Im currently researching for my Phd on American cinema and the postmodern Utopia, Harrison Bergeron i think sums up the actual thesis, does any one else know of films of a similar theme that i could use
sharePlenty of other films I think with the "false futuristic Uptopia" theme
THX-1138
Logans Run
1984 (of course thats futuristic as far as when the author wrote the book!)
Gattaca
1984
Brazil
The Stepford Wives
Another that's pretty farfetched, but does get to it's point at the end, is
Zardoz
Sci-Fi Channel did a version of Huxley's Brave New World. Look around, there's a copy floating around somewhere.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0145600
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Gattaca
Equilibrium (which has a lot of cool fighting, but the premise of the flic is much better)
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Sorry to say but did you use this great film and fail?? One because it was a Canadian film and my other question is how in the world can you be a doctorial canidate in American cinema and not know the medium, that you come here and ask for our help?
sharehow in the world can you be a doctorial canidate in American cinema and not know the medium, that you come here and ask for our help?
Just what is your thesis? It helps to tell us that before asking us to suggest movies that prove it.
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i'm guessing you are not a cinema student but a literature?
definitely try brazil and thx 1138.
as far as books: 1984, brave new world, swastika night, ecotopia, utopia, marxist and postmodern theory.
I like Equilibrium. It is very similar to 1984... almost to the point of either a tribute or a pathetic ripoff, but also has a very matrix ish feel... good movie, might be usefull
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actually I'd say Equilirbium has more in common with Fahrenheit 451 than with 1984, really. But it'd be best to say that if you mix 1984 with Fahrenheit 451 the result would be Equilibrium.
Amazingly, nobody mentioned Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1985 TV). Also, apparently OATMB is similar to The Lathe of Heaven (1980/2002 TV).
PS: "postmodern Utopia" films are more often called "dystopian" and/or "Kafkaesque" films.
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Chipping away at a mountain of pop culture trivia,
Darren Dirt.
I see that "The Giver" by Lois Lowry is currently in production. That film's premise should be very similar to the movie Harrison Bergeron. The book "The Giver" is about a tightly controlled community developed to eliminate wars and strife from their society. Everything is provided, no one ever goes hungry, and marriages are arranged by the state. An artificial happiness is created for everyone.
Unlike "1984," for example, in which the government controls their citizens with constant war and random terrorist strikes. Or "Brazil," which is sort of like "1984" gone haywire. Even the paperwork is out of control and a tool of intimidation, since forms are required for almost everything. Just ask Harry Tuttle! ;)
If you're looking for something that follows the theme of masses kept ignorant and dulled to reality by mass media, try "The Running Man". It's a bit superhero-ish, but also follows a theme of lives dominated by mindless, mediocre entertainment as a way of controlling the masses.
sharealso there is Maragret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale which is also a movie. It deals with sexual politics as well as the rise of the religious right in America.
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The Giver
I recently finished reading this book. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in these types of dystopian themes. It was required reading for my kid who is an eighth grader. It's a fairly short book, I think I finished it in about two nights.
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