Escape to the Movies: Elysium

[Cpt. Slow]

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Because every other film is blaming white people for being evil. Like as if we can help it that we are born from a Caucasian mother and father, and that because we are white we are per definition evil.

The people who are really evil are the ones who had loads of cash, and still try to tell us that poor people have suffered from rich people but are damned to do anything about it.

 

[Yojoo]

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Because every other film is blaming white people for being evil. Like as if we can help it that we are born from a Caucasian mother and father, and that because we are white we are per definition evil.

The people who are really evil are the ones who had loads of cash, and still try to tell us that poor people have suffered from rich people but are damned to do anything about it.

And to that, I must say: get thicker skin. I'm white, I've been watching movies condemning the actions of the white man since I was born, and this is nothing new. There's quite a bit for white people to answer for over the history of mankind, and inevitably films will be made about it all. If you can't stop taking offense to villains being white for long enough to enjoy a film, you won't enjoy many films.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I never got District 9, i thought it degenerated into a pretty bland and tedious action movie in the last hour and Elysium doesn't seem to be anything different. I'll probably watch it some day, but not anytime soon.

The trailers defineately aren't selling it.

 

[Taurus Vis]

Nobody cares about your book about playing a videogame. We get it, your a Nintendo fan, but telling me to stick around at the end for to shill your side scroller nostalgia wank book is annoying. Please, stop asking me if I like books and/or videogames. I don't want to read a book about Mario.

 

[CelestDaer]

The thing that has been bothering me about the trailer since day 1: If they had this exoskeleton that would allow them to infiltrate the upper crust, why haven't they used it before NOW?

Not to spoil anything, but it's not the suit that's special. It's just an exoskeleton suit to help Max move because of his failing body.

Also, loved the movie, sure it has its faults but I still had a great time. If anything, I hope to see Copley in more roles and the next big film from Blomkamp.

And yet all the trailers I've seen for the movie have insinuated that it's the exoskeleton that matters. Bleh, still don't care.

 

[F1ak3r]

That "van der Merwe" pronunciation... I laughed. Still, psyched to see this movie.

 

[Nimcha]

Not interested. I hate sci-fi being the go-to genre for movies with some kind of cheap political commentary.

The best sci-fi never comments on current society, but instead creates a new one.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

I'll go see it and judge it for myself whether I would find it engaging as a movie or not, but I still feel what everyone is saying about this review in the comments here. This summer definitely hasn't been the greatest line up of blockbusters so I can understand the frustration Bob must be going through, but recently, it just feels like every episode where he gives a glowing review for a movie, it basically comes down to "Regardless of how good or bad this movie is, go see it to support what I think movies in the industry should be more like."

Go see White House Down because it pushes an extreme political agenda that everyone else is afraid of doing! Go see Pacific Rim because big blockbuster action films need to go in this direction! Go see Elysium because Neil Blomkamp is awesome!

I recall Bob having an idea for Blomkamp to be one of the possible directors for the new Star Wars. To be honest, I think I would have been more upset if Star Wars turned into yet another sci-fi liberal wankfest with a heavy-handed political message as subtle as getting smacked across the face with I-beam.

Again, I'm not saying I think it's horrible that Blomkamp does this in his own intellectual properties like District 9 and Elysium. Just keep that shit where it is, Blomkamp, in your own movie franchises.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Did anyone else think that Bob sounded like Elmer Fudd at parts of this video?

 

[NeedsaBetterName22]

So another "dirty poor rebel heroes against EVUL rich white strawmen people" movie? Yea I'll pass,. Not only do I hate that kind of plot with a burning passion for a host of reasons, I really don't feel like paying to sit down and be told I'm shit.

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Seriously? You're wondering why a movie you wouldn't want to go see a movie that constantly demonizes you in a pandering manner. That's like wondering if some black people might be a little uncomfortable with Birth of A Nation. When you, personally, are shown in fiction as part of whatever group (race, gender, class, etc.) it's natural to feel alienated when the portrayal is entirely negative. I mean, this is the Escapist, we've had discussions for months over people who feel alienated about the portrayals of women in media for god's sake. When a director or artists is DIRECTLY borrowing concepts from reality, which is the core of Elysium (class warfare, immigration, healthcare) in a ham-fisted manner it alienates the people it portrays as, say, cartoonishly evil capitalists. That might mean certain people just don't want to see the same subjective media that you do. Major Chaos is being completely reasonable, he feels alienated by it and doesn't want to see it.

