Utopia-ception

This evening I treated myself and my boyfriend to a night at the movie theatre. We decided to see Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise, because we had no idea what any of the other movies were. Oblivion is basically an end-of-the-Earth movie, where the moon has been blown up by an alien population, which caused earthquakes and tsunamis, making the planet virtually uninhabitable. The whole Earth population had been relocated to Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Tom Cruise's character John is based on Earth with a partner, Victoria, to help repair the machines that harness sea water for energy. Along the way, John gets a little too curious and learns that the plan for life on Titan is not what it seems to be. 

It is a little bit of a stretch, but I can definitely see utopian concepts in this film. When Earth was rendered uninhabitable, a plan needed to be formulated, thus Titan. At his home on Earth, John and Victoria's lives are dictated in every aspect. They rely on their higher-ups to send them all supplies and take orders from them for missions each day. Their house is streamlined and almost antiseptic how clean and white it is. Adhering to all the rules, Victoria is afraid to bring anything from outside into her house, fearing contamination. John blindly takes orders to kill off any aliens that he comes in contact with, because they are still the enemy despite looking exactly like a human being. 

John and Victoria's home

One of the more utopian aspects that I found was the fact that the society, in the end, could not hold together. In the texts that we have read for this class, the utopian plan does not make everyone content and there is some type of disintegration of the community or an attempt at a revolt. 

Even during the previews I was bombarded with another Utopian film, Elysium. First of all, it looks really cool and stars Matt Damon, so I'm definitely going to see it. From what I could tell from the preview, Elysium is essentially a big space station that is where all the best people go. There's nothing bad on Elysium (the preview showed a woman being scanned and showing trace amounts of cancer and then having it taken away immediately). But, back on Earth, life is a different story: the planet is in shambles and there is a rogue group of people, Matt Damon's character included, that feel the need to take down Elysium if they want to save the human population. The preview left a lot to the imagination, but it definitely got me hooked.

These two films show me that we are fascinated with utopias and dreaming of another way of life. Also, because utopias can be a commentary on things in our current world, it sure seems that film writers have some issues with the way things are going. I do not ever see a time when utopian literature or films will not exist, they are simply too compelling.

Creepy Feelings

After watching Gattaca, I kind of have the creeps. The whole genetic engineering seems like a fate that is all too possible. For years we have been doing invitro fertilizations and have made clones. What is next?

Genetic engineering has the possibility to improve society in some ways but it is so unnatural and creepy to think of. Are the people being born really individuals if things down to personality traits can be picked out? 

If our world does come to genetic engineering, it may start off harmless: people wanting blue-eyed instead of brown-eyed babies with straight hair instead of curly. But, like with many things in  American culture, it will be taken too many steps too far. What would it be like to be discriminated against solely because of your genetic markup due to your parents wanting a love child? 

It is kind of like racism, being totally against someone because of factors beyond their control, but with this "Geneism" the people are being discriminated against for things not even noticeable to the naked eye. 

Back to the movie, I really enjoyed it. Instantly I recognized it as a movie that I watched in high school but now I got so much more out of it from paying full attention to what was happening. 

Enjoy this pic of Jude Law, everyone. You're welcome.

First of all, I have so much pity for the real Jerome Morrow. How disappointing it must be to really only have the option left of selling your identity? I loved the sense of camaraderie that Jerome and Vincent developed and thought it was so noble of Jerome to support Vincent and encourage him to keep going when he was down. After all, what would Jerome get out of it? Nothing, really. 

(I am really confusing myself here, writing about Jerome when two characters take on that name) 

Until Jerome showed Vincent his medal did I feel sorry for the genetically engineered population. I never thought of the pressure of having such a high standard held to yourself at all times. I know for me it is hard enough to have high expectations for myself and sometimes from my parents, but having those high expectations imposed on my by society would be exhausting. 

Unlike Brave New World and 1984, the lower class people are not brainwashed to be happy in their place and grateful that they do not have all the work and responsibility of the higher caste. In Gattaca, the lower people are openly discriminated against and looked down upon. 

This movie really made me think about our society and planted the fear in my mind that someday our world could potentially turn out like that in the film, which is something that I hope I never live to see come to light.

DoublePlusLike Thy Enemy

I have just finished reading 1984 for the second time and I am so glad I revisited this novel. In the final book, I had an eerie recollection of a part in Night by Elie Wiesel. In MiniLuv, or the Ministry of Love, when Winston was told to strip down to his birthday suit and stand in front of a three-way mirror, all I could picture in my head was Elie Wiesel's experience of seeing his reflection for the first time since he entered the Nazi concentration camps. 

