I really enjoyed Neil Blonkamp's breakthrough film District 9 even though it was wild and wooly. It offered a dystopian view of a world in which aliens are contained in a scary encampment, a form of inter-planetary apartheid.
Blonkamp is back with Elysium a film with much more money and a big star in Matt Damon. It was the film with the biggest box office this past weekend but critics haven't been that kind. The film is set in a dismal future where a select few have a literally "out of this world" gated community while the rest of humanity experiences hell on earth. The elite can be healed from diseases instantaneously and Damon's character is on a quest to access that care...at least that's what I can gather. It's interesting that this year big stars such as Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Damon have been involved in big projects with gloomy pictures of the future.
Apparently we like our gloom and doom, whether it is in religion or entertainment. Preachers have dined out on the Revelation of John and other apocalyptical literature for centuries, literally trying to scare the hell out of people. TV evangelists are keen to throw a scare into us as well, although guys such as Jack Van Impe and his wife Roxella are more humour than terror. Still, people send the money to keep their ministries and lifestyles going. There is a danger that environmental concerns are becoming the new signs of the apocalypse, the end of the world, and folk stop listening.
Why do you think we are drawn to the gloomier possibilities of our earthly future? Why is it "apocalypse always?" Are you hopeful for a better day, or is yours a heavenly hope, first and foremost?
2 comments:
Apocalypse? That is a huge topic - (I used to joke with my dad that John had eaten too much strong cheese before sleeping when he had that Revelation ... still don't take too seriously the threats and modern cautions from evangelicals, meant to scare the hell out of us - they are still doing that, also using the book of Daniel, and keeping millions held in fear !)Not something I worry about - I do have concerns about what we are doing to our environment, however, and cannot understand why big business and government don't put more effort and dollars into renewable energy sources - solar and wind.
As for the premise of the movie, we don't need to have a futuristic scene to see that kind of elitism - it is here and now with the rich being able to get more and better health care - look at the USA!
Heavenly hope? My concept of heaven has changed drastically since my childhood - I believe we see glimpses of Heaven on earth when the Christ Spirit reigns in the hearts of people... not only in Christians, either. Here and hereafter, things can be very good!
There seems to be a certain morbidity to many people - and I am like that to a degree.
Just look at the horrible killing in south Miami, in which a man killed his wife and posted the photo of her on Facebook. That is disturbing enough, but what is really frightening is the number of people who clicked "like". It's frightening regardless of whether they thought the photo was real or not.
On a less extreme scale, let's face it, although many of us like to say we wish the news were filled with good news stories, we are often looking through the news for the bad stuff that's happening out there.
It's often sad and tragic, and pulls at our heartstrings....but we seek it out anyway.
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