 

[Coreless]

Absolutely amazing movie, easily one of the best science fiction movies I have ever seen...just wow. Neil Blomkamp is a true visionary and he captures exactly what I love about Sci-Fi movies, the visual style, the tech, the vehicles, the action...all of it. While the message comes off a little strong at points, I can see why people are upset about it because it hits a little close to home I just can't get over how awesome his movies are and Sharlto Copley....man that guy is awesome to watch in crazy mode.

 

[geier]

O wow, what novelty, a villain that has a german name.
I'm already bored by this movie and it didn't even run in my country or even on my continent.

 

[Drake the Dragonheart]

Anyone else get a laugh out of the "OH MOTHER ***BEEP!" bit?

I want to see this. Seems like I would enjoy this.

 

[Yojoo]

So another "dirty poor rebel heroes against EVUL rich white strawmen people" movie? Yea I'll pass,. Not only do I hate that kind of plot with a burning passion for a host of reasons, I really don't feel like paying to sit down and be told I'm shit.

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Seriously? You're wondering why a movie you wouldn't want to go see a movie that constantly demonizes you in a pandering manner. That's like wondering if some black people might be a little uncomfortable with Birth of A Nation. When you, personally, are shown in fiction as part of whatever group (race, gender, class, etc.) it's natural to feel alienated when the portrayal is entirely negative. I mean, this is the Escapist, we've had discussions for months over people who feel alienated about the portrayals of women in media for god's sake. When a director or artists is DIRECTLY borrowing concepts from reality, which is the core of Elysium (class warfare, immigration, healthcare) in a ham-fisted manner it alienates the people it portrays as, say, cartoonishly evil capitalists. That might mean certain people just don't want to see the same subjective media that you do. Major Chaos is being completely reasonable, he feels alienated by it and doesn't want to see it.

Comparing this to Birth of a Nation is ludicrously unfair. The black characters in Birth were criminals because they were black; the villains in Elysium just so happen to be white. Elysium's political message condemns the actions of people who happen to be white, but the condemnation has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Unless you're an ultra-elitist 1% snob who spends their free time hunting endangered species and rolling illegal cigars out of hundred dollar bills, you have nothing to be offended by.

Let us not forget that the main protagonist is white and the president of Elysium (admittedly a minor character, but with a major position within the power structure) is Pakistani.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

So another "dirty poor rebel heroes against EVUL rich white strawmen people" movie? Yea I'll pass,. Not only do I hate that kind of plot with a burning passion for a host of reasons, I really don't feel like paying to sit down and be told I'm shit.

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Seriously? You're wondering why a movie you wouldn't want to go see a movie that constantly demonizes you in a pandering manner. That's like wondering if some black people might be a little uncomfortable with Birth of A Nation. When you, personally, are shown in fiction as part of whatever group (race, gender, class, etc.) it's natural to feel alienated when the portrayal is entirely negative. I mean, this is the Escapist, we've had discussions for months over people who feel alienated about the portrayals of women in media for god's sake. When a director or artists is DIRECTLY borrowing concepts from reality, which is the core of Elysium (class warfare, immigration, healthcare) in a ham-fisted manner it alienates the people it portrays as, say, cartoonishly evil capitalists. That might mean certain people just don't want to see the same subjective media that you do. Major Chaos is being completely reasonable, he feels alienated by it and doesn't want to see it.

Comparing this to Birth of a Nation is ludicrously unfair. The black characters in Birth were criminals because they were black; the villains in Elysium just so happen to be white. Elysium's political message condemns the actions of people who happen to be white, but the condemnation has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Unless you're an ultra-elitist 1% snob who spends their free time hunting endangered species and rolling illegal cigars out of hundred dollar bills, you have nothing to be offended by.

Let us not forget that the main protagonist is white and the president of Elysium (admittedly a minor character, but with a major position within the power structure) is Pakistani.

