Utopia originally means "where there is no place" or "a good place". It is extended to good things that still have ideals and cannot be accomplished. The Chinese translation can also be understood as "wu" means no, "trust" means sustenance, "bang" means country, and the three words "utopia" together mean "Imaginary Country". The founder of Utopian socialism, Thomas More (British), in his famous book "Utopia" (full title is "A Wholesome and Interesting Book of the Most Complete State Institution and Utopian New Island"), made a fictional sailor. The travel experience of sailing to an exotic "Utopia". There, property is owned by the public, the people are equal, and the principle of distribution according to needs is implemented. Everyone wears uniform work clothes and eats in public restaurants. Officials are elected by public elections. He believes that private property is the root of all evil and must be eliminated. "
It is undoubtedly qualified to evaluate this film from the theme of the novel. The starting point of the film is to start from an "ideal society". The hero Thomas, whose memory was erased, was sent to the experimental site "ideal society". Before his arrival, the internal division of labor and cooperation according to personal ability, and getting along with the "dangerous" agreement outside the wall. Thomas's arrival broke this seemingly harmonious peace, and his quest made him unwilling to this "peace" for no reason. It is a society without women. It should be a deliberate arrangement by the director to prove that this "ideal society" cannot be passed on. This "ideal society" will surely perish in time and unknown dangers (Elbi and Mino in the film) The whole of the labyrinth has been discovered, but I am afraid that other people will not be able to bear the hopeless life, so I hide this secret. As a leader, Elbi can endure this reality, but he cannot resist the dangers faced in exploring the future) If the movie just continues like this, then the movie will fall into negativity and machinery.
Thomas' exploration makes Gehry, who is ideal in this "ideal society", very dissatisfied, because the current life can meet his life needs, and he does not want to overcome the unknown danger. "No one can live a night in a maze" is broken during Thomas's rescue of Elby, and Thomas kills a giant spider with the help of Mino (the danger maker in the maze) . The story also takes a major turn, as Thomas is accepted as a "walker" (duties with the right to explore the labyrinth) against Gehry's objections, and they also discover that the society exists as an experimental site for disaster. Elby was rescued, but his life was at stake with a deadly virus. At this critical moment, the "Goddess of Life" appeared, and the only heroine Teresa appeared. She was also sent here with erased memories, and she was the last person to be sent here. The external supply of a harmonious society is also officially interrupted from this moment.
The appearance of Teresa gives some hope for the inheritance of this "ideal society", but her real responsibility is to awaken Thomas' true identity and point the way forward for this "ideal society" that has no future. In this moment she becomes the incarnation of the Virgin Mary, and Thomas represents God. Only God can lead the people who bear the original sin to get out of the disaster and go to heaven, although they need to face many obstacles and pay the price of blood. As a result, the hero Thomas opened the protagonist's halo. After surviving a giant spider sweep, he led his trusted partners to find freedom and hope, and walked out of the maze. Gehry of course gave up this option, but Gehry's ending must be death. If Gehry died in the sweep of giant spiders, it wouldn't have much connotation, and the director wouldn't have arranged it that way. In the end, Gehry tried his best to stop the action headed by Thomas. A group of people meet. Gehry, who wanted to kill Thomas, killed Chuck, who was looking for his parents (Chuck represents the source of life), Mino (represents a kind of person with strong emotions, although he is not afraid of the extinction of hope, he can't escape after all) Danger and a threat of time.) A hard throw of the javelin kills Gehry. A practitioner of Western culture with an eastern face killed a representative of eastern culture with a western face. From this, the cultural orientation of this fixation is also clear. Although there are layers of confusion, there is a way out only when people conquer nature, actively develop science and technology, and explore outward. The following can lead to my views on the cultural positioning of this film.
Culture is undoubtedly created by us human beings, and the ultimate appeal of culture is the present, origin and destination of life. Culture is the foundation of a society's operation, we create culture, and culture affects us. "Utopia", I extend it to "harmonious world", harmony is the operation according to the law, which has its inner reason.
In Western culture, life is considered to have a definite origin and an endless day, a ray. Our Chinese culture's cognition of life emphasizes the present world, that is, "how to know death without knowing life", but we believe that life is a closed loop, the starting point is the end point, and the end point is also the starting point.
I think the greatest contribution of Western culture is the certification of a truth: the conservation of energy. Western culture without cause has discovered the truth of the causal cycle, but our eastern culture has been practicing this "energy conservation" life. Western culture has confirmed the correctness of Eastern culture, but it has conquered us Easterners, and we have given up our cultural standpoint, denying inheritance and inheriting Western culture with staring eyes, fists clenched, and blue veins arching. The result is that we have no bottom line, unscrupulous, impetuous, and confused today's society. What is the purpose of the current technological development and pursuit? Look at the damage to nature, look at the natural phenomena we have to deal with today. During the Song Dynasty, our ancestors summed up the cultural heritage of our predecessors and said: the people and the people, and now we only have self-esteem in our hearts. The demands of animals from nature stem from their survival instinct. Are we now conquering nature just to survive? We are human because of human wisdom and awakened wisdom. Is what we do now the actions of the awakened ones? What should we do now? Choose to wake up, or continue to be in the present...
Western culture believes that people come with original sin, that people are the product of eliminating the weak and retaining the strong, this world is imperfect and needs human conquest. But let us think rationally, what kind of social phenomenon has Western culture brought us? Non-stop wars, cross-flow of material desires, moral decline.... Freedom ≠ chaos. It cannot be an excuse to do whatever you want. Freedom is freedom within rules. How can a culture that cannot reasonably explain the origin of life bring happiness to human beings, while some of us regard it as a standard, and complete Westernization without thinking, naming everything in the name of science and experimental evidence, which is different from stinking. Feet, what's the difference between kitsch and villain?
The only Chinese culture that has been passed down to this day has lost its original dignity and self-confidence. Western culture has proved us correct: scientific analysis has proved that all substances are constantly decaying, and our spirit is also constantly changing, then our "I" is also constantly changing. What does the appearance and demise of "I" represent in reality? How do we understand Western culture, learn Western culture, and make up for our shortcomings requires rational thinking from all of us. We are not frogs, and don't let this cultural orientation become lukewarm.
A wise man can teach students "how to know death without knowing life", so is there any reason why students should be confined to this and not witness life for themselves? Can you interpret this life without any consideration? The Book of Changes says: A family that accumulates good will have Yu Qing, and a family that accumulates evil will have more disaster. Life does not appear for no reason, and it does not disappear for no reason. Individual life and death are individual, individual food is individual, individual life is full, and intelligent life requires us to know and do the same. When the "rational" nature returns, wisdom will appear for a moment, and we should find a harmonious cultural choice.
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