Elysium (2013)

  The project of reviewing old magazine before giving them away continues with Diabolique Magazine Issue #18 Nov/Dec 2013 The Holiday Issue. Always packed with great writing this issue focuses on Apocalyptic Cinema and Literature, so if this is a subject you are interested in and want to receive this issue when I finish with it, let me know and it could be yours. I am going to skip a couple pieces not because they are not great but because I am not feelin, wanting to rewatch the films Colin McCracken has an article on L. Q. Jones adaptation of Harlan Ellison's  "A Boy and His Dog"  a very interesting older film that still stands up in the pantheon of post apocyliptic films. I liked it so much that I pushed with my patron choice to have it reviewed by the Here's Johnny Podcast a few years back. You can probably find a way to listen to us discuss it like here: https://www.patreon.com/heresjohnnypodcast/posts/boy-and-his-dog-86202290  where I make an appearance as a guest. Then Chris Hallock writes about author David Moody who "creates wholly frightening visions that explore the darknessof the human condition. Living in Moody's post apocalyptic world isn't exhilarating like raiding the shopping mall in Night of the Comet. It's utterly dehumanizing and horrifying." As part of this project I am listening to Moody's later book Shadowlocked on audible, so far I am enjoying it. Reading the descriptions of his books I was not impressed as the plots read like every zombie book ever written but the actual stories seem pretty decent.

  The article I want to explore in this post is Ken Hanley's "2013 is the new 2012" he looks at post apocalyptic visions Hollywood and television are putting into the world analysing how that media reflects and deflects from the ever present inequality of the world. Citing the movies of the time, World War Z (2013), Oblivion (2013), Elysium (2013), This is the End (2013), The Worlds End (2013), The Walking Dead (2010-2022), The Hunger Games (2012), The Purge (2013), Escape from Tomorrow (2013) and Jug Face (2013) Hanley looks at how each reflects the society at the time either accurately or with flaws, representing the anxieties we shared at that time. In hindsight from 2026 the patterns in media reflecting the fears of society still holds and probably will until our world finally does collapse into chaos and death. Hanley is optimistic finishing "So don't fret:whether we can prevent it or not, the eventuality is that although the end could be considered nigh, the end has always been nigh, as each generation has proven again and again."  He is implaying that that societal changes are are going to happen and at the time they seem like thay will end the world, but they don't. Instead they change it into a new world for good or ill and when the next catastophy hits we will gain spew a collection of media that reflect the new fears and this cycle will continue. So I want to revisit 2013 with his article and the films in it but which to choose?  I am sure to skip World War Z which I have seen ad nausium, the trip with the luckiest man in the world at the ends of time with a Pepsi ad literally in the blockbuster movie will stir up feelings for me. Oblivion although interesting leans too much on the science fiction side. Elysium is where I think I will start, under whelmed by it when I saw it back then I have not rewatched it since, then of the rest of these, Escape from Tomorrow since I have not seen it and it using the largest cororate entity in the world Disney, a company so ingrained in society that its twisting will be a pleasure to watch.

  Lets start with Elysium (2013) - When I reviewed this on my blog when it came out I saw it as a superficial summer film that tries to get a message out but garbles it along the way. Now 13 years later I don't necessarily see that as untrue. This was and remains a summer blockbuster type action film with a message. I think it is how we look at those messages that may be different. August of 2013 was during the Obama administration in the US where after years of incompetetent leadership it seemed thing were moving in the right direction. After years of squabble and watering down the Affordable Care Act was just about to start covering millions of people in the country giving many health care for the first time in there lives. The disappointment many of us felt that we didn't just change the system to make helth care free to all was still a bad taste in our mouths. You can see where some of the ideas in this film came from, In the future of 2159 we have all the rich people relocate off planet to a orbiting paraidise called Elysium. Unsurprisingly the film depicts the wealthy as majority white and shallow and selfish to the core. Taking their ball and leaving the game instead of trying to improve thing. The last decade has shown us that seems to be the atitude of the wealthy currently. Of course we get to live through them wanting to fully exploit us and the planet, probably before they leave. Heck we have a current administration that is trying to create Elysium in the US by removing all the black and brown people. In the film they take with them the magical medical technology that care scan and cure any ailment. This is a dig at the rich and their selfish approach to the world. They have this technology they refuse to share even though it could save millions of lives. Also the fact that they can up and leave the planet leaving the problems of climate change, over population and management of society to robot police who heavy handedly administer control over an out of control population. In retrospect I don't think I would buy into this fantasy that we will destroy the world with over population. As we see climate change accelerating right now there will probably be major die-offs of the population in the years to come. Places that will become uninhabitable, if you follow the international news you may have read that France with the five unprecidented heat waves this year says 7300 deaths can be attributed to them. So we might not have over population because of how we are killing the life function of the planet. Instead we will have shrinking populations and more chaos as people have to immigrate from climate damaged zones. The  current crop of oligarchs think technology and money will make them ammuned to the impact and in the US are moving climate change solutions backwards. There is a real fight for absolute control going on in this country where the wealthy are trying to convince the masses that dictatorship is better than democracy so they can have their Elysium.