Technically, you could easily point out there there would be far more issues of unspoken messages in a white protagonist being the only one who could save the lower Hispanic commoners from the evil overlords.

I bring that up only that it's easy to nitpick the analogy someone creates to make a point while entirely missing the point. Said point is that people have a right to feel offended when they're quite wrongly portrayed in a film.

 

[Yojoo]

So another "dirty poor rebel heroes against EVUL rich white strawmen people" movie? Yea I'll pass,. Not only do I hate that kind of plot with a burning passion for a host of reasons, I really don't feel like paying to sit down and be told I'm shit.

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Seriously? You're wondering why a movie you wouldn't want to go see a movie that constantly demonizes you in a pandering manner. That's like wondering if some black people might be a little uncomfortable with Birth of A Nation. When you, personally, are shown in fiction as part of whatever group (race, gender, class, etc.) it's natural to feel alienated when the portrayal is entirely negative. I mean, this is the Escapist, we've had discussions for months over people who feel alienated about the portrayals of women in media for god's sake. When a director or artists is DIRECTLY borrowing concepts from reality, which is the core of Elysium (class warfare, immigration, healthcare) in a ham-fisted manner it alienates the people it portrays as, say, cartoonishly evil capitalists. That might mean certain people just don't want to see the same subjective media that you do. Major Chaos is being completely reasonable, he feels alienated by it and doesn't want to see it.

Comparing this to Birth of a Nation is ludicrously unfair. The black characters in Birth were criminals because they were black; the villains in Elysium just so happen to be white. Elysium's political message condemns the actions of people who happen to be white, but the condemnation has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Unless you're an ultra-elitist 1% snob who spends their free time hunting endangered species and rolling illegal cigars out of hundred dollar bills, you have nothing to be offended by.

Let us not forget that the main protagonist is white and the president of Elysium (admittedly a minor character, but with a major position within the power structure) is Pakistani.

Technically, you could easily point out there there would be far more issues of unspoken messages in a white protagonist being the only one who could save the lower Hispanic commoners from the evil overlords.

I bring that up only that it's easy to nitpick the analogy someone creates to make a point while entirely missing the point. Said point is that people have a right to feel offended when they're quite wrongly portrayed in a film.

But who is being wrongly portrayed here? Elysium doesn't equal "white people". Yes, the residents of Elysium are mostly white, but that isn't a jab at every white viewer. That's a jab at elites who deny aid to those who need it out of spite and greed. If the previous sentence doesn't describe you, there's not much to be offended by here.

Is the alternative for white people to only watch movies in which we're portrayed in entirely positive lights? So Django Unchained or Glory are too offensive to be good movies now?

 

[Hexenwolf]

I feel like this review revealed WAY too much about the movie...

 

[NeedsaBetterName22]

Comparing this to Birth of a Nation is ludicrously unfair. The black characters in Birth were criminals because they were black; the villains in Elysium just so happen to be white. Elysium's political message condemns the actions of people who happen to be white, but the condemnation has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Unless you're an ultra-elitist 1% snob who spends their free time hunting endangered species and rolling illegal cigars out of hundred dollar bills, you have nothing to be offended by.

Let us not forget that the main protagonist is white and the president of Elysium (admittedly a minor character, but with a major position within the power structure) is Pakistani.

Missing the point, it's not about race, it's about grouping. Birth of a Nation was just an example of a piece of media that might alienate a black audience because it alienates them as a group. But there's less controversial examples all over the place. What Women Want, a comedy with Mel Gibson, presents women as emotional and unbalanced, mostly focused purely on their sexuality and presentation. Some women might feel alienated by such a piece because of their portrayal. This is how group mentality works, I can do it with anything that pursues a real-world 'us vs. them' dynamic.

If your narrative goal is to demonize a specific group based on race, class, gender, etc. it should not be a surprise that people from that group MIGHT not want to be told their scum for two hours by a preachy movie. It can be 'rich people are evil', or 'women are too focused on emotions' or 'Americans are all fat bigoted idiots', whatever.

