BCM 325 has been a very interesting class, one of my favorites if I’m being completely honest. The Future Cultures lectures have been very exciting, over the last few weeks we’ve engaged with a variety of movies and topics each movie more thought-provoking than the last.
List of movies/t.v shows visited
- V: for vendetta
- Elysium
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Black Mirror: Arkangel
During the lectures, we were tasked with live tweeting our thoughts and perception of the films we were watching. Each movie was connected to our weekly topic and I found the overall experience to be very fascinating. Watching the films was one thing, but analyzing and tweeting about them was another thing completely. I wasn’t used to multi-tasking in this way so the whole process was slightly challenging in the beginning but as we moved forward, I realized that live tweeting really helped formulate coherent thoughts from my fleeting reactions.
We discussed many themes and ideas through the movies and films that we watched, they mainly revolved around the idea of possible, probable, and preferable outcomes of the evolution of mankind. I found myself enjoying the process so much that more often than not, I felt like I was straying away from the weekly topic and just tweeting my opinions since I was so engrossed in the films.
During the screening for V: for Vendetta I tried to start off with a few facts and do some background research, while this proved to be fruitful at the time, I realized that it distracted me from watching the film and I went down a rabbit hole of the implications of the Guy Fawkes mask.
READ: A is for Anarchy, V is for Vendetta: Images of Guy Fawkes and the Creation of Postmodern Anarchism
So I decided against researching whatever we were watching at that moment so I would be able to fully understand and experience the film/T.V show.
I realized that I was very passionate about the representation and portrayal of women in dystopian contexts and how scarily reminiscent it is of the real world, most of the movies we watched have had a very similar outlook on the role of women in these societies. But, as it happened I was pleasantly surprised while watching Mad Max : Fury Road(2015), what I thought was going to be a movie created for the male gaze turned out to have very note-worthy connotations on the derogatory perceptions of women. The movie shows Furiosa fighting for the freedom of five women (Immortan Joe’s sex slaves). This movie also discusses war over resources and a fight for survival, which honestly looks like a probable future.
READ: Feminism In Mad Max: Fury Road
Watching Elysium was an experience indeed, it felt like such a hit in the face, the poor getting poorer and the rich, healthier and wealthier. It’s sad because even at this point I can tell that if the world is ever in plight, the ones in power will prosper while the unfortunate will continue to suffer until and unless they can play a part in political or personal gain.
READ: Elysium as a Critical Dystopia
My favorite screening was Black Mirror: arkangel, I might be a bit biased towards this as I’ve always been interested in this show, but this time I watched it from a slightly different perspective, more analytical rather than relaxed.
The episode deals with a lot of themes that are close to home, it shows a mother so rid with anxiety that she goes to great lengths to keep her daughter safe. Honestly, no one should be given this amount of control over someone and we can see what the producers are scared of, it sounds cliché but this kind of technology in the wrong hands could result in very bad circumstances. Bio-hacking and grinders are not just a thought anymore, using this to track and monitor another human could potentially be a very dangerous thing.
READ: Scariest Black Mirror Technology
Overall this class is provoking very serious thoughts on the possible, probable, and preferable future and I think the world media is trying to desensitize us to the possible outcomes as well.
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