Here's an essay I found from 2006 arguing the postmodernity of science-fiction.
Contemporary Cinema Culture Richard Steele
'From Lurid comic-book blockbusters to dark, dystopian visions, science fiction dominates many of our movie screens and can be seen as a powerful cultural barometer of times.' Discuss this view.
For this essay I will be giving a brief overview as to how the above quotation has applied through historical cultural times, and applying it to the present and possible future representations using The Matrix (1999: The Wachowski Bros) as a case study of contemporary culture, and if it can be viewed as a cultural barometer of our times.
Firstly, when science fiction is described as being a 'cultural barometer', it is important to state that the themes displayed in science fiction films are often in opposition to the dominant ideology of any one time. Bernard Dick (2002:174) argues that the two political extremes of right and left are both represented in science fiction in two main conventions: The conservative, in which authoritarian forces are good, and science defeats the threat, and the Liberal, in which militaristic methods are criticised, or is ineffectual. And Sean Redmond (2004:38) states that science fiction "seems to be able to represent and reproduce the individual and collective fears, paranoias and cultural and political transformations that exist in society." Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956:Don Siegel) is an example of a film made from a conservative culture clearly opposing the ideology of communism, on the rise in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Russia at the time and a threat to western, and more specifically American, values. It is also a reflection of the famed McCarthy trials of the time, which arose from a fear of communist infiltration of freedom – the film, Bernard Dick (2002:174) states, addresses the extinction not of life, but of the human personality. Or humankinds 'precious bodily fluids', described so vividly by Dr Strangelove's General Jack D.Ripper (1964: Stanley Kubrick)
"Mama Don't Like Tattletales."
Of course, since the 1950's science fiction has dealt with a number of cultural issues throughout the decades, but I want to now address some of the issues prevalent in the ultimate decade of excess, the 1980s. They Live (1988:John Carpenter) involves an alien species who have not come to earth by force, but have already infiltrated society and use subliminal messages in every form of media. The phrases 'stay asleep', 'consume', 'no independent thought', and 'marry and reproduce' adorn billboards and magazines, reflecting and criticising the dominant ideology of conservative consumerism in this period. Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner (2004:48) state "liberals and radicals…launch covert attacks against the conservative ideals of capitalism and patriarchy." This can be argued further as many of the aliens have assumed positions of power and authority in order to keep the masses in unknown obedience.
The Terminator (1984:James Cameron) deals with more global issues of the 1980s. As with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Russia is again a proponent of the themes. Of course the film, it can be argued, is predominantly a technophobic view of man versus machine and rapid technological progress, but equally important, I believe, is the dystopian future of the 21st century, which, although we are told is caused by the malevolent Skynet, came about as a result of the cold war and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation – so dominant in the Reagan/Gorbachev era of Glasnost and Perestroika. For further proof of the reflection of cultural times, in Terminator 2 (1991:James Cameron) made some seven years after the original, the young John Connor played by Edward Furlong, asks the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) of the Russians, claiming "aren't they our friends now?" as if to give added realism to the change in cultural relevancy of the early nineties.
But can today's science fiction films tell us anything about the times we live in? As I have mentioned, the opposition to political ideologies has continued in the last decade, exemplified by films such as Starship Troopers (1997:Paul Verhoeven) that satirizes a militaristic society, and X-Men (2000:Bryan Singer). As Bernard Dick (2002:175) summarises, "the mutants in X-Men, gifted men and women who by their very nature are "different," find their civil rights threatened by an ultraconservative, racist senator."- A liberal cultural 'barometer' of America in 2000? Possibly…
However, I would argue that no other science fiction film is more effective in its ability to be a cultural barometer in recent years than The Matrix.
"There is no Spoon."
The Matrix tells the story of Thomas Anderson's (Keanu Reeves) discovery that the real world that he and everyone else inhabits is nothing more than a computer simulation, and of his subsequent acceptance as his role as 'the one' – mankind's hope to defeat their machine captors and free humanity from unknowing enslavement.
Firstly, it is important to recognise that there are many ways in which we can scrutinize it as a reflection of our culture. Certainly from a technological viewpoint it displays revolutionary techniques used in making the film (the oft-referred to 'bullet-time' sequences being the most prevalent), surely giving us a good indication of the state of computer graphics at the start of the 21st century. However, one dominant indication of today's culture are the philosophical ideologies it attempts to convey.