Elysium takes a real world issue and tries to fit it into the Hollywood frame. It demonizes all rich people as either greedy or cartoonishly evil, and then inserts metaphors about current political events. Perhaps if the movie wasn't so focused on being a blunt and unfair metaphor for the modern economic system (yep, because a magical medicine machine that costs almost nothing is the same thing as universal healthcare) it could appeal to a broader audience.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

So another "dirty poor rebel heroes against EVUL rich white strawmen people" movie? Yea I'll pass,. Not only do I hate that kind of plot with a burning passion for a host of reasons, I really don't feel like paying to sit down and be told I'm shit.

And here's where I reiterate my point. Why do you feel as if a fictional sci-fi movie is specifically telling you what you are worth in this world?

Seriously? You're wondering why a movie you wouldn't want to go see a movie that constantly demonizes you in a pandering manner. That's like wondering if some black people might be a little uncomfortable with Birth of A Nation. When you, personally, are shown in fiction as part of whatever group (race, gender, class, etc.) it's natural to feel alienated when the portrayal is entirely negative. I mean, this is the Escapist, we've had discussions for months over people who feel alienated about the portrayals of women in media for god's sake. When a director or artists is DIRECTLY borrowing concepts from reality, which is the core of Elysium (class warfare, immigration, healthcare) in a ham-fisted manner it alienates the people it portrays as, say, cartoonishly evil capitalists. That might mean certain people just don't want to see the same subjective media that you do. Major Chaos is being completely reasonable, he feels alienated by it and doesn't want to see it.

Comparing this to Birth of a Nation is ludicrously unfair. The black characters in Birth were criminals because they were black; the villains in Elysium just so happen to be white. Elysium's political message condemns the actions of people who happen to be white, but the condemnation has nothing to do with the color of their skin. Unless you're an ultra-elitist 1% snob who spends their free time hunting endangered species and rolling illegal cigars out of hundred dollar bills, you have nothing to be offended by.

Let us not forget that the main protagonist is white and the president of Elysium (admittedly a minor character, but with a major position within the power structure) is Pakistani.

Technically, you could easily point out there there would be far more issues of unspoken messages in a white protagonist being the only one who could save the lower Hispanic commoners from the evil overlords.

I bring that up only that it's easy to nitpick the analogy someone creates to make a point while entirely missing the point. Said point is that people have a right to feel offended when they're quite wrongly portrayed in a film.

But who is being wrongly portrayed here? Elysium doesn't equal "white people". Yes, the residents of Elysium are mostly white, but that isn't a jab at every white viewer. That's a jab at elites who deny aid to those who need it out of spite and greed. If the previous sentence doesn't describe you, there's not much to be offended by here.

Is the alternative for white people to only watch movies in which we're portrayed in entirely positive lights? So Django Unchained or Glory are too offensive to be good movies now?

Personally, I have no issue with Elysium's portrayal of race considering I have yet to see the movie. I am also in the same camp with you that I also have the discernment to see past the superficial portrayal of a generalized group of people to the malicious intentions behind the individual characters rather than the group itself.

With that in mind, it's very easy to chalk it up to the characters having bad intentions and that there is no commentary on the people they seem to represent in the real world. I would not blame someone for being offended by this movie similarly that I would not blame a member of the NRA to be upset over their portrayal as a bunch of gun-toting terrorists willing to kill anyone who threatens to take away their massive phallic symbol as they were in White House Down (another movie I did not see but heard quite a lot about). I would discuss it with them and try to allow them to see it through my viewpoint as the condemnation of an extremism rather than an entire group of people, but I still would not blame them for being offended. And they have that right.

Also, the movies that you listed are period pieces about times long past, and Elysium is a movie that seems to be based entirely around current-day liberal agenda (again, haven't seen the movie, but everything I've seen up to now hardly boasts subtlety).

 

[RedDeadFred]

This sounds like an American film for Americans only.

Care to explain? Are you saying that only Americans will like it or that the message specifically deals with systems in their country? I don't live in the US and thoroughly enjoyed the movie so I'm assuming you're referring to the latter. And if that's the case, so what? What's wrong with a cautionary tale about capitalism and shitty healthcare? Just because it doesn't apply to your country I'd hardly say that the movie isn't for you...