Let’s blow up the train, and change the system. In the Netflix movie, Snowpiercer, the entire world has frozen over, and can no longer support life. Curtis the main character played by Chris Evans boarded the tail section of the train. Crammed, he and thousands of others suffer from a lack of food, water, and space. The situation is described as chaos. After 17 years of enduring abuse, and organizing a revolt, Chris Evans leads the tail section of the train to the front to meet Wilford, the designer of the railway system. Throughout the movie, there is symbolism of classism. The first class passengers refer to the tail passengers as a shoe which belongs on a foot and not on the head of a person or a train. Wilford explains that in order to preserve order, there must exists a social hierarchy and occasional revolts to give passengers excitement and hope. Furthermore, the phrase repeated by an upper class manager “So it is.” exposes the trains culture throughout the movie. In the closing scene, Wilford offers Curtis with his position as the train leader. Curtis, instead of commandeering the broken system decides to upend it. Instead of serving as Wilfords heir, he sets off a deadly explosive which derails the train, and allows the passengers to start a new life on the frozen over land.
This film lines up closely with the world today. There exist many invisible barriers and flawed systems in which we operate. One such example is Penn State’s greek system. Fraternities exalt the men with the largest biceps, strongest alcohol tolerances and the highest body count. While, sororities value a woman’s looks and their willingness to sleep with other people above all else, devaluing other aspects of their lives. After our two discussions with President Barron about greek life, my vote would be to upend the system. While Penn State’s financials and alumni relations may suffer, the social and academic aspects of the Penn State student experience would improve. Values would shift, and morals would change. We must not accept the status quo as the many privileged first class passengers did in Snowpiecer, and justify our immoral and illogical system with the thought of “So it is.” Let’s blow up the train, and change the system.
I really liked this analogy Chris. I can’t help but see my young self in this blog, as I had the same viewpoint my sophomore year in Honor 201 with President Barron. While I am still steadfastly against the Greek Life system, I think I’ve changed my approach in where the problem lies. I just want to give you my input so you can start thinking about new angles in your class discussions. Personally, I believe the main issue with the fraternities is the national organizations. Penn State is unfortunately limited in its authority to manage these organizations that have houses off of campus property, but the national leaders in the fraternity have much stronger power. So rather than managing the students strictly (which leads to rebellious behavior), I hope the University starts to reach out the the national organizations and works with them to demand better behavior and accountability in the Penn State chapters. Just something to think about… I hope 201 is treating you well!