  Our film follows Max (Matt Damon) an ex-con who for a short time is trying to stay clean, but the corporate work he engages with him exploits him for his labor and the heavy handed robot police keep a heel on his neck. When a work accident leaves him dying of radiation poisoning Max reverts to his crime ways in an effort to save his own life. Working with a band of fellow criminals Max allows his body to be integrated with mechanical enhancements to run a  grab and snatch of data from the same CEO who is letting him die. When that data ends up being a solution to the global health care problem Max must make a decision to sacrifice for the greater good. Well at least someone is willing to. The film though does not sit comfortable in that framing, instead morphing into a action thriller with lots of fight sequences  and narrow escapes. The story a bit convoluted  but we know where this is going. Bad guys against good flawed goodguys, bad guys against other bad guys, rogue agents (played delisciously by Sharlto Coply) trying to get their own piece of the pie. A personal revenge angle plays out in the least needed set of sequences as we get to the climax of the film. You know just really and action thriller. It is not a great movie I think because Writer / Director Neil Blomkamp (District 9) makes Max only motivated by his own doom. There isn't enough heart in him early so when he transforms later the change seems hollow. Still in the apocalyptic world visions we are reviewing here there is something to this film that in our current climate is worth seeing. You will not be blown away but you may still get an idea or two from it.

So if you are interested in a magazine with this content, read updates here soresportmovies.blogspot.com, or on Letterboxd.com to learn how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews and comment on the films. I still have a mail connected to my blog movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on blog entries.

My Letterboxd.com handle is @Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it. If no one wants it well it will probably end up on a magazine rack at the library or something.

Chatting with me is difficult, I have stopped my social media account years ago because time… it’s ticking at my age and I would rather spend it doing other things like this for example. Or chatting with my friends at the Zombiegrrlz.com podcasts on their discord. I am a fan of the podcasts they publish The More Deadly Podcast and the Zombiegrrlz podcast and as a Patron for very little $ I get access to the discord. So if you want to good horror content and a great horror community check them out.You can also find me on the Here's Johnny Podcast and  Faculty of Horror Podcast discords. Look them up join my online friends for some good conversations.

