Perhaps the take away from all of this is that Humanity is completely and utterly doomed. I would agree with you that the allegorical construction of Elysium is a bit too hyperbolized to feel as authentic as people maybe expected. Emphasis on the fairy tale. I agree that Max is sort of a weak character, for traditional narrative certainly. This issue is only somewhat mitigated by the nature of Elysium as an allegorical fairy tale.
Would a more global perspective help the movie? See: District 9. This selective approach to detail also provides for some softening of some of the stuff that bothered you. No jail on Elysium? We only really see Delacourt and her function as station security. This is a movie about immigration politics, so we only need to see immigration police… if that makes sense. They are operating a crime syndicate, yes, but they are also innovating and are fairly sophisticated. That said, this is also part of the indictment of the behavior of the rich and the socialization of poverty.
The idea that you could be up there, be one of them, if you only work hard enough or make enough money is a myth that afflicts our society as well. All your prospective additional scenes are sort of already covered by the inclusion of Carlyle. He does pretty much everything you describe. The movie only has so much time to spend on any given idea, so Carlyle stands in for all that stuff. He goes back and forth at least twice in the movie or tries to.
Humanity is doomed if you buy into the myth that overpopulation is a numbers problem. Rich societies are grossly inefficient, making it so the actual population support potential of the planet is skewed and broken. August 16, at am. Good discussion. Anyway, thanks for the responses. August 16, at pm. I suppose it works.
I view Spider as an opportunist. A criminal opportunist at that. Those kinds always rise up in scenarios like this.
Desperate times may or may not call on desperate measure I suppose, and maybe here the ends justify the means. Like it tells us a lot of things.
The dream of making it someday, striking it rich, being in those swanky mansions; these are ideas that stand the test of time. And I would agree that Elysium is a powerful visual metaphor for that idea. The one character represented in the movie with that dream, Max, parallels the hundred thousands of others who dream of getting there as a matter of survival.
I think it is an effort on the part of Blomkamp to get those of us who dream of being wealthy and successful to sympathize more with the plight of the immigrant, by having our hopes and dreams run parallel to one another. With regards Elysium itself I meant it in the same way as when I commented about those mansions seemingly being abandoned.
Naturally, we assume those mansions have owners, they just could be out, or evacuated, or whatever. The two scenes where characters break into homes are so similar, and those homes are always empty.
But I suppose it has its explanation. I like to think those homes have been foreclosed. Maybe a commentary on the housing crisis. Silly thought, I know. The comment on the jail was an observation on how Max and Frey are dealt with once they are subdued. When next we see them, Max is on a table in a lab, which makes sense.
Frey and her daughter; however, for whatever reason, are sitting on the ground beside the table in a lab where scientists are doing their work.
It was an odd scene for me. I can imagine some explanations, I suppose. Maybe it has only been a matter of minutes since they were captured, but that labs happens to be near to where those homes were. Then when the soldiers or told to lock her up or dispose of her? I get the visual metaphor, but I would have liked to see more of Elysium and her people.
My comment on the overpopulation and medical aid also falls in line with my above criticisms. Mostly criticisms of things that, yes, can be explained, but just seem silly. I found the overpopulation angle a bit difficult to swallow. Perhaps even the problem. I actually have a little scenario I like to throw around in discussions. In it, the world has discovered a way to essentially stop the aging process, or slow it down to such an extent that no one ever dies.
We have have essentially found the cure to death. And the problem, at least in my story, becomes the struggle between two opposing philosophies, those who are now the pro-death and pro-life crowds. But I digress. Sorry for the tangent. That being said, I just found it, amusing, in a way, to think that the medical miracle cure in the movie the masses have wanted all that time would, following the ground rules set up by the movie itself, essentially lead to more problems.
The cynic in me, I suppose. I could offer a more optimistic endgame. Perhaps the medical supplies go out to the billions of people all over the world. And now they are healthy and can work at a more productive level. There is more time spent rebuilding, working, learning, and less time spent procreating hopefully. Things get better. People of Earth visit Elysium, they are educated there, and they are exposed to advanced technologies.
A spark is ignited among them, then it grows to fire, and it is passed down to the people of Earth. The technologies of Elysium are seen on Earth. The human race prevails. Again, thanks for the feedback. Fun stuff. Spider is an interesting character mostly because he starts off as an opportunist and morphs into a savior when the opportunity presents itself.
Pretty interesting, I think, but probably not given enough room in the movie to fully breathe. I also noticed that the break-in scenes were similar. Max : [Max's head is shaved bald] Hair products, mostly. 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? The Matrix. Andy Wachowski - Michael Curtiz - American Beauty. Sam Mendes - The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola - Citizen Kane. Orson Welles - Star Wars. George Lucas - Sure, we can assume that robots take care of all service industry jobs, but what about professions that demand certain levels of emotional intelligence school teachers, psychologist, etc.
Do Elysiumians pay rent or is there some sort of dues system, like a space-sorority? Why are all of the houses on Elysium so empty? Taken a step further: Does anyone actually live on Elysium, or are they just at pool parties all day?
During one of the home-invasion sequences, you can faintly hear an automated real estate spiel, indicating that this is some sort of open house … that just so happens to be stocked with an expensive, totally superfluous med-bed. Elysium is a place that everyone on Earth would kill to get to, so why does it feel so much like a ghost town? Would everyone on Elysium really be okay with that ending?
But also, would the rich people on Elysium really allow that to happen?
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