Blog 5 Victor Bustos

For the final research paper I'm writing about the movie V for Vendetta. The movie is a dystopia because its set in a futuristic totalitarian England. We don't exactly know what lead to the totalitarian state but there are a couple of clues given through the movie.The government in this society controls everything, people live in fear and are oppressed. I was thinking about using a Marxists lens because of the control the government has on society and how V's actions lead to a revolution by the lower class. The movie is full of symbolism, V wears a mask and we never see his face. He dies as a martyr and his mask becomes a symbol. The terrorists acts that he commits are also used by him as a symbol of hope to the people. Another reason I'm using a Marxist lens is because there are various ways the government controls the people. They control the media, silence their critics, and they also use force.From V's terrorist acts to the government responses a revolution is born, that is one of the Marxists views. I have not done research about the movie yet. I have seen it a couple of times and when we talked about Marxism and an dystopian fiction it has reminded me of this movie.   

Blog #5 Blade Runner

So the primary text I have chosen for my research paper is the film Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Originally released in 1982 in theatres The Final Cut version of the film was released in 2007 and was introduced by the director himself, Ridley Scott, as his favorite and preferred version of the movie. It takes in 2019 in futuristic yet rundown looking Los Angeles and tells the story of Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford), a Blade Runner, whose job is to hunt down Replicants that make it onto Earth. Replicants are bio-engineered beings developed by the Tyrell Corporation, their motto being "more human than human", that are meant to look and act human and made for slave labor in outer space, however after an incident involving the death of humans Replicants were banned from setting foot on earth, thus the Blade Runners were established. In the movie Rick is called back onto the force by his old boss to hunt down four Nexus 6 model Replicants that have made it earth-side in an attempt to try and extend their lives, given their four year lifespan. The reason for the four year lifespan is due to the fact that the Nexus 6 models are almost so human they begin to develop their own emotions, so the limited lifespan acts as a fail-safe. I figured the best ways to study this movie would be through Feminism and Psychological criticism, given the way the movie looks at humanity and has some morally ambiguous plot points involving female characters. Not only that but the way the Replicants almost seem more in touch with their emotions than the actual humans, the overall state of the world, the god complex present in the idea of humans making beings in their own image that are better than them, morality issues, the questioning of humanity, the use of Replicants for slave labor and how poor the living conditions are and maybe other stuff that I might have missed or forgotten regarding similar topics. Another cool concept is the Voight-Kampff machine, an interrogation tool used to determine if someone is a Replicant. The test involves asking the subject emotionally provocative questions and measures the subjects reactions such as respiration, blush-response, heart rate, and eye movement. It's basically a very advanced version of a lie detector. These are just some of the ideas of come up with so far and I'm sure after I've watched the movie six or seven more times I'm bound  to develop more.

Christian Fry Blog 5

For my research essay I have chosen to look at the dystopian film Gattaca. Gattaca is a film based in a time period in the future. This futuristic society has placed a great deal of importance on genetics. In this future society parents pick and choose what traits and exactly what genes they want to pass on to their children. In this scenario, where genetic perfection is the standard, people slightly less than perfect are seen as virtually worthless. The story’s main character, Vincent Freeman was born without the use of these DNA programming methods, has a heart condition, and is given 30 years to live. His genetic makeup makes him the subject of genetic discrimination, even by his own younger brother. Vincent’s brother Anton was given the genetic makeup of a champion and he never lets Vincent forget. Vincent does show some signs of uniqueness when a swimming endurance contest between the brothers leave Vincent to save his brother and show his worth. Vincent gets a job as a janitor at an organization like NASA but constantly dreams of being an astronaut but knows that only the genetically valid are given these jobs. He decides that if he fakes his identity, he might have a shot at achieving his goal. He finds an identity donor and they proceed to fool society despite others’ suspicions and an actual investigation.

The features of this story that make it a dystopia is the fact that in this society people are given social class based on their genetic codes. People are given the title valid if they have desirable traits and those who don’t are stuck in a social pit of discrimination that is seemingly inescapable. This society also hunts down those who try to beat the system. This society is, on the surface, better because we can ensure that the most capable of our race have the most demanding jobs. This system is shown to be flawed by Vincent because genes don’t make up a person determination and that is what ultimately gives Vincent the edge over the genetically valid, even his own star athlete brother.