Winston had been so diminished, physically and mentally, and almost nothing remained of his former self. He did not look like Old Winston and, although he called himself a man, he had the bodily dimensions of a pre-teen. 

Being at such a deprived state, Winston was empty, just as O'Brien wanted. That way, Winston could be filled up and satiated with Big Brother. Once he surrendered the last thing that mattered to him, Julia, he Big Brother was able to take care of him as he should: feeding him three meals a day, letting him smoke decent cigarettes and allowing him personal hygiene. Winston could only come to love Big Brother.

What we have here, my friends, is a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome. It just disgusts me the mental torture and manipulation that humans are capable of. How scary the thought is that someday, the government may in fact have a way to find out our deepest, darkest fears and use them against us? I cannot even draw to mind what my biggest fear is, and I get creeped out just wondering what it might be and knowing my fear would be greater when it was presented to me. 

I really hate cotton balls, but I hardly doubt they'd be a torture tactic. 

A curious thought just popped into my head: Winston hates rats, and Julia turned him in, or ratted him out, so it's interesting that he claimed to have loved her. Is one of the morals that Big Brother is trying to get across that what you love the most will be your downfall? Hmm....

Also, Julia confessed to having betrayed Winston, I get that much. But how did she end up betraying him? What did she scream and beg for them to torture Winston with and not her? 

Damn you, George Orwell for leaving me with all these questions! 

How Noble They Are

So I jumped ahead a bit and dove into 1984 over the weekend. It has been four years since I was assigned this book back in 11th grade and it is quite interesting seeing it through a new perspective. I have always loved this book so getting to read it is quite the treat. I am going to discuss something that happens in Book 2 so if you have not read past book 1, stop reading this post now!!!!!!

When I was laying in bed last night I was thinking about what I had read earlier that day. I kept going back to the point in the book when Winston and Julia meet at O'Brien's apartment. When they are confessing to all their anti-party actions and agree to so many terrible things that being in The Brotherhood would entail, I just gained so much respect for them. You may ask how I could have respect for someone who agreed, if the time and need came, to throw sulfuric acid in a child's face.

Yes, some of the deeds that Winston and Julia said they would be willing to do are absolutely terrible and rotten to the core, but the fact that they are standing up for what they believe for is very great indeed. Adding to my respect is the fact that they will not see the payoff of all their hard work. Ever. How noble it is to dedicate your life to a cause, risking vaporization every day in everything that you do and think, when you know and are told from the get-go that you will not see your hard work pay off.

I wish that I had the courage to live as Winston and Julia have agreed to. I wish that someday I feel so passionately about a cause that I am willing to go to extremes so that following generations will be able to reap the benefits of the seeds that I sowed.

This idea I can project onto our current generation's problem of global warming and pollution. Even though we are not seeing drastic and dire outcomes, further generations will. It is hard to devote oneself to something that they will never be able to enjoy. So many people have the mentality that they will never see the day when icebergs melt and the world floods, so why should they even try.

The thing is, each little step counts toward the bigger picture. People may not care about the environment or see the point in doing something that will only be beneficial years and years later, but if everyone contributes to the greater good, so many of our future relatives will be able to live a happy and healthy life like we have. I do not know about you, but I do not want to imagine a future where my great-great-great grandchildren will not be able to swim in the ocean because it is so polluted with toxic chemicals and trash.

Environmentalism is not illegal, but it is still a noble cause to work toward. I have so much respect for Winston, Julia, and every member of The Brotherhood for all their clandestine work against their overbearing government. People who truly stand up for what is right and just, even if it goes against everything they are told to do, will always have a high standing in my book. Even if actions they take to support their cause are secret and  small, the risk that they are taking toward the end goal is very respectable.

How Different It Would Be

Reading Brave New World I can't help but imagine what life would be like living in the world state. So many of our lifetime milestones would be erased: the first kiss would not be important, little girls would never have a wedding dress to dream about, no one would have parents to turn to for advice when they are confused. I just cannot imagine how miserable life would be. 

Living in a world where any troubles can be solved by a Soma holiday just does not seem like life to me. I have grown the most out of adverse situations; people would be so emotionally weak if they just took drugs to get rid of all the bad emotions. 

Death is one aspect of the world state that I look at as slightly favorable. I really hate how much sadness and despair is associated with death in our culture. Yes, sadness is a good thing, but I feel that it is more important to look at the good times that person had. Recently my best friend's grandmother passed away after many years battling cancer. I was sad, naturally, but I also was glad that she was put out of her suffering.

