On Utopian films:note, spoilers for The Island

A couple terms ago I took a class on film and utopia. On the bright side, I got credit for watching and discussing film. How can that be bad? Equally as cool, it is a requirement for sophomore inquiry, so it was valuable time, and it was really an easy A.
On the dark side, I had to sit through some pretty bad films. Zardoz comes to mind. If Sean Connery in a loin cloth and handlbar walrus mustache running around raping girls and then growing suddenly old is your idea of a good movie...knock yourself out. Then again, unlike the art intelligentsia, I did not think too highly of Brazil, either...okay, or 1984, the Handmaid's Tale...oh smurf, lets face it...there is something about Utopian films that I just do not care for.
For one thing..they are all grim. There are certain unwritten codes for the various movie genres. In romantic comedies the guy must be an idiot (just realism? hard to say...), in action/adventure, the villain must die a horribly painful yet vaguely ironic death, Madonna films must be followed by mass projectile vomiting...and utopian films have to be dark, grim, and with little hope.
This afternoon my close amigos (and brothers) and I went to The Island. I was shocked to discover it had a dark, cynical view of the future. (editors note; previous sentence contains either sarcasm or an outright lie.) It also had some interesting references.
Anyone who has read Baudrillard's Simulacru and Simulations would instantly recognize the reference in The Island when the hologram comes into play.
The theory of both is that the clueless, mindless masses aren't really happy even though they think they are. In truth, they are desperately unhappy, but the hologram or simulacrum masks reality and their unhappiness and reprograms them (us) to believe they are truly happy and life provides whatever is needed.
If I sound like I am mocking this, in some ways I am. I have always found it interesting that you might be laughing, smiling, going to the beach with your spouse, playing with your kids, and so forth, but I know that you are unhappy even though you think life is great.
By the same token, the average citizen actually is ignorant of many, many things. As you know if you have been reading my nonsense for long, I am deeply into research regarding Native Americans and their relationship with both the government and pop culture. I wonder how many people in the U.S. are aware of the scams being pulled on the Navajos and Hopis, for instance, even today.
Who gets paid for the stip mining operations? Where are the treaty-promised Federal assistance programs? Who has legal jurisdiction over...well, many, many things.
Many people have been distracted by the hologram, so to speak. Native Americans doubtless gained their rights and freedom in the civil rights struggles of the 60s, right? In what is no doubt a controversial statement to many of my friends, I am a big Reagan fan...well, where he was right I am. But under his administration, programs for Native Americans were cut to the bone. These are people relegated in many cases to arid, unfarmable reservations where there is little employment, little decent housing, and little hope. This is the world Utopian films always depict once the heroes and heroines see through the deceptions designed to convince them they live in a perfect world.
A couple of other interesting points were made. The film had a chance to deal with ethical issues regarding clones, although it ultimately avoided them. However, this is a topic worth discussing; what rights are held by the "real" person and what rights are held by the copy/clone/creation. And this extends beyond clonging. We will see if that can actually be made to work. I have an opinion, but it is not even an educated guess, so we will leave it in my head. Something has to keep the lights on in there.
Back to my favorite topic...let us say a Native American potter...perhaps Maria Martinez, often credited for single-handedly resurrecting pottery for her tribe as an economic enterprise...she created the black on black pottery. If I buy that pot, what rights come with it. Can I fill it with dirt, smash it, resell it, hide it, give it away, make copies and give them away...now say that pot is alive and ask the same questions. It might change the answers.
Finally, Steve Buscemi (remember the roach from Reservoir Dogs? comes up with a key line which is later repeated by the clone Ewen McGregor (get it? McGregor the clone? what was that blockbuster he STARred in a couple years ago? now HE is the clone? ha ha, funny. Okay, not really) People will do anything to live forever, and they don't care who they have to hurt to go on living.
That is not the exact quote, but the idea is there. Well, that is a none-to-subtle jab at U.S. society in particular and capitalism in general. The idea is that social programs like welfare, social security, and many, many more are being reduced or eliminated despite the cost to needy people because other people wish to live longer or get another face tuck. (If you watch the movie and are aware, the interpretation will make more sense than if you have not seen the movie and simply read this)
It has the Hollywood Assumptions fully in play. Maybe they are correct, maybe not. Hollywood is pretty well known among the so-called "conservatives" as having a "liberal" mindset. Ironically, many "liberals" claim Hollywood movies are extremely "conservative" and always strive to maintain the status quo. But that is a discussion for another blog.
As for the point The Island is making, much of society has bought into the hologram and believes there really is an island where everything is perfect. If I can just buy my way to good health and a prettier appearance then I will be in paradise. If I see through the hologram I will realize what the clones looking for the island did not have; love, hate, curiosity, emotions...in other words, what the producer, director, write of this movie would have you believe means being human.
As I typically do, I got sidetracked from my initial point, so there is really only one thing to say. I just won the lottery! I am going to the Island!