I think Marxism might be the lens through which I will be analyzing this film. There are a lot of examples in the text that talk about societal power structures. Also social class is highly discussed within and the jobs available to the different genetic social classes. The text shows that these classes and social structures can be manipulated or bypassed in a sense.  It also shows the doors that are opened to the genetically superior and those that are opened to the genetically inferior.

I have done some research and found some things but not specifically about Marxism and this text, just basic criticism of themes, motifs, ideas and so forth.           

Breecia Gray Blog #5 The Giver

I have chosen The Giver by Lois Lowry for my research paper. It is about a seemingly Utopian society where there is no fear, hunger or pain. It is also a place with no love, joy or color. Only one person in the society can truly understand deep emotions, The Receiver. Everyone in the community has a job. The Receivers job is to hold the memories of the past. It is told from the point of view of Jonas who is chosen to be the next Receiver and is given the memories. This story is a dystopia because the 'government' controls everything. They chose what your job is, who your family will be. They control the population, only allowing 2 children per family. All citizens are expected to abide all rules without question. Anyone who does not follow the rules. is 'released'.

I think both psychoanalytical or marxist will work with this story. I think I will use psychoanalytical. I have done some research and have found a lot of info on the themes of the story and some symbolism and character analysis. Spark Notes has been very useful!

Dystopia Blog, Chris Graves

I have decided to analyze the film The Matrix by the Wachowski brothers for my research paper. This film is an example of a dystopian society because in the film there is a place where humans percieve their society as the real world, "the matrix." In the matrix, the society of humans are controlled by computers. The humans live a dream their entire life in the matrix. In the actual world humans are grown in huge farms that are watched by the computers. The actual world has eroded and is surrounded by metal and destruction. You can see that the humans are controlled by a totalitarian government by keeping the truth from them.

The theory I felt that would apply to The Matrix is Marxist theory. I have yet to view the film, but with little research on the movie there are examples that lends the film to a Marxist interpretation. One example is that in the beginning of the film, Trinity, a female character, sets the tone for conflict by fighting the agents in black suits who represent the government force.

Asheli Rivera dystopia--Inception

I have chosen the film Inception by Christopher Nolan. This film is about a character played by Leonardo DiCapprio, who is capable of invading people's dreams. He then commits a corporate espionage to obtain information of a rival business. This movie is a dystopia because their society becomes very unrealistic and dream like, the movie becomes an entire dream where you cannot justify reality from dreams. I have not done any research yet but that film became very popular so I am sure I will find great sources.

Chris Williamson Blog #5

I have decided to select blade runner for my research assignment. The plot revolves around Rick Deckard a retired Los Angeles police officer who is forced to destroy 4 rogue bioengineered sentients known as replicants made to seem every part human. A fifth replicants is discovered when Deckard is investigating interrogation methods at the corporation where the other 4 were manufactured. Rachel is special in that it is unaware of itself as a replicant and so tries to prove its humanity. Deckard hunts down the first of the replicants and is soon informed that Rachel has gone missing adding her to the list of targets. When Deckard notices Rachel in a crowd he is attacked by another of the replicants on his list, but is saved by Rachel. This prompts Deckard to vow not to hunt Rachel. Deckard then confronts the last two targets, but is nearly defeated by his final foe. By chance Deckard is spared as the final replicant is defective and dies as a result. Soon after Deckard runs off with Rachel as she is still being hunted.

The idea of killing without sound reasoning of sentient and intelligent life is the main dystopian theme. Even though the replicants are not entirely human they are nearly indistinguishable, and portray convincing emotional responses as well as similar goals as ourselves and all life for that matter. The ability to generate such indistinguishable beings is another idea that firmly places this work as a dystopia. Potential theoretical lenses for this text could be psychological, and marxist. As for research I am still looking into sources that would fit my perception of the text to use with my paper.