LITR 4632: Literature of
the Future
Student Future-Visions Presentation 2007
21 June: Dana Stephens
The Island: Artificial Utopia leading to Dystopia
Director: Michael Bay
Summary: The Island (2005) is a science fiction movie. In 2019, a community of people is lead to believe that most of the outside world has been contaminated, and they have been rescued from the toxic environment, lives by utopian standards in an isolated colony. The rules of living are selected for them; clothing, meals, leisure, and jobs are all structured and controlled. Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta are best friends in this repressive and intriguing society. Everyone in the community anticipates a special event, the lottery, in which one person wins a chance to move to a paradise, the only uncontaminated area left on Earth, known as "The Island."
Jordan wins the lottery, and Lincoln accidentally finds the scary truth behind the Utopian award. This community of people, which they belong, too are where wealthy citizens have themselves cloned in order to insure they have a guaranteed matching source for organs, blood, or any other replacement body parts that may be needed. While this sounds like a great medical advancement in theory, the reality is the "insurance policies" of these affluent people are actual living, breathing, and feeling human beings who have to be murdered in order for the original person to have their replacement body part.
Primary Objectives:
To identify, describe, and criticize the narratives or stories humans tell about the future
Ø Apocalyptic
Ø Evolutionary
To identify, describe, and criticize typical visions or scenarios of the future (seen from 2007).
Ø Utopia vs. Dystopia
Questions:
1. In the first clip the statement is stated that the future has become a majority of the world, they have been lead to believe that there is a contaminated toxic environment, however, there does exist an uncontaminated spot on the planet called the “The Island” where one would live a utopian life. Is this vision of the future a reflection of our own fears that society, is destroying the environment and a utopia civilization will be one in which you would have to win to get in? Will this utopia civilization be control by the government?
- While the movie deals with the futurist ideas of cloning to prepare for longevity, it seems to suggest this could be a way for individual’s to extend their life. By cloning yourself there would not be an issue of finding replacement organs compatibility, and childbirth. Since the clone has to be killed to retrieve the need organs is this murder? Is a clone a real person? Born or produce?