Don't even get me started on books. What is so wrong with books? I cannot find one argument with weight for why they would not be allowed. Yes, they draw out an alternate reality, but everyone needs an escape from time to time, right? When I'm having a bad day I can pick up a book and just let my mind escape from whatever troubles I am experiencing. 

Brave New World is an interesting read, but I hate mostly everything in it. I don't like the human engineering and the removal of any individuality. I hate the reliance on Soma and the avoidance of anything bad or unpleasant. If I can't live in a place where I can think and make decisions for myself, I think that I would rather not live at all.

My Utopian Experience

For the upcoming paper due, I am writing on James Hilton's Lost Horizon. This is about a place that seems to be a utopia but where people really do not enjoy their time there. It got me thinking about a time in my life where I had a similar experience. 

In January 2011 at the ripe age of 18, I was admitted into an inpatient facility for an eating disorder. I was there for about 2 months and so many aspects of my life there can be looked upon as utopian. 

Remuda Ranch was located in Bowling Green, VA, about an hour away from any type of civilization. We had horses for equine therapy, art therapy, a full medical staff on site and a chapel for non-denominational worship. 

For starters, everything was planned out. We had our day's activities lined up for us, full of therapy groups of varying degrees.

When I arrived I had hours of intake processes to go through. I had a complete physical evaluation, my luggage was gone through and all the bad things were taken away. 

Each patient was placed on a certain grade: red, yellow or green. Red patients had the most restrictions (being driven in a golf cart from building to building, getting the toilet flushed for you by a nurse, no choice in meals). Yellow and green patients had more physical abilities (walking between buildings, going on trail rides with the horses we were assigned). 

In a lot of fictional utopias, controlling mentalities is a factor. Well, Remuda had that too. Each morning, noon and night the patients would line up to receive our meds in handy paper cups. If we were having an unpleasant emotion, all we had to do was turn to the trusty psychiatrist for a new pill. 

Like in Plato's Republic, our access to books, music and movies was limited. We did not have any cable TV to see what was going on in the world. All magazines were banned. Any books we wanted to read had to be approved by our therapist. All the movies we watched were rater PG or G. Each CD was purchased from the religious section. It all became so monotonous and mindless. It was scary being so out of touch with things when I was released after just two months.

It is very interesting how in a place where we were supposed to be healing mentally and physically, I seemed to lose myself. I did not have to think about anything, just look at my weekly schedule to see what I would be doing that day. 

Looking back, everything about Remuda screams "UTOPIA!!!!!!!" yet to the patients it was anything but. I felt like I had Big Brother looking over my every move. There were so many rules about what we couldn't do and I felt like there was nothing that we could do. While I was there, I was counting down the days until I could go home. I know that I was benefitting from the ranch in the long run, but while I was there, getting home was the only thing on my mind. 

Women are People, Too

I do not know if the age I grew up in, the family I was born to or the fact that I was just super sleepy after an intense workout, but while I was reading Herland, I just could not get into it. I'm three chapters in and it just does not really spark my interest.

You see, I may be the exception in the female population, but I just do not and probably will never buy into the whole need that women have to prove themselves as valuable members of society. I do not feel oppressed by being an American woman. I do not get offended when someone asks if I could make them a sandwich (hell, I probably make a better sandwich than 80% of the population, so I take that as a compliment). 

As an aside, "woman making sandwich" was the first suggestion on Google when I began searching for "woman making..."

Because of this attitude that I hold, I sometimes get irritated when women are all about female empowerment. Not to seem cold, I do support people who hold those views, but please do not thrust them in my face. Yes, there are things that women are put at a disadvantage to just because of what reproductive organs they have. But, there are also advantages to being a woman. You do not see American fathers getting paternity leave to spend those crucial months bonding with their newborn. You do not see women being stereotyped as scary when seen walking down the street alone at night. 

Image courtesy of google

Image courtesy of google

Now, you may be asking why I'm bringing these views up when (up until chapter 4) in Herland there is no portrayal of women being oppressed. Well, the fact that the author makes the three men so utterly shocked that the women are able to carry out a functional and advanced society with no men around raises the point of female oppression through the use of an opposite reality. By showing just how amazingly strong and powerful these women are, all I can think of is it being an alarm to how women of our time are not able to be strong and independent through the men's reactions. 

However, I'm going to try to keep an open mind through the rest of the book. Which probably will not be hard at all because women's brains are like sponges and just absorb and believe everything they are presented with...

How I Compare: 40%

In the spirit of being a college student, I decided to give myself a test. Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict is a comprehensive list of ways that monks should live by. I went through the list to see which rules I apply to my daily life (for the greater part, obviously I am going to have some slip-ups) and I found that I exhibit a meager 29 of 72 traits. There are easy ones, like not committing murder or adultery, but other ones are a lot more vague. 

