About the Movie Elysium and Some Observations Concerning Our Society

So, I watched the movie Elysium and it wasn't very good, it was one of those movies where you want to yell at the screen because the actions taken by the characters don't make sense and some things about the world which was created just didn't really make sense either.

Spoiler Alert! but since it's a Hollywood movie, you could probably guess everything I'm going to tell you...

Elysium is about our world in the future. We, predictably, screwed up our world through wars and it's a rough place to live; so the rich people of the world got together and built a beautiful habitat which orbits earth. This place, Elysium, is a place of beauty and wealth, of manicured lawns and parks, where citizens have access to machines that can cure any disease or injury. But the majority of humanity still lives on earth, in dirt and filth, in overcrowded neighborhoods, a place where unemployment soars, poverty is commonplace, where healthcare is primitive (even though they know the city in the sky has machines which can cure all). Everything is controlled by their masters in the sky, and, if they can find work, much of it is done for the benefit of those who live in Elysium. Whether on earth or in the habitat above, many service jobs and law enforcement jobs are done by androids. Androids are also in charge of taking care of the general well-being of Elysium's citizens.

Elysium is the place in the sky that everyone stuck on earth wants to go to. It is the place where your child can be made well. It is the place where your family won't starve. It is the place where there is room to breathe clean air.

The story is about a group, mostly a man, who is trying to make the city so everyone can be a citizen of Elysium and have access to the machines which can cure all ills. The environment in the sky is perfect but it requires a tremendous amount of resources to maintain its perfection, it's perfect but fragile.

In the movie, the group succeeds in making everyone a citizen. Because everyone is declared a citizen, the androids are made aware of millions of people on earth who are in need of medical attention, so ships disembark and humanity is made well. I know I've shared I have an advanced sense of empathy and I care a lot, but there is also a part of me that is coldly logical. At this point in the movie, instead of feeling warm and fuzzy, I thought “and so the society was overburdened and everything collapsed.”

At various times in the past, this same part of me has vaguely wondered if one of the reasons governments of developed countries are slow to dispense healthcare and resources to developing countries is that they view diseases and letting nature run its course as a sort of population control. A sort of, “Until those nations learn to better control their birthrates, we'll let nature take care of it so we don't have to” sort of attitude. Viruses, disease, and such help control deer and other animals which no longer have many natural predators, why not just let them control the human population as well?

This train of thought caused me to think a little more about the movie. My initial thought about Elysium was that it was stupid, but then I realized that, in a sense, America is Elysium. I don't know if this is the statement the writer and director were trying to make, but it is what I gleaned from it.

I know America is far from a perfect Utopia, that we have sick and starving here, but just stick with me. America (and other developed countries) are where those stuck in poverty in other countries look for hope. It is the place where, as they see their loved one dying from a common sickness, they look toward in desperation and think, “If only I could get them there, they could heal them.” Those starving hear about all of our food, our epidemic of obesity, and think, “If only I could make it there, my family wouldn't starve.” They may look at their overcrowded spot in the world and think of the rumors concerning all of our space.

Saying all that, can we really blame all those who want to come here, who try to come here?

Some people want to stop immigration because they're scared we'll lose our heritage, but immigration is our heritage. One day someone I worked with in a past job was talking about how he was angry about how people who come to the US don't learn English, how they hold onto the cultures they left behind and how that's that's not how it used to be...I don't think this person has ever been to New York, doesn't realize that all over the country in large cities there are neighborhoods that have held on to their “old cultures” for a hundred years or more.

There have always been those first generation emigrants who fiercely hold on to “the old country” and there have always been those first generation who, though they have not lived here long, have become our fiercest patriots.

Whether they be children of the former or the later, unless they are secluded in one of those neighborhoods I was speaking of, second generation emigrants almost always learn English, in many cases better than a lot of “Americans” speak it.

I'm not good at taking sides, I know it's a weakness, but I don't like “taking a stand,” because I hate confrontation...but I will state my opinion on this issue. I say, until Americans are ready to contribute more to our country than those who are illegally among us, let them keep coming, let them keep working.

I believe and know there are still many hardworking Americans out there, who have lived here for a long time, but there are also those who could work but chose not to, who pose at getting a job but don't really want one. Maybe we should spend more energy addressing that problem than in dealing with those who are making contributions to our society.

I know there are many people who actually need disability and food stamps and other services, but there are also many who do not. While I was in AmeriCorps I was the thankful recipient of EBT (a type of food stamps) but, while I was thankful, I thought it was ridiculous that I could buy candy bars, chips, soda, and almost every other type of junk food with that card.

I also know that many illegal emigrates do not pay taxes, and I'm not saying that's okay, but whether they pay taxes or not, some of them are still contributing more to our society than some of our citizens are.

I stop rambling. Elysium showed me how some of the world may view our country, so despite it being frustrating and the characters sometimes acting in stupid ways, it was worth watching.

P.S. One of the most frustrating and yet funny things is that one of the main villains had an unidentifiable accent that was pretty hilarious. If that accent is actually real to somewhere, I apologize for thinking it's awful.