Well, we’ve arrived at the last forum! I decided to make the last theme of this semester revolve around the ideas of utopia and dystopia. We are probably all more familiar with dystopian films than utopian – for some reason, audiences seem to like seeing projections of the absolute worst that society could possibly become. Many dystopian films, by nature, are inherently political. Films like Soylent Green, or Blade Runner, the Hunger Games, 1984, Brazil, etc. We have seen a variety of ways that filmmakers have imagined the end of things as we know them – ecological disaster, run-away technology, bureaucratic terrorism, theocratic takeover, Malthusian nightmare, nuclear war. All leading to a major transformation of politics and governance which, in most cases, is not sustainable. Eventually, as the theme goes, most dystopias themselves fail.
But perhaps films don’t necessarily have to show the complete breakdown of society to earn the classification of ”dystopia.” What if dystopia in this case refers to the distortion of things as we see and believe them? What if it refers to sinister machinations behind the scenes meant to manipulate what we believe to be everyday politics? This is the case with The Manchurian Candidate. Not all questions are answered in this Cold War-era movie, which is meant to leave you unsettled as to what really goes on in Washington (beyond what you already know, anyway). Watch the original version, the 1962 one.
The opposite of dystopia, of course, is utopia. Perfection. The absence of problems and undesirable things. If The Manchurian Candidate is at one end of the spectrum, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is at the other end. The studio chose possibly the best actor in the world to play the main character in this film – James Stewart. In this film, the good guy wins. David beats Goliath. Congress is purged of corruption by, of all things, the righteous use of the filibuster. This is the utopia of this week – a WWII-era film which champions the values of truth, democracy, and liberty at a time when they were under attack around the world.
The films this week show speculative views of the very best and worst of politics in the US. Obviously, both were heavily influenced by world events at the time. Why do you think we need BOTH dystopian films like The Manchurian Candidate AND utopian films like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? What do we as viewers get out of them? What do they make you feel about politics and government in this country? What specific scene from each film made you think or feel something in particular? It could be anxiety, disbelief, suspicion, pride, joy, anything. If you were to consider yourself a filmmaker setting out to make a fictional film about US politics today, would you make a utopian or dystopian film, and why? What would your motivation be? What reaction would you try to provoke from audiences?
