Connections Essay AS91478 PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Connections Essay AS91478 PDF

Description

The futility of dystopian society in modern day juvenile text Divergent (2014) - Neil Burger Maze Runner (2014) - Wes Ball The Giver (2014) - Phillip Noyce The Hunger Games (2012) - Gary Ross The dystopian genre is constantly changing and developing, as society continues to create its ideals of a futuristic, imaginative universe, which is oppressively controlled from its morals. The genre often depicts what society feels about a certain issue, and help the audience highlight the negative aspects of dystopia through a certain characters perspective. Divergent (2014), Maze Runner (2014), The Giver (2014) and The Hunger Games (2012) are all movies that portray various techniques and ideas in order to help the audience to understand many dystopian themes. These films are heavily produced towards a juvenile audience, showcasing the futility of dystopian society, on teenagers living in a destruction filled environment. The four connections that I have noticed between these films is: 1. There is an aspect of governmental control - characters are not always told the truth and are lied to by a higher authority 2. Characters are forced to conform to societies uniform expectations - individuality and opinions are restricted. 3. How juvenile love influences a character to disobey and rebel against the rules and therefore fight for their freedom. Divergent Divergent directed by Neil Burger depicts a futuristic world in which the whole of society is divided into separate factions based on different human virtues. As each individual reaches a certain age in which they are about to transition into adulthood, he or she is forced to choose a faction that will determine where and who they will be for the rest of their life. The main character Tris, soon realises through her initiation that she is Divergent, meaning she will never be able to fit properly into one faction; she will never be able to fit into society. Within its society, Abnegation is a faction that is based upon the acts of selflessness. In this way, it is the governing body and no other factions are allowed to take part in helping to run the government. The first way in which the government is largely presented to the audience, is when citizens at the age of sixteen are forced to take an aptitude test, which is performed through a simulation and tests different traits within the individual. Based on the results that the individual receives, this will determine what faction best suits them and how they are going to pick in the Choosing Ceremony the next day. Welcoming everybody to the ceremony, the leader of Erudite explains, “The only way it can survive and thrive (the factions) is for each of you to claim your rightful place.” This is a form of tactics used by the government, to manipulate individuals into thinking that they have the ability to be able to choose for themselves, whereas they have actually been brainwashed by the aptitude test they took earlier. Citizens have been brainwashed into thinking that “the future belongs to those who know where they belong,” suggesting that those who do not fit into one particular faction like Tris, will never be able to fully fit into society as the government does not have the ability to be able to control them. Relating to the connection of governmental control and how characters are manipulated and lied to, the futility of dystopian society starts to show through. The government has abused its power, by molding individuals into something that they are not and therefore blinding communities through the rules and speculations that have been created surrounding the faction system. Also relating to the connection of governmental control,

characters are expected to conform to societies uniform expectations which we can also see through the way in which the government enforces the factions. Ever since Tris was young the idea of “faction before blood” has been taught through her school and through the people around her, reinforcing the idea that factions are more important than family. This idea shows the power that the government is over the lives of their people, making them believe that their rules and expectations are more valuable than their families. The futilic nature of the government means that individuals are unable to think and make decisions for themselves, even to the extent of having to leave their family behind which holds the core of their morals and values, to go into the faction system. Because of this unstable society, the government is paranoid about any factors that may threaten their system of control, therefore they are adamant in looking out for those that may defy this: Divergents. Being a Divergent automatically makes Tris an avid target as she has the ability to be able to break the barriers society has created around not being able to express her own individuality. Towards the end of the film, everyone in the Dauntless faction “gets a tracking device” before they are able to finish their initiation. Set up by Erudite (the faction that is wanting to overthrow the government), they have created a serum that has the ability to control anyone except Divergents by a push of a button, making it easy to rule them out for punishment. Being exposed to a leader killing a “Divergent” right in front of her, Tris is forced to follow and act like everybody around her in order to keep herself safe, which can further be related to the portrayal of the need to conform in human nature, which is controlled by the fear of not being accepted by others. This shows the futility of dystopian society because Tris is constantly having to live her life in fear of being killed, simply because of the fact that she is being herself. At the same time, this highlights the idea that the government has too much control over the people of its society and if it continues to work this way, it will ultimately lead to even more destructive behaviour among its people. This is reflective of our society in a way that shows us as humans are already heading towards this type of dystopian culture, showing us that we need the freedom of choice in order to keep an equal and balanced civilisation. In some areas of the world such as North Korea and Russia, the country is a dictatorship in which the government has full control and the people are suppressed. This is the sort of unequal balance that is being portrayed through dystopian culture, addressing the dangerous possibilities of the relationship between government and society. This in turn, influences the audience into thinking how they are helping to reduce and minimise the dangerous possibilities that today’s government holds for tomorrow's society.

