In
the world of anime, the apocalyptic world is a large part of the setting. Based
on the reading, we can see that these post-apocalyptic worlds are coming out
more and more on film and television, especially in the United States. Serenity (and the series it is based off
of, Firefly) are set within this
world. It takes place 500 years in the future. From what we hear in the film,
the earth became overpopulated so humans left and made other planets their
homes. The ruling powers that came to be in this post-apocalyptic world wanted
a utopia but created a dystopia.
What
Napier does in Waiting for the End of the
World: Apocalyptic Identity, she focuses on 4 films in her analysis: Nausicaā of the Valley of the Winds, Akira, Legend of the Overfield, and Neon
Genesis Evangelion. What is important in her work is about the differing
ways the apocalypse can come around. The word apocalypse means global
destruction to most but it originally means “revelation” of secrets on the
nature of things (252).
The
apocalypse comes about through the forms of natural disasters, destruction that
comes out of the rise of a Utopian society (generally with a religious ruler),
and psychic forces. The themes of death and rebirth are also fairly common
within these narratives. The apocalypse results from human transgression, the
abuse of technology, and the falling of traditional family values (254).
From
the start of Serenity, we are told
that the Alliance wanted to create a world without sin. Napier mentions the
bible as being a part of the apocalyptic world. It is a key feature in Europe and
America. She also mentions “destroying conflict between good and evil” (252).
Sin is obviously referred to within the Bible. In this film, the Operative
talks about creating a world without sin. The world the Alliance is trying to
create with this notion would fall into a utopia.
The
Operative and the Alliance have this image of the world they want to create.
The Alliance is looking to “enlighten” and “civilize” people that are not in
line with the beliefs they hold. These notions are similar to what Europeans
and Americans did during colonialism. They held this idea that there way was
the best and that it was the only way to live. Serenity seems to play with this notion but with a setting in the future.
What is interesting is that the Operative knows that he is a monster and has no
place in the world without sin. He believes in this perfect world they strive
for even though he knows it is not one he has a place in.
Mal
and his crew are against the Alliance and believe in individuality and the
ability for people to have a choice. The ability to make choices is important
to humanity, whether those choices are good or bad. Mal and the crew make
choices that fall into both all the time. They are thieves yet we see them
helping others. When they are robbing the vault and Reavers attack, they tell
the guard to make sure everyone gets inside. Not long after though, Mal pushes
a guy off the ship they are on and he is grabbed by Reavers. There is a clear
difference in the choices made by them and can be seen in both good and bad
viewpoints.
What
brings it all together is the idea of utopia versus dystopia. Dystopias come
out of the apocalyptic worlds that form after utopias fail. The Alliance is
looking to create a perfect world that is peaceful and filled with people that
have no aggression. What they create is people that are either to apathetic to
even keep themselves alive or people that are overly aggressive (Reavers). What
comes out of this perfect world they wanted is a dystopia. Sin and aggression cannot
be eradicated from human nature because they are a part of choices that people
make. The theory of entropy comes to mind; it is about order and disorder. Entropy
is what the world needs in order to function. Serenity shows that entropy is necessary because it is about chaos
and the world cannot truly function without that. Without chaos, dystopias
form.
It is interesting that the references to religion in the film tend to overpower those of colonialism in regard to the Alliance's motivations. Although the Alliance's motives seemed to stem from their own ideas about what humanity should look and act like, I think religion comes into the picture more as a form of forced missionary work. In this context, we could perhaps view the Operative as the missionary working for the greater belief system of the Alliance. Though missionary ideas could make sense as motivating factors to "fix" people, I think the parallels to colonialism are valuable when thinking about the film. Not only did the Europe colonize the modern-day U.S., but SO many others were colonized as well to the point that it's difficult to think of a country that has not been invaded and colonized by various European countries. They attempted to erase everything they did not see as aligned with their personal views, which can be seen as a parallel to the Alliance in the film. Viewing the Alliance through a colonial lens brings further questions such as: Was the Alliance attempting to civilize populations in a way that solely eliminated violence, or were they aiming to erase differing cultures as well? Was the Alliance trying to force everyone to speak the language they use? Did the Alliance aim to profit off the backs of people they attempted to enlighten? The answers to these questions could further clarify the parallels between the Alliance and colonialism, if perhaps they were intentional. Overall, even if this connection is mainly speculation, I think the idea is interesting and worth pondering at the least.
ReplyDeleteI found your end point about chaos being required for the world to function quite eyeopening. Often times people wish, pray, hope, etc. for a world of pure tranquility. Your look at Dystopian societies through the reading and the film really support your point. I would even add that perhaps the use of current Utopian movies are criticisms on the whole idea. Essentially what we can grasp from this is there will never be all good, the best we can hope and work toward is a balance.
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