It cannot and should not be assumed that The Matrix attempts to be some kind of all-encompassing and straight-forward philosophical allegory. Indeed it is rather a hybrid mixture of varying theological standpoints, all of which may only be known to the Wachowski brothers themselves. Joshua Clover (2004:13) stating that two religious tracts alone, the messianic path and the Gnostic path feature Neo as the One who will save humans from their enslavement, and humans are prevented from realising heaven through elaborate deception of a malevolent demiurge respectively.
This of course is not to mention the smattering of smaller references throughout the film, such as the Alice in Wonderland analogy of 'following the white rabbit', the Orwellian homage in Neo's apartment number (Room 101), and the constant asking of the question 'what is real?' These, and others, are described by Joshua Clover (2004:14) as types of "inverted belletrism, promising a moral or instructive content while requiring little but passive contemplation…the satisfaction of catching at least some of the allusions as they pass by." Indeed, I agree that the philosophical angle can be argued considerably, or equally dismissed out of hand as mere pop culture soundbites so I will refrain from exploring these angles further. But the above quotation, I believe, is indicative of today's audiences interest of mixing a number of philosophical ideas together, be they based in theology, humanism, or quaint sounding phrases. But perhaps this is a reason for the success of The Matrix. Despite its two sequels featuring more groundbreaking technological effects, they were simply not as successful as the first instalment. Perhaps our apparent cultural interest in pseudo-philosophical ideas such as those offered by 'self-help' gurus found resonance at the turn of the new millennium in a film that questioned the nature of the world. We could argue further that this is a convention of a post-modern film, and may possibly represent our post-modern society in a number of ways.
"Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."
The Matrix, we can argue, shows numerous themes that are commonplace in the sci-fi genre. There is the dystopian mise en scene of the 22nd century, the classic cliché of man versus machine, and the representation of virtual reality. However, the ways in which The Matrix differs can give us credence to the claim of its post-modernity. The hybridity of various philosophical methodologies, rather than a single meta-narrative, is just one example of this. Upon closer inspection, its post-modern conventions can give us an indication of the ways in which it is a cultural barometer of our times. For example, I have mentioned just a few common themes found in the science fiction genre, a dark dystopia being just one. But whereas in those films such as The Terminator where the consequences of the cold war is represented as nuclear annihilation in the future, The Matrix, despite alluding to nuclear dystopia, seems to regard this as almost unimportant, or at most an inevitability. Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) telling Neo that "it is us who scorched the sun." Could it be that we as a society are more accepting of this possibility, or is it merely a science fiction convention we now take for granted given the number of dystopian stories we are familiar with?
The Matrix is also more readily embracing of technology and therefore challenging another convention of the sci-fi genre – man versus machine. Although the film addresses this on a larger scale (the humanity of the future trying to defeat their machine captors), the filmmakers seem aware of its audience's technological aptitude. Like Neo and his rebel allies, the reliance on technology to achieve their aims is necessary – a seemingly total contrast to earlier films such as Lawnmower Man (1992: Brett Leonard) where emerging technology in society seemed to precipitate the relevant response from science fiction filmmakers. (Again, opposition to ideologies comes into play.) A possible reason for this is provided by Joshua Clover (2004:pp24-28) when he theorises that The Matrix is tailored for the new breed of viewer – the gamer, and that the interactive nature of both The Matrix and videogames seemingly combine in The Matrix. He summarises that the "surpassing power of digital immersion becomes the central concern of the film itself." So rather than a warning of emergent technologies, The Matrix would appear to rely on them in both story and marketing. I would argue for the post modernism of this further, as although many science fiction films have crossed genres, the most obvious example being Star Wars (1977:George Lucas) as it displays elements of Westerns etc, The Matrix has been the first film to successfully cross different types of media, with the release of the Enter the Matrix game which famously deliberately withheld crucial plot points to The Matrix sequels. Again, as a cultural barometer of our times, The Matrix shows us not the threat of technology, but that we as the audience are now part of it. Joshua Clover (2004:25) describing it thus: "the videogame's ascendancy was irrevocably writ into the tech boom: it was new, it was interactive, it was a gizmo…it was, in fact, a computer." I doubt we would expect to see Existenz: The Game, for example, gracing games consoles worldwide in quite the same way.
I want to also argue that the theme of man versus machine is now different in our culture and has become represented as such in The Matrix. Whereas in those films I have mentioned such as The Terminator, They Live, and even Star Wars the technological enemy is clearly defined as evil. One only has to recall the T-800's hulking metallic frame or Darth Vader's pure black costume to leave no illusions as to the personification of the nemesis. The enemy in The Matrix, however, perhaps keeping with the post-modern culture of the society it can be said to reflect, is represented by the stark blandness of the federal agents. Fredric Jameson (1993:101), although talking about Dog Day Afternoon, uses a description that could also apply to The Matrix.