It was quite eye-opening to go through the list and see the things that I do not do in my life, but that I should work harder to. Number 9 is the golden rule of treating others how you wish to be treated yourself. In face-to-face contact I definitely abide by this rule, but when I am engaging in a guilty pleasure of gossiping, I am most definitely going against this rule. In my defense, I do not engage in as harmful talks as others I know do, but I surely need to work on speaking only positively of others. Even if someone has wronged me or made me upset, what am I really going to gain from griping about it? 

Being a stranger to the world's ways, à la #20, would seem to be not only not helpful, but actually a disadvantage in this day and age. So much of our daily lives revolves around knowing what is happening in the world. One needs to be educated about other cultures so they do not offend and can understand customs different than their own. One needs to know basics of world goings on so that one can make an informed decision when time comes to vote. Now that I am 20 years old, I should retire my ways of voting for local officeholders by whoever has the coolest/most unusual name. Yes, I admitted it and you should too. I mean, who really knows about who they are voting for to be on the board of education? 

Number 27: Not to swear. Need I say more?

"But to recognize always that evil is one's own doing, and to impute it to oneself." This is one of the rules that I actually do follow in my daily life and I must admit that I have a problem with it. I seem to follow this rule too closely, and it is at a cost, I must say. First off, in most cases, not everything bad that happens to someone is his/her fault. Certainly that's the case with me. However, I do not recognize that bad things happen to me because of other people or just a random act of fate. I place so much blame on myself that I suffer undue amounts of stress-stress that I would not wish on anyone else. Therefore, I think that St. Benedict would benefit from switching this rule up a bit to account for random happenings and error of others. People can't go around beating themselves up for every little thing that goes wrong in their day! There would simply be no time for any enjoyment in life. 

To wrap things up, I would say that St. Benedict would excommunicate me from his little monastery. Well, that is if I even chose to go there in the first place. Which I wouldn't. Brown wool cloaks don't really tickle my fancy. 

The Dysfunctional Utopia

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I am assuming that many of you have heard of the new movie Warm Bodies. For the select few that have been living in a "dead zone" as technology ads have so aptly named it, Warm Bodies is what seems to be a modern-day rom-com for the more adult Twilight era. The main character, R (Nicholas Hoult), is a zombie. Big woop, right? Not so much, due to his chiseled features and strangely attractive appearance. While out hunting for humans, R spies a PYT (get out of here if you don't pick up on that reference) that he decides to, you know, just take back with him to the zombie compound. From there, she magically flips the human switch inside of him and he begins to regain his humanity, heartbeat by heartbeat.


As this is an educated person's blog, this will not be a synopsis of the film, rather a brief discussion of a part of the book, written by Issac Marion, that the film is based on.

Image courtesy of bnfitdc.wordpress.com

I will give you a minute to let it sink in that a college student actually reads books for pleasure.



Alright, time's up. In the book, R realizes that he needs to take his lady friend, Julie, back home or the humans will hunt her down and really kill all the zombies. Zombiness has plagued the states so badly that only about 30% of the nation's cities are functional. On their journey through a deserted city, they take respite in a long-abandoned home. In the morning, Julie is able to sneak away and get back to the shelter where the humans have hunkered down at. This shelter is a huge superdome rigged into a makeshift city. 

R has been realizing his human aspects sneaking back up on him for a while, but his first night without Julie, he dreams. This dream, which of course features Julie propels him into his mission to get her back. 

Teaming up with a handful of other zombies, R heads for the superdome and is able to
"play human" (imagine teaching your dog that trick) and sneak in past the guards. 

Immediately I was struck with the utopian nature of this contrived community. There had been so many measures taken to make it seem like a true city, even in the midst of tragedy and peril.  Street signs had been replaced with pictures. There are "underpowered streetlamps provid[ing] dim orange illumination" (Marion, 134). There is debris littering the sidewalks: used condoms, cigarettes and soda cans. "We built schools once we finally accepted that this was reality, that this was the world our children would inherit" (Marion, 136) and in those schools, children were taught practical skills first (zombie killing, concrete pouring) and in spare time, reading, writing and reasoning. 

Image courtesy of abovetopsecret.com

This book goes to show a great aspect of utopianism in my opinion. People can try so hard to give the people what they need and what they want, but too much control, too much structure will essentially lead to discontent. People were not meant to be confined and oppressed, humans by nature want to explore, roam and learn things for themselves. 

