Brian Carvajal
Films are a reflection of society. They are the living snippets of society, reflecting the ideologies, views and acceptable culture. Movies have constantly changed throughout since their introduction, widening their interpretation on multiple cultural norms. With every passing generation, there are new issues, views, ideologies, and norms. They are expressed and described through the media but more clearly through films. From the past generations,to the most recent ones, there has been an evident shift in films, specifically dystopian films. Dystopian films foretell a future where our society is destroyed and unrecognizable to us. Humans are either under constant threat, barely surviving, or wiped out of existence entirely.Such films have gained popularity within the last forty years or so. Films such as Blade Runner, The Matrix, Minority Report, Elysium, and Wall-E all depict such different and horrible futures. But within the last generation, there has been a shift within the depiction of the future itself. The movies have gone from depicting that humans will perish at the hands of robots, to a future where Earth will become unable to sustain human life.
Death by Robots:
The dystopian films from the 70s to the early 2000s have actively depicted a future where humanity is locked in a war against machines. The Terminator, The Matrix, and I Robot for the most part depict a future where robots have advanced to a point of having artificial intelligence and have decided to go against their creators. Yet why have so many movie such a future? Why do films repeatedly depict the end of times at the hand of technology? This is because society from the 70s to the early 2000s focused entirely on the rapid expansion and integration of advanced robotics and computers into society. Within that short time span, there was an explosion of technological advances. These advances could be seen throughout society, where they affect every one of us. Cell phones have gone from bulky uncomfortable objects the size of bricks to small touch-screen supercomputers. The rare, expensive, and limited computers of the past have been replaced by smaller, faster, more impressive laptops that have become commonplace. Computers have become so necessary in our life, that the use of computers within the average household, which includes communication, information seekings, shopping, entertainment,education/job,and home management, have all increased by at least 20% from 1999 to 2003 (Venkatesh). Not only has the use of computers increased but also their importance in the daily life, serving to foster education, communication, and the workforce. Computers have also been used in another aspect of society outside of the household, namely the military. Since the Cold War, the U.S military has been using computers on a ever growing scale. First used as precision calculators, modern computers are now used as guidance systems and communications, able to accurately gather information and take action (Stevenson). Yet with the increase of computers, the military has moved towards another form of technological advancements,namely robotics. Robotics within the later half of the 20th century has gone from being mere science fiction to reality. The military has taken advantage of the advancements in technology and has actively integrated machines that are independent of human input. In the 1960’s, a reconnaissance drone, the Lightning Bug, was developed and used to gather information for the U.S. (Singer). The key difference that the Lightning Bug had when compared to previous aircrafts was the fact that the plane was deployed without a pilot, completely unmanned. From then on, unmanned drones were constantly used to gather information and then later on as weapons. After the Persian Gulf War and the introduction of the GPS, unmanned drones became the staple of the military, with the funding and budget of these unmanned drones projects ever increasing (Singer). The increase of the budget brought with it more drones but more importantly, other types of unmanned robotics were developed. Starting in Afghanistan and Iraq, there has been more of focus on the protection of U.S. soldiers. Ground troops since then have deployed unmanned machines that can detect explosives and then disarm them (Singer). Disarmament of explosives were not the only the only new forms of robotics. Unmanned vehicles and scouts were also actively used against al-Qaeda, providing a clear advantage for the military (“March”). The military from the 60s to the early 2000s has slowly but surely upgraded their armies, resources, and assets to the point where they are almost a futuristic army. The military now has machines that have the ability to fire upon enemies, protect themselves from explosives, travel from one end to the other, all with a cold and calculated determination devoid of human involvement.
Robotics in the Military:
Society saw this integration of advanced robotics within the militaries worldwide, where the goal was the become faster, stronger, deadlier, more precise, and more importantly more independent of humans and human error. With more machines that need no human intervention and are becoming smarter, very close to the capabilities of a human, why can they not turn against us. Society feared the integration and feared the possibility that the machines would wise up and see that they can easily attack us. Movies from this time period depict a grim future, where the robots have achieved the ability to think and act for themselves, for their own interests. One can identify a general trend and similarity within many of the films that were produced during the technological expansion. The Terminator depicts a future where the military created a computer system that achieved artificial intelligence and decided to wage a war against humanity (“The Terminator”). In The Matrix the artificial robots of the world collectively waged war against humans and turned humans into an energy source (“The Matrix”). In I, Robot the commercial computer system that controlled the city infrastructure, military, and the other robots of the city decided to break its programming rules and attempted to almost enslave humans (“I, Robot”). The general trend within these movies is that humans will at one point engage in a total war against their very creations and for the most part, lose the majority of the war. This is due to the overall hyperconnectivity of a computer system that has access to the resources and power of the military. The same systems, machines, and weapons that the military has been using since the 60s. Humans designed these robots to be efficient killing machines that can execute their objective no matter the obstacle. Our greatest weapon becomes our greatest enemy. Yet with from the early 2000s to the present moment, the military and robotics have not stopped advancing or becoming part of the hyperconnected system. Currently the military “compromises more than 12,000 ground robots and 7,000 UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle]” but there hasn’t been a mass panic or a continuation of films that follow the general trend (Singer). This is because the next generation has shifted their focus, and subsequently the films have shifted to reflect that focus.
Death by Robots:
The majority of society is currently focused on sustainability and the damaging effects that humans have done to our Earth. The concept of sustainability and reversing the ill effects of industrialism has not been a recent concept, it has its roots from the 70s. Author Rachel Carson in 1963 wrote Silent Spring, arguing that the pesticides used in many crops had an adverse effect on the ecology, killing off birds and causing illness in children (Griswold). Carson’s novel brought the issue to light for the public, marking an initial movement towards environmental awareness. With the increasing sales of the novel, there was a rapid increase in the green movement, leading to national influence in the 70s. During the 70s, the environmental movement made headway with the introduction of Earth Day, a day reserved to raise public awareness on the environment, by Senator Gaylord Nelson (Evans). The introduction of Earth day lead to more awareness and from that more support, leading to more federal action. By the end of the 70s, the federal government had passed multiple legislations including the Clean Air and Water acts as well as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (Evans). But after the 70s, environmental protection became less and less the central issue within the U.S.. The people had begun to shift their focus and the movement remain almost forgotten. It was not until the mid 2000s that the issue became headlines and even more importantly the fear of the common person. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast leaving behind pure destruction, including the property and the death of hundreds of thousands of people (“Hurricane”). The storm caused the nation to stop in shock at the level of devastation and the help in the relief efforts. The very next year, Al Gore produced a documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, that highlighted the issue that would come to envelope society (imdb). Sustainability and the environmental awareness again came into play with his movie but on a grander scale. The film depicted that the climate was changing at a rapid rate, to a dangerous end, where storms such as Hurricane Katrina would become common and even more devastating (“An Inconvenient”). Vice President Al Gore actively debunked many of the global warming myths and sought to increase the public’s understanding of the global warming issue. From then on, society became more aware of their impact on the environment and the catastrophes that could possible happen if they continue to act accordingly. People began to change their habits to avoid those future catastrophes. In terms of alternate energy sources, solar panels increased from less than 2000 in 2008 to over 12000 by 2013 (Rogers). Other forms of alternate energy sources are on the rise as well as the independence from fossil fuels. In terms of sustainability, people have been attempting to limit the amount of waste that they produce. Penn State is an active participate in the amount of waste they produce. From 2005 to 2013, the percentage of annual waste recycled increased by 20%, with only 14000 tons of waste produced (“Recycle”). Society in almost all aspects has integrated some type of environmental consciousness and tried to either repair or limit their impact on the Earth. Yet with this increase of sustainability and consciousness, why are there still films that depict a grim future where a natural disaster devastates society and pushes humans to extinction? These films reflect societal views on our efforts of sustainability, that it is too late.
These movies generally depict a future where the Earth is not able to either sustain human life or life at all. Films such as Wall-E and Interstellar, we see the results of human consumption and damage. Within Wall-E, the society has created so much waste that the majority of the population left and allowed robots to clean up after their mess (“WALLE”). The Earth could not sustain a healthy environment for humans because humans had polluted it to no avail. In Interstellar, food production and the troubling weather patterns have left the majority of the human population teetering on the edge of destruction (“Interstellar”). Unlike Wall-E, the people of Earth did not even consider coming back to Earth, rather the abandoned Earth completely. There was either no hope or no point in trying to save the Earth for the damages were already set in stone, nothing could be done. The fear of the society as whole today is that the end is already here and more devastating natural phenomenon will occur.
In conclusion, films reflect our society and our fear. Our fears have shifted in the past decades from the fear of advanced militarized technology and the possibility of conflicts against our very own creations to the fear of natural disasters caused by the damages done to the environment. The general trend of dystopian films from the 70s to the present moment accurately reflect the societal fears, with few exceptions. Dystopian films that focused on environmental disasters were not unheard of pre-2000s, as seen by Mad Max and Waterworld, just as advanced militarized robotic movies are still seen today, exemplified by Chappie. All in all, no matter the fear, no matter the societal focus, the credits are already rolling for humanity.
Works Cited:
Venkatesh, Alladi, Debora E. Dunkle, and Amanda Wortman. Evolving Patterns of Household
Computers Use: 1999-2010. Rep. no. 0121232. Irvine: Center for Researcher on
Information Technology and Organizations, 2011. Online.
Stevenson, Robert. “Computers in the Military.” Computers in the Military. N.p., 8 Sept. 2014.
Web. 25 July 2015.
Singer, P. W. “Drones Don’t Die – A History of Military Robotics.” History Net Where History
Comes Alive World US History Online. World History Group, Nov. 2011. Web. 25 July
2015.
“March of the Robots.” Technology Quarterly. The Economists, 2 June 2012. Web. 25 July
2015.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.economist.com%2Fnode%2F21556103%3Fzid%3D312
26ah%3Dda4ed4425e74339883d473adf5773841>.
“The Terminator.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/>.
“The Matrix.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/>.
“I, Robot.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/>.
Griswold, Eliza. “How ‘Silent Spring’ Ignited the Environmental Movement.” New York
Times Magazine. New York Times, 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2012%2F09%2F23%2Fmagazine%2Fhow-silent-spring-ignited-the-environmental-movement.html%3F_r%3D0>.
Evans, Michael. “Earth Day 2012 – Raising Awareness of Environmental Issues.” Earth Day
- 2012. Earth Times, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.earthtimes.org/going-green/earth-day-2012/1939/>.
“Hurricane Katrina.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 27 July 2015.
<http://www.history.com/topics/hurricane-katrina>.
“An Inconvenient Truth.” TakePart. Participant Media, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.takepart.com/an-inconvenient-truth/film>.
Rogers, John, and Laura Wisland. “Solar Power on the Rise: The Technologies and Policies
behind a Booming Energy Sector (2014).” Union of Concerned Scientists. Union of
Concerned Scientists, Aug. 2014. Web. 27 July 2015.
<http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/sol
r-power-technologies-and-policies.html#.VbasX7NViko>.
“Recycle.” Sustainability.psu.edu. PSU, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://sustainability.psu.edu/live/faculty-researchers/recycling-waste-managem
nt/recycle#stats>.
“WALL·E.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/>.
“Interstellar.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/>.
Recent Comments