"One of the most effective things about the film…[is]
the starkly blank and emotionless, expressionless, coolness
of the FBI man himself. This gazing face…may be said to
embody…the espionage thriller, where it has tended to
remain obfuscated by the cumbersome theological
apparatus of a dialectic of Good and Evil."
He goes on to argue that the agent's "anonymous features mark a chilling and unexpected insertion of the real into the otherwise relatively predictable framework of the feature film." Again, is this possibly another reason for the comparative failure of the sequels, given Agent Smith's obvious melodramatic metamorphosis into a more traditional screen villain in Reloaded and Revolutions (2003)? One can only speculate.
"Everything that has a beginning has an end."
Whatever speculation we may have to its sequels, I have attempted to argue that The Matrix is the perfect example of a science fiction film that best reflects the original viewpoint that such a genre is a cultural barometer of our times. I have mentioned some post-modern elements not as a means of validating its post-modernity, but merely to indicate that the evidence of post-modernity is now a reflection of today's culture. Since the release of The Matrix other films of the genre have also reflected this. For further proof one only has to refer to Attack of the Clones, (2002:George Lucas) the second chapter of the afore-mentioned Star Wars saga, in which the clone army are, as described by Will Brooker (2004:298) "an army bred by [the Jedi's] enemy – an army that will soon become the stormtroopers of the Empire – [which] further problematises the division between 'good' and 'bad' that were fairly clear-cut in A New Hope." It seems that elements of the post-modern are becoming more commonplace in science fiction. Is it a cultural barometer of our times? I believe so. Perhaps academic scholars of the future will look back on the first decade of the 21st century and regard it as a time when sci-fi audiences demanded different conventions than those associated with the more traditional aspects of science fiction and turned towards those I have mentioned. Pseudo-philosophical themes have continued in those such as Minority Report (2002:Steven Spielberg), as has the reliance on technology rather than the opposition in films such as Paycheck (2003:John Woo). Notice that both of these examples are further proof of today's post-modernism because of not only the mixing of genres, but also the use of nostalgia in their aesthetic. 1950s suits, present day use of advertising, noir mise-en-scene; the list is endless. Cristina Degli-Esposti (1998:5) states that "Memory, the archival site of the past, and intertextuality work together to reproduce a collective recollection of the past into the present." In The Matrix, Neo is told that 1999, his present, is the past. Perhaps this best represents culture as we know it today. Joshua Clover (2004:15) summarising, "The Matrix is not about truth…it's not about machines, nor is it about movies. It's about life as we lived it around 1999."
And as for the future? Already we see aspects I have described seeming to continue. At the time of writing, V For Vendetta (interestingly enough, actually written by the Wachowski brothers themselves) is an upcoming film that, according to the Internet Movie Database, depicts a totalitarian British government, and a masked vigilante who is not clearly defined as hero or villain. Indication of the trend of post-modern films whose audiences understand these new conventions? Or a return to the use of science fiction to oppose the current political ideology? Perhaps only time will tell. Whichever is the case, it is clear that the science fiction film will continue to be a cultural barometer of the times, whatever time it may be.
Bibliography
Brooker, Will. (2003) 'New Hope: The Postmodern Project of Star Wars'. In S. Redmond (ed) Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Reader. London: Wallflower.
Clover, Joshua. (2004). The Matrix. London: BFI.
Degli-Esposti, Cristina (1998). Postmodernism in the Cinema. Crisina Degli-Esposti (ed). New York: Bergahn Books.
Dick, Bernard. (2002). Anatomy of Film. 4th Edition. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's.
Jameson, Fredric. (1993) 'Class and Allegory in Contemporary Mass Culture'. In A Easthope (ed) Contemporary Film Theory. New York: Longman.
Redmond, Sean. (2004) Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Reader. S. Redmond (ed) London: Wallflower.
Ryan, Michael, and Douglas Kellner (2004) 'Technophobia/Dystopia.' In Liquid Metal: The Science Fiction Reader. S Redmond (ed). London: Wallflower.
Filmography
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Don Siegel (Dir) Allied Artists.
Matrix, The. (1999) Andy and Larry Wachowski (Dir) Warner Bros.
Matrix Reloaded (2003) " "
Matrix Revolutions (2003) " "
Minority Report (2002) Steven Spielberg (Dir). 20th Century Fox.
Paycheck (2003) John Woo (Dir) Paramount Pictures.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day. (1991) James Cameron (Dir) Carolco.
They Live (1988) John Carpenter (Dir) Universal.
Internet Sites
Internet Movie Database. (www.imdb.com)
