So, after a long, exhausting,
frustrating day of work, I decided to come home and watch The
Island thinking I would be
entertained with some philosophical questions, problems, and
solutions to some idea of utopia. What I got was a cliched
movie (when it started, my mother asked if this was the sequel to
Gattaca) with
ridiculous amounts of actions scenes that put me to sleep before
twenty minutes before the movie ended – and I never
fall asleep while watching movies, no matter how tired I am.
But
enough about the experience, onto my reactions and thoughts about the
ideas in the movie.
Why
would the people in our society want to live forever or live for an
extremely long time?
Almost
everyone I have talked to has said that they do not want to live
forever, and they would want to die in their 80s because by then they
would have lived a full life. Besides, the life outside of the
underground shelter did not seem any better than it currently is. So,
again, why have a harvestable clone that prolongs your life?
What
would happen if people found out that the clones were not vegetative?
This
society seems rather selfish if it wants to live forever or at least
a long time. It kind of reminds me of the Nike situation. When the
news of the Nike sweatshops went on a whirlwind, everyone was
disgusted and outraged! Yet, people are still buying Nike brand, do
they really care? Would the people of the society in The
Island care, or only care that
they are getting the best product they can and will be better for it?
While
I understand that the movie is a pastiche of utopian ideas and
theories, it did not come across utopian or dystopian at all. It felt
like a poorly executed, futuristic, action sci-fi drama with a love
story. The people in the bomb shelter utopia were not happy until
they won the lottery (they could not even eat what they wanted →
bacon!) and the people above ground were not happy with the time they
were given on earth or the physical and medical issues they were
given. Neither group/society was happy and I do not believe that they
were working towards happiness either, something that I feel is part
of utopia.
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| This society seems rather selfish if it wants to live forever or at least a long time.
ReplyDeleteEven nowadays, we're all pretty standardly selfish. At the same time, however, killing a living being is completely different from ignoring the suffering of someone else. The shoes and sweatshops will exist even without the personal purchase of a pair of shoes (not that I condone this, mind). However, making the clones requires a specific set of instructions from the buyer, and would be completely different.
I don't even know. I just think that people would think twice before creating something just to kill it.
I totally agree! I think happiness should be a part of an utopian, not necessarily perfection or prosperity, but at least some degree of happiness and satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of living forever (and I talked about this in George's post, too) reminds me of a story my friend wrote. In it, a man finds a way to ascend to godhood because he wants power and immortality. Over the centuries, he begins to see that society is still growing and becoming even more powerful than him. To show them who's boss, he levels their capital city, only to watch them rebuild it in half the time it took them to build it the first time. Finally, he realizes that even though humans live short lives, their legacy carries on. . . . Oh, and he realizes that he's totally miserable, powerless, and bored being immortal.
I feel like the same scenario would happen in a society where people live prolonged lives. I think part of what makes our lives meaningful is their shortness; we die, but we pass on the torch to those before us, helping them to grow and prosper. Perhaps that's a part of utopia?
Agreed. Why would you want a utopian if happiness is not the main focus? This is supposed to be a place where you are most satisfied; a perfect world. The way the movie ended did not give hope that these people would be able to live longer because their clones were released into the real world. I am writing my paper about a movie that illustrates an opposite view. People are given to age 25 to live and then they must work for their time if they want to continue to live. After a while people see that you cannot live forever, you do not want to. Happiness is more than just living.
ReplyDeleteI perfectly agree with you though that i did not feel that it was utopian movie. To me it seemed a extension of our world with the selfishness and happiness and sadness.
ReplyDeleteWhile some people probably do not want to live forever I do think a lot of people would make that choice, simply out of ear or other reasons.