Introduction
A dystopian science fiction film called Elysium was written, produced, and directed by Neill Blomkamp in 2013. The socioeconomic gap between classes has widened more than ever in the year 2154. The affluent and influential developed a new place to reside because Earth was overpopulated and dirty. Elysium’s space station has all the resources and Med-Bays, which are only accessible to Elysium citizens, to treat any illness or injury (Elysium – Review 7). Meanwhile, the remaining population resides on Earth’s surface, plagued by many terrible diseases, crime, and poverty. Max Da Acosta, a 36-year-old former auto thief and native of Los Angeles who works for Armadyne while finishing parole, is our main character. After a work-related mishap exposes Max to lethal radiation, doctors determine that he has five days to live. Now that he has a goal, he will do all it takes to get to Elysium, so he can use one of the med-bays to rescue himself. Secretary Delacourt, a member of the Elysium administration, will do all it takes to uphold the country’s anti-immigration legislation and protect the way of life of its residents. Max’s dilemma forces him to team up with Spider, a rebel commander who promises to assist Max in reaching Elysium in exchange for helping him acquire valuable information from Armadyne CEO Carlyle. The complete knowledge in Carlyle’s brain cannot only rescue Max’s life but also bring equality to these opposed universes.
The setting, character development, and theme are the crucial literary elements that stuck out to me after seeing Elysium. Elysium, set in Los Angeles in the year 2154, gives us a clear glimpse into our future (Izsak 15). Humanity has advanced and built a brand-new space city (low-orbit) in the film. In this dystopian world, robots and people live side by side daily. The protagonist (Max) in Elysium has excellent character development. Flashbacks give the character depth, giving the audience a full view and a greater understanding of the character’s feelings and decisions. As we get to know the character, we find ourselves rooting for him to succeed and overcome challenges. The book Elysium has resilience as its central topic, showing how even a boy from the lowest social level can alter an entire civilization and bring about the change it needs. When Max was a child, his true mission was unknown, but a nun believed in him and put a seed in his mind that made him think he could accomplish anything.
Body
The sci-fi picture Elysium was partially shot in Mexico City, which served as a stand-in for a dystopian Los Angeles. The story takes place 150 years ago on a planet with an impoverished surface population and a luxurious space station in orbit. Bordo Poniente in Mexico City, which closed in late 2011 after the production of Elysium, was one of the biggest landfill sites in the world when the movie was being filmed there. The BBC reported that actor Matt Damon said, “It was one of the most challenging shootings of my life. Not just because of the heat, the dust, and the human waste all around us but because there is an entire community, about 2,600 people, living in the dump. They remain there all their lives, living and dying there (Reeves 35). The filmmaker Neil Blomkamp continued, “We could have a green-screened entire thing,” but I wanted there to be a real discrepancy in the film between rich and poor. So, we are not manipulating the audience; the poverty is genuine”. Blomkamp’s home base of Vancouver, British Columbia, served as the location for scenes inside the space station Elysium.
The element of character development in the dystopian movie Elysium is crucial because it shows how the main characters cope with their situation. The main characters in this movie are Max and Frey, who are both trying to get out of the slums of Elysium. They have a very different relationship with each other and their situation; Max wants to stay in Elysium, but Frey wants to leave. The film shows how they cope with this difference in opinions by showing how Max and Frey handle being separated from each other. The first time they are separated is when Max has to go through security checks at his workplace. There is a scene where he has to stand up against a wall while they look at his body with scanners, so he feels embarrassed about this separation from Frey. In another scene, Max gets caught up in a fight between people who want to leave Elysium and those who want to stay there because they believe there is no hope for any future outside Elysium’s walls. This fight ends up breaking up most of Max’s work team so he can be alone. In contrast, he works on his presentation for his boss’ meeting later that day, which happens without any problems because everyone else left anyway after seeing what is happening between him and Frey.
Many pressing themes, including immigration, health care, and poverty, are addressed in Elysium. In the year 2154, the film is set, and the wealth disparity on Earth has grown so large that the rich have moved to their space station. Those already at the bottom of Earth are fighting for their own lives. In the opening sequence, we see refugees trying to escape to Elysium so that they might receive medical treatment. However, Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster) orders the ships carrying the “illegals” to be shot down. Due to an on-the-job accident, Da Costa now finds himself in the same position as the ‘illegals. If he helps a rebel organization, they will let him go to Elysium for treatment, which could save his life. Da Costa murders a CEO and blackmails him for information that can bring down Elysium in exchange for a ticket. To preserve Elysium and thwart Da Costa’s plans, Delacourt hires the services of private mercenary Kruger (Sharlto Copley).
While the opening two-thirds of Elysium provides a compelling metaphoric critique of contemporary global inequity, the film’s conclusion suffers from three major flaws. At the outset, the effort to save humanity is effectively reduced to a dramatic street brawl between two white men, Da Costa and Kruger, even though they symbolize a racially varied culture on Earth. Second, the film’s three female leads are reduced to stock types by the film’s conclusion: Delacourt is the icy powerhouse, Kyra is Da Costa’s hapless love interest, and her sick daughter is too cute to be taken seriously. Finally, while Blomkamp’s protagonist rallies the masses in a grassroots effort to combat inequality, Da Costa goes on a suicide mission to secure a transfer of wealth and resources orchestrated from on high by a band of rebels. The ending of Elysium blocks off avenues for widespread social action and incorrectly argues that the dirty labor of changing the world is better left to white men with rebel backup.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the film Elysium illustrates how technology can ruin the world. We observe how the wealthy can live in a lavish paradise while the underprivileged can suffer and perish in squalor. Although the movie is set in the future, it is still relevant to today’s society because there are still rich and poor people in our current society. And that makes this movie so potent; it raises issues of fairness and inequity that we should discuss more frequently.
Works Cited
“Elysium – Review.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/22/elysium-review.
Izsak. “How Does Socioeconomic Inequality Affect Social Class, Especially for People of Color?” Boston University, 21 Oct. 2020, https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/how-doessocioeconomic-inequality-affect-social-class-for-people-of-color/.
Reeves, Richard V. “The Dangerous Separation of the American Upper Middle Class.” Brookings, Brookings, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/research/thedangerous-separation-of-the-american-upper-middle-class/?amp.
“Resilience.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience.
write