Freedom themes in some popular movies
Themes of liberty, independence and excellence run deep in the human psyche. While it often glorifies the banal and mediocre, even Hollywood realises the appeal of these ideas. Sometimes a promising idea is spoiled in the translation to film, sometimes it manages to strike a chord in our hearts. This posting is to highlight some of the films that have an element that appeals to the person who seeks to regain there freedom. Warning, there are some spoilers.
Firstly, I’ll discuss a film that was a disappointment. That is V for Vendetta. This a story about a terrorist who attempts to overthrow a fascist government in Britain.
The original graphic novel is an excellent work that carefully explains the failings of government and the basic principles of anarchy (not to be confused with chaos, which is competing rulers, while anarchy is spontaneous self order). Rather than explore these fundamental themes, the directors take the easy way out by appealing to shallow liberal memes instead. Rather than question fundamental issues about the legitimacy of government, they go back to the tired idea of simply changing one set of rulers for another.
I recently watched the original version of Stepford Wives (not the recent version starring Nicole Kidman, but the 1975 version). The protagonist is a budding photographer who moves with her husband to a small town in Connecticut. She is amazed by the docility of the wives in the town – they appear to be totally focussed on their homes and husbands and completely uninterested in any other aspects of life while the husbands all belong to a sinister men’s club. When she sees her vivacious friend turn into another mindless “robot” she starts to question what is going on.
The scene that stood out to me was when she took some beautiful spontaneous photos of her children at play which were acclaimed by a gallery owner, only to be berated by her husband for having untidy children. She said to him that she doesn’t want to become another Stepford wife, and if she does, the part of her that creates and is her true self will be dead. Ultimately the husband prefers someone under his control.
The theme here is someone being conformed to meet the needs of another person, even though that involves loss of individuality and creativity. This highlights the importance of freedom insofar that it gives the ability to live a full life without restraint, and to benefit ourselves, rather than be restricted by others for their convenience.
The next movie is The Incredibles. This is a beautifully animated feature, but don’t discount it as a seriously enjoyable movie because of that. It is about a family who are gifted with amazing powers: strength, speed, invisibility, and flexibility. They are forced to hide their true abilities to “fit in”.
Mr Incredible is forced to hide his strength and work in a dull insurance job in a cubicle. His manager is Mr Huph, who personifies all the small and petty people who are often elevated to middle management and relish having power over others.
His son, Dash, and daughter, Violet are unable to realise their potential as they can’t use their gifts.
Mr Incredible makes one statement about a primary school “graduation” where Dash goes from one year at school to the next. He highlights the dumbing down of society when he states that it is another way to celebrate mediocrity.
One important theme is that they can only be truly happy when allowed to fully utilise their powers and express themselves and their unique abilities.
The Incredibles’ nemesis is Syndrome who states that he aims to make everyone a “super” by selling his inventions such as jet boots, and that when everyone is super, no-one will be. He represents the people who aim to discount true ability and level everyone to a mediocre “democratic” level, with no-0ne able to stand out as unique or special.
The Shawshank Redemption is about a man, Andy Dufresne who is falsely imprisoned for a life term in the Shawshank Prison, and how he finds freedom behind bars, and also helps others to become free in themselves. While in prison, he builds a library and listens to opera. He works to achieve his goal of freedom over many years until he decides to escape and live out the rest of his life by the ocean.
There are several themes in this movie, but I would like to highlight how Andy found his freedom even while behind bars. He trades his skills for three beers for himself and his workmates. He is described as walking around the yard without a care as if he has an invisible coat surrounding him. He makes use of his limited resources by making a chess set from rocks. When he escapes, it is not as a convict but as a free man.
The final movie that I’ll discuss is The Aviator which is about the life of Howard Hughes, the billionaire businessman who ended up as a recluse. