The political crises that disrupted globalized capitalism in the age of inequality led cinema to turn to past precedents as historical allegories of the present.
Russia
Competition for survival amongst the poor as a game engineered by the rich is the dominant dystopian sci-fi trope in the age of inequality.
Korea
Brazil
Competition for survival amongst the poor as a game engineered by the rich is the dominant dystopian sci-fi trope in the age of inequality.
Korea
Brazil
The phenomenal worldwide popularity of SQUID GAME is comparable to the unprecedented global success of PARASITE: both are nightmarish expressions of the anxieties generated by the gross inequality and punishing economic environment of the times we live in. The replacement of all other forms of human values and interpersonal bonds by the rules of economic competition is the show’s true subject, and its nostalgic appeal to sentiment in the face of capitalist logic gives it great emotional resonance.
The phenomenal worldwide popularity of SQUID GAME is comparable to the unprecedented global success of PARASITE: both are nightmarish expressions of the anxieties generated by the gross inequality and punishing economic environment of the times we live in. The replacement of all other forms of human values and interpersonal bonds by the rules of economic competition is the show’s true subject, and its nostalgic appeal to sentiment in the face of capitalist logic gives it great emotional resonance.
The phenomenal worldwide popularity of SQUID GAME is comparable to the unprecedented global success of PARASITE: both are nightmarish expressions of the anxieties generated by the gross inequality and punishing economic environment of the times we live in. The replacement of all other forms of human values and interpersonal bonds by the rules of economic competition is the show’s true subject, and its nostalgic appeal to sentiment in the face of capitalist logic gives it great emotional resonance.
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
A more militant, combative form of resistance is found in BACURAU, drawing on the traditions of Brazil’s Cinema Novo in both its popular folk elements and radical revolutionary politics. Inequality in the geopolitical form of economic and technological divisions between the global North and South is more forcefully articulated here than elsewhere, although as a theme it is also present in SQUID GAMES and OKJA. Like OKJA, BACURAU provides viewers with the hope of a projected victory for those who resist.
A more militant, combative form of resistance is found in BACURAU, drawing on the traditions of Brazil’s Cinema Novo in both its popular folk elements and radical revolutionary politics. Inequality in the geopolitical form of economic and technological divisions between the global North and South is more forcefully articulated here than elsewhere, although as a theme it is also present in SQUID GAME and OKJA. Like OKJA, BACURAU provides viewers with the hope of a projected victory for those who resist.
A more militant, combative form of resistance is found in BACURAU, drawing on the traditions of Brazil’s Cinema Novo in both its popular folk elements and radical revolutionary politics. Inequality in the geopolitical form of economic and technological divisions between the global North and South is more forcefully articulated here than elsewhere, although as a theme it is also present in SQUID GAMES and OKJA. Like OKJA, BACURAU provides viewers with the hope of a projected victory for those who resist.
THE HUNGER GAMES first made the survival games genre a part of the age of inequality’s zeitgeist. Its vision of a dystopian world divided between the rich and the poor was criticized by some for being inattentive to race, while the future it portrayed was single-mindedly focused on America, with little sense of the world beyond or of the country’s role in global politics. The films sounded a cautionary note against the trappings of power that ultimately negates the meaning of organized resistance to oppression.
THE HUNGER GAMES first made the survival games genre a part of the age of inequality’s zeitgeist. Its vision of a dystopian world divided between the rich and the poor was criticized by some for being inattentive to race, while the future it portrayed was single-mindedly focused on America, with little sense of the world beyond or of the country’s role in global politics. The films sounded a cautionary note against the trappings of power that ultimately negates the meaning of organized resistance to oppression.
THE HUNGER GAMES first made the survival games genre a part of the age of inequality’s zeitgeist. Its vision of a dystopian world divided between the rich and the poor was criticized by some for being inattentive to race, while the future it portrayed was single-mindedly focused on America, with little sense of the world beyond or of the country’s role in global politics. The films sounded a cautionary note against the trappings of power that ultimately negates the meaning of organized resistance to oppression.
The American production company Blumhouse Productions has been responsible for a host of low-budget thriller/horror films that have a strong element of political commentary responding to the social contradictions of the age of inequality, including works like GET OUT and THE HUNT. THE PURGE takes elements of the home invasion genre or films about intrusion into the gated homes of the rich such as PANIC ROOM or FUNNY GAMES, while configuring them within a B-movie setup that satirizes American politics.
The American production company Blumhouse Productions has been responsible for a host of low-budget thriller/horror films that have a strong element of political commentary responding to the social contradictions of the age of inequality, including works like GET OUT and THE HUNT. THE PURGE takes elements of the home invasion genre or films about intrusion into the gated homes of the rich such as PANIC ROOM or FUNNY GAMES, while configuring them within a B-movie setup that satirizes American politics.
The American production company Blumhouse Productions has been responsible for a host of low-budget thriller/horror films that have a strong element of political commentary responding to the social contradictions of the age of inequality, including works like GET OUT and THE HUNT. THE PURGE takes elements of the home invasion genre or films about intrusion into the gated homes of the rich such as PANIC ROOM or FUNNY GAMES, while configuring them within a B-movie setup that satirizes American politics.
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?
Bong’s dystopian sci-fi SNOWPIERCER and his action-adventure film OKJA posit different takes on the possibilities of resistance against an ingrained system: in the former, resistance is near-futile as a structural occurrence planned for by the system itself with built-in forms of crackdown, unless if the entire order is brought to a catastrophic collapse; in the latter, guerrilla forms of disruption are still plausible. Adam McKay’s satirical vision of global apocalypse DON’T LOOK UP poses similar questions: can we still fight the system before it crashes?