Along with this, the amount of governmental control prevalent in this dystopian society, created the main desire for juveniles to pursue love and rebel against the rules of society. After quickly meeting Four, a dauntless leader during her initiation,Tris soon becomes to slowly trust Four throughout the course of the film. Unlike the other Dauntless leaders, Four is set apart from the others, as he believes in the importance of showing bravery through sacrificing your safety for the protection of others. We see this protective like attitude show more and more towards the end of the film, when Tris and Four share a secret romance that in turn helps them both to overcome their fears and anxieties of being a Dauntless. This juvenile love is important to the climax of the film as it helps the audience to further understand the futilic nature of societies bounds, which in turn finally influence Tris and Four to break the rules and work together to free themselves from what society has kept them bound to for all of these years. The core of Tris and Four's relationship is an extension of what the faction system explores: choice. They choose each other over and over again even in the most intense situations and reconnect with each other

through forgiveness and re-evaluation. When the abnegation faction is under attack, Four is captured by the other leaders of Dauntless and put under a stimulation that allows them to control his actions and mind. Tris who is determined to save him, is however held at gunpoint by Four as he struggles to find himself through the effects of the stimulation. We see the strength of their romantic connection when Tris repeatedly says, “It’s me. It’s me”, making him reconnect with his sense of reality and show that his love is more powerful than any rule that society has made for him. The couple then escape from the faction in which they can no longer be controlled by society’s governing rules to pursue their own freedom and start a new life. This portrays an idea in society, showcasing that love is what drives us to make hard decisions and that everything will work out in the end if you follow what your heart tells you. Maze Runner In 2014, the Maze Runner was released, directed by Wes Ball. The film follows 16 year old Thomas, who is trapped inside a maze after being sent up through an elevator with no past memory or recollection of who he is. He arrives to a large group of boys who have been trying to escape from the changing maze for years, all while trying to establish their own society which is known as the Glade. Like Divergent, the characters in the film have all been assigned to a certain place in society, however, in differentiation, the characters encapsulated inside the Glade are symbolic of people in society who live behind closed doors, unaware of who they are and where they belong, in relation to the characters having lost all their memories upon arrival. One of the biggest factors within the Maze Runner, is the complexity of the maze in which none of the Gladers have been able to figure out or escape. Because each of the Gladers memories were wiped by the secret government, known by the name WICKED, they are unable to use their past knowledge of the organisation or the outside world to get them out. “He didn’t know where he came from, or how he’d gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were.” The government WICKED, behind the scenes, have brainwashed their citizens of all of their memories in order to control their actions and the way in which they behave in relation to the new memories they are making in the Glade. However, even though the Gladers do not have much of a sense of who they are, or what they are doing in the Maze, Thomas implies that they’re “weeding us out, seeing if we’ll give up. They’re throwing variables at us, trying to make us quit. Testing our ability to hope and fight.” Thomas’s developed idea shows that although they have no control about what happens, they have realised that they are in some sort of stimulation or test, in which somebody of a higher power has the ability to watch and take advantage of them from above. We see them fight for their own will, away from the observational demands of WICKED who work to belittle their rights as a society, which can further be influenced by the determination to do good in human nature. In comparison to Divergent, this sort of brainwashing nature performed by the government can be related to the simulation serum or test that teenagers in the faction system had to take in order to find out who they are. We can see in both these movies that the government is trying to manipulate the characteristics and personalities of its people to work in its favour, showing the futilic consequences when the government isn’t in works with it’s people. Throughout both the Maze Runner and Divergent, the inability to be able to express individuality and opinions have been pinpointed by characters decisions to not conform to society's expectations. In the Glade, the boys are expected to conform to the leaders expectations and rules which in turn keeps the order and functionality of the group. With a stable system of laws, daily work jobs and a clearly thought out hierarchy, the boys work hard each day to maintain a self-sustaining society, in fear of the harsh punishments they may experience if

