, it is difficult for us to take it seriously. Under the control of Hollywood, everything is a game.

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Extended Reading
  • Kole 2022-03-24 09:01:14

    Watching this movie is still worthy of Chinese people's reminiscence of the past. From class struggle to class antagonism, this society has never stopped complaining. Such a civilian epic is still very naive, from the setting to the solution, and it is not worthy of deep thinking. The first half of the layout stage was pretty good, but I got sleepy in the chaos in the back.

  • Rebeka 2022-03-24 09:01:14

    The director's concept of apartheid is really deep-rooted, and allusions are everywhere. I just changed my shell and talked about the issue of illegal immigration in the United States. The idea is good, but due to the length of the film, many places are too simple and rough, and the logic is incomplete, just like an American drama. Almost dizzy by the lens, is this really necessary? ! And I really dislike this use of language to mark social classes. Even if it alludes to the needs of the subject, it is still too culturally violent.

Elysium quotes

  • Crowe: Ate the fuckin' grenade, eh?

    [checking the scanner]

    Drake: His brain is fine, but he's gonna be *pissed* when he wakes up, eh?

  • Matilda: There once was a meerkat who lived in the jungle. He was hungry, but he was small. So small. And the other big animals had all the food, because they could reach the fruits. So he made friends with a hippopotamus to...

    Max: [interrupting her] Okay, stop. It doesn't end well for the meerkat.

    Matilda: Yes it does, because he can stand on the hippopotamus's back to get all the fruits he wants.

    Max: What's in it for the hippo?

    Matilda: [precociously] The hippo wants a friend.