Elysium (2013) - Sci-Fi Action

Elysium (2013) -  Well I may not have enough films for a part two of summer films but I did see this one. It was one of those rare occasions where Elisa (my wife) and I agreed on a film to see together and this is the one. Certainly a summer movie but with a bit of heart and some good if garbled messaging about rich and poor, and health care. I was looking forward to it. I had seen director Neill Blomkamp's feature District 9 and really liked it. He using science fiction had taken a look into racism in a way not seen since Alien Nation (1988). I always loved that about Science fiction the way you can use the fantastical stories to look at issues facing all of us today.  So when this film started up and the world presented looked an awful lot like South Africa I thought okay we might have something here. Except this world was all out of whack. Now most people see this film and say its about the rich and the evils they will dispense on the masses when the earth that they moved towards it's breaking point finally can not sustain the kind of life they want to live. If you will a shot across their bow, but I think the message got a bit garbled in its presentation.
  Global warming and overpopulation makes the earth of 2154 look like hell.  Somewhere along the line the Earth's population stopped using birth control, but continued to rape the earth of resources leading to the wealthy saying, "See you later gator." They took their ball and went up to a lovely climate controlled environment in orbit call Elysium. I am sure there were many discussions that we don't get to see where the wealthy are looking for alternatives to this solutions. Certainly they recognized that unbridled capitalism which focuses on growing the pie, thus increasing the size of the population was unsustainable. I am sure before building their dreamland in space they tried to give away condoms and create industries that would save the earth instead of encouraging its demise. They being the leaders of governments and the masters of industry surely pushed for a sustainable form of economics that would allow them the comforts of wealth without trashing the one place they absolutely need to live. I am also sure that the film just didn't show the continued efforts on the behalf of mankind after they left the ground. Surely they realizing that if the earth ultimately died so would they. Even with their magical fix-it medical bays they must have realized that the earth will eventually burn leaving them without a workforce or resources to sustain themselves? So they must have been doing more than just making police robots and lounging by pools and partying.
  It appears that when the goods are mostly used up that the "haves" of this future world decided living in a shitty world was not for them. They with their Ayn Rand philosophy left the party for a place that was unreachable by the masses leaving the workers to be enslaved to the idea of someday joining them in their utopia. Now I have a basic problem with the vision shown in this film. The civilization left behind is one of abject poverty. People controlled by robots police without feelings. Slogging away each day for measly wages and having no say over their lives. I object to this vision one where the people would stop governing themselves. One where everything will go to hell without the wealthy's guiding hand of wisdom. Sure the world presented is one where the rich run things but I say bull that it would go down that way. People would still strive for good meaningful lives even in that kind of society. The film implies that normal people, although poor can't organize, can love, can't control crime, can't get along and the criminals and poor decision making would rule the day. If not for the ruling classes robot police force the earth would be an uncontrollable festering sore of crime and debauchery. Not only  do I reject this idea I think that the yoke of mechanized control would be thrown off not long after it was institutionalized.  In fact instead of dreaming for a chance to steal health care from the rich, or if a big dreamer of earning enough cash to move to the city in the sky, I imagine that a healthy hatred of the place would be the more prevalent feeling.
  In this film we see like the Cuban boat people during the Reagan years, refugees trying to reach the US before being captured and returned to Cuba, but here on Elysium it is a bit different. We are presented with an immigration message, one which corresponds with what the Obama administration does, capture and deport people when they cross the border. The other more extreme idea is to shoot their spaceships from the sky, as presented by Elysium's director of defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster). All these people are after we learn is the magical medical bays. They know they will be deported so the idea is to land and race to the nearest house. Every wealthy person has a medical bay that in just seconds can scan a person and correct any ailments they might have. The refugees who have gotten a DNA code on the black market break into a house and get scanned and cured of all illnesses before getting caught by the robot police. Its a remarkable message that the wealthy of this world have what could be termed socialized medicine for themselves but don't want to share it.
 The medical bays are an instrument of control, they allow the rich to live long healthy lives. I could not tell if the residents of Elysium were practically immortal but they certainly have very long lives. The longer life allows for more wealth and power thus the wealthy are the long lived ruling class. Keeping the poor dying young is actually a good means of controlling the society. So keeping them from proper health care makes it more likely that anyone organizing to change this corrupt society will face mortality long before those in charge. A fine example of this control is shown through the main storyline where workers at a factory are more likely to be allowed to die that to be instantly cured when they are hurt on the job. The wealthy overlords see the human left on the planet as disposable resources not worth the expense of fixing.
  The main story is of a man Max (Matt Damon) who will soon die after an accidental radiation exposure. He wants to try to get to Elysium and get himself cured and because of this is willing to do anything to make it happen. The mixed plot involve him getting a mechanical exoskeleton, working with hackers who want to jack into the memory of a wealthy Elysium resident John Carlyle (William Fichter) for passwords so they can hack away. He visiting his factory in future LA. and just happens to be the boss that decides not to cure Max when he is hurt. On top of this he has just written a program to reboot the entire Elysium computer system. In doing so making all the robot police he designed, be reprogrammed to follow Defense Minister Delacourt instead of the current president. This treason can't be discovered so he encodes his program in his own head. Of course the film has the hackers find this information and remarkably know what it is. In fact it seems the program is the most easily recognized piece of code ever written.  Adding to the plot is the love interest of Max, Frey (Alice Braga) who needs to get her daughter to Elysium also. The little girl is battling leukemia and will not survive long without the magic of the medical bay. Of course it is all going to come out good for the main characters but there is lots of action and thrills along the way. The wild card in the plot is mercenary Kruger (Sharlto Copley) who is assigned by Delacourt to stop the invasion perpetrated by our heroes.
  I can't say that this was the greatest of films, the action was fine and all but in a way it felt a bit too formula. Some of the simplistic solutions to solve problems made it seem that the society was not quite as advanced as it wanted to be. The medical bay technology was true magic and the simplistic code  that it seemed everyone immediately recognized was silly. The final change to that code that made everyone on earth legal to receive the medical bays was absolutely stupid. Certainly this was a what if scenario that needed the magic to make it work. What if the wealthy left the earth when it became too crappy? What if they still ran society from a space station? What if they had a medical bay that could extend their lives and power? Would they share it? These questions are answered I am just not sure they were answered in a satisfying way.