they do not conform. This highlights the important of order within a society because without it, the chaotic like nature of adolescent boys would overrun the need for functionality within the group. One of the main rules within the group of Gladers, is that only dedicated ‘runners’ are allowed to step foot into the Maze, due to the unknown risks and dangers they are yet to find out. When Thomas comes along he runs into the Maze and breaks the rules, bound by the curiosity of why he was put into the Glade and how he can escape from it. Gally the leader of the Glade, recognising his rebellion explains, “if we all broke the rules like Thomas, we wouldn’t be able to function at all.” However, it is through Thomas’ rebellious determination and his right to exercise free will, that helps the Gladers to eventually escape the Maze and ‘complete the test’ which runs them into the gates of WICKED. Although there are large benefits of having order within a society, Tris in Divergent confirms that not always following the rules created by a certain group will lead to structure and that it is often through rebellion and exercising your individuality that you actually find freedom. Like the maze itself, adolescence is also marked by confusion, hard decisions and a loss of direction. This can be compared to the runners going through the maze, who may at times experienced hopelessness and fear, which is symbolic of teenagers navigating adolescence and trying to find out where they belong. Overall, the Maze Runner is a good representation of individuals who fight for their individuality, no matter how hard the government takes over. Towards the end of the film, arrives a new addition to the Glade: a girl named Teresa and the first girl to arrive into the group. “It’s a girl. A girl?” Teresa comes as a shock to the whole group as never in the history of the Glade has a girl arrived within the box. Due to her sudden arrival, Newt, one of the leaders of the Glade, suspects how easily of a disruption she could be amongst a group of adolescent boys, turning order quickly into chaos. Although this represents the boys sexism towards Teresa with her being the only girl, this is confirmed when she suddenly awakens from the box and exclaims, “Everything is going to change.” Although Thomas and Teresa do not have a dedicated romance throughout the first Maze Runner movie, Thomas is the only boy in the Glade who Teresa will speak to. By trying his hardest to unpack previous thoughts and memories that he receives through getting injected with a ‘changing serum’, Teresa’s arrival is what ultimately motivates Thomas to run into the Maze and search for a way out; he does not want to experience the consequences of starving to death with a group of adolescent boys if the food source begins to run out. Believing that Teresa is somehow connected to him through the past life, they work together to figure out the intricacies of the maze, in which Teresa is able to unlock the passcode into the gates of WICKED. Like Divergent, we can see the successful results of two people working together to escape a society that has bound them to their fears. Although Tris and Four are very deeply romantically connected and Thomas and Teresa lack that deep romantic connection, the strength of their minds working together is what ultimately grants them their freedom in the Maze. This further reveals the author’s purpose in giving the audience hope in a situation that looks almost impossible. By watching the hard times that the Gladers have to go through, this creates tension within the audience as to whether they will escape the Maze or not, which is ultimately relieved through the arrival and character of Theresa. A juvenile audience also watching both these movies can be encouraged that they do not need to work through things alone if going through a tough situation; even though there may be a higher power controlling and observing things from the outside they always have the free will to be able to exercise their own independent thought. The Hunger Games Like the Maze Runner, the Hunger Games is a world that highly portrays the futilic nature of a manipulative and controlling government, in which citizens have to fight for their survival. Produced in the year of 2012, The

Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross follows a story of 12 districts that are controlled by the main Capitol city of Panem. Each year, the districts are required to choose one boy and one girl who will compete in a nationally recognised event called the Hunger Games. The film mainly focuses on Katniss Everdeen, a girl from the poorest area: District 12, in which she is instructed to fight to the death, leaving one lone victor. At the very beginning of The Hunger Games we are introduced to the totalitarian type government of Panem, which is the portrayal of the main source of power throughout the film. Because the Capitol holds all of society’s wealth, they are ultimately able to control their citizens in all districts among Panem. This creates a large level of inequality between the Capitol and all of the districts, as the Capitol becomes more dominant and has more privilege and advantages over their people who do not have much. The Capitol however, use the Hunger games as a way to display its ultimate power and authority to their people, who are forced to offer themselves up as a tribute and fight to the death. This is dehumanizing towards each tribute who have to take part in the game as it is televisionalised across the Capitol for entertainment, in which they will see the morals and values of each individual fall away as they fight for their own survival. Before the games, all of the district are obligated to watch a video which tells them of a great rebellion or war that happened long ago and that the Hunger Games is “how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future.” In reality, the government has used this form of social control to gain obedience from their districts, while in the meantime using it’s people as pawns in an intricate game of life or death. We see this similar array of control amongst the Gladers in the Maze Runner, who were forcibly placed into the maze and made to fight for their survival, like the tributes put into an arena, while being observed above from a higher power. This theme of surveillance type governmental control brings out the author's purpose of how although the government holds a large amount of authority and power, their true fear is actually the rebellious nature of their people and how their control can so quickly be diminished if the people decide to display their power. Therefore, reinforcing the idea that the government needs to be able to watch what their people are doing in order to feel safe. On the other hand, District 12, where Katniss lives, is a very poor district, in which there are very limited resources available to the people, due to the overarching control of the Capitol’s wealth store. This can be further related to the unequal sharing of wealth between the rich and poor of society. In society, people who are poor and live in poverty, are often grouped together in a stereotype and seen as deviants. Used as a form of social control, the poor class are punished to further show the different and higher classes the correct way to act. Reported at the end of 2018, there is calculated to be a total of 3000 people living without a home and on the streets in Auckland alone. Like the factionless in Divergent who do not belong to any faction, this can be representative of the people who do not fit into society in this day and age, who are outcasts. This helps the audience to understand a deeper message of how inequality between people in a hierarchical form is not only present in movies, but also present in society in everyday life, to ultimately open our eyes to the struggles of our world that we so often ignore and rather focus on our own lives instead. Very quickly into the movie, the message of Katniss’ disgust towards the control of the government, is revealed to the audience. She is very aware of the unequal balance of how the Capitol are able to experience luxury and comfort, while the rest of the districts are suffering and barely have enough food to survive. The people within the districts are...