Desserts Are The Backbone of Peace

Presently, I am wrapped up in Plato's The Republic, getting a head-start on the next reading for class. I am merely on the third of 40 pages and I am caught up in a fit of laughter at the ideas these philosophers are throwing around about making a city. 

First, they started out with the conclusion that to have a foundation for a city, one only needs four or five men: one a farmer, one a builder, one a weaver, one a cobbler and one a doctor. Hah! What a boring city that would be. 

Image courtesy of rootsweb.ancestry.com

Imagine living in a city with only five people. There would be no laws. There would be no entertainment, even! Us Americans just love celebrities, and in this contrived society, there would be....no. Justin. Bieber. Chaos ensues. 

Quickly, though, my laughter returns when the philosophers realize that four or five men is simply not enough for a sufficient city. Of course no one will want to spend all their time making enough of the staples of life for themselves and everyone else. Why should one man have to grow enough wheat for five? It's simply unfair. 

Cue the next realization: there needs to be imports! Imagine if Americans had to be completely self-sufficient without the aid of any foreign countries. When would there be time for an afternoon siesta? There may be some benefits, though. I imagine that obesity would greatly decrease if the majority of the population had to work to sustain the whole country. More and more people would be involved in physical labor, eliminating what I like to call the "desk-job love handles." Also, I imagine that technology would vastly improve. People would naturally get hurt on the job, so why not build a machine that would do it for you? Technology may evolve into something helpful rather than mindless. But, I guess iPads have already done their damage...

And the pièce de resistance: dessert. One of the philosophers somehow forgot the obvious need for food items like salt, olives and cheese. Thinking on this track, he came to the conclusion that they would "give them desserts, too, of course, consisting of figs, chickpeas, and beans, and they'll roast myrtle and acorns before the fire, drinking moderately. And so they'll live in peace and good health" (Plato, 47). 

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What took him so long to realize that the key to an appeased population is desserts and the moderate drink?? If only the problems of modern-day life could be solved with a slice of apple pie and a glass of Chardonnay. 

I have so far found this reading quite entertaining, especially since the city the philosophers have been planning seems to have come to ground in 3 pages. Who knows what treasures lie ahead for me?

Appreciating Those Around You

These days, it seems as if friends come and go as frequently as the seasons change. Sometimes people do not take the time to truly appreciate those friends and loved ones who have been around for the long haul; the ups and downs, the good and the bad times. 

I, like many other people, have had my fair share of heartbreaks and personal struggles, but my closest friends and loved ones are the people who have helped me to make it out relatively unscathed. 

Image courtesy of livingthebalancedlife.com

Who hasn't had a rough patch in their life? I mean, we are all humans, and nobody is perfect. (Just take a look at how Lindsay Lohan has turned out!) As humans who err, we need those people who will always be there for us-and who we will always be there for when the shoe is on the other foot. 

In Erin's perfect world, friends would take the time to show each other that they care and are thankful to have that person in their life. To do this, one would take a little bit of time to hand make something for a friend. It does not even have to cost you money. Simply writing "I'm so glad we're friends!" on a piece of paper and slipping it under their door will suffice. 

Image courtesy of blogs.babble.com/dadding

This first week of school has been anything but Erin's perfect world. It seems that I am the only one out of my friends who has been assigned homework in every class! But, one day while I was printing out syllabi, I remembered that my friend had started her first day of job training at a very nice Frederick restaurant that will remain unnamed. 

Image courtesy of Adam Leviton

Alright, I cannot keep it a secret any longer: the restaurant is Volt, so you can only imagine how intense job training is there. I mean, this poor friend got a stapled packet of all the rules she has to follow, right down to the stipulations of wearing eyebrow pencil. (By the way, I did not know people even wear eyebrow pencil unless their brows are completely waxed off.)

I digress.

After printing, I opened up a fresh Word document and typed a little note wishing this friend a good day at work and saying that I was excited to hang out that evening. I slid it under her door (she conveniently lives in my hall) and went along my merry way. 

Nothing was in it for me. I did not expect one thing in return, and that concept is the foundation of my plan for a better world. People are too concerned about what they will get out of things they do. Go grocery shopping, you will get gas points! Donate money to our art museum, you will get your name on a plaque so everyone sees how rich you are! 

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That type of culture disgusts me. People should practice kindness to all, and generosity from the heart. Trust me when I say this, doing something when you expect not one thing in return feels great. When I ran into my friend later, she said that my simple note that took me one minute to make made her day. I was so pleased to hear that my words could add at least one smile into a friend's day.

So I challenge YOU to make something for a friend tomorrow. Yes, I know you have class, but if it took me a minute to type a one-sentence note, you can find something to give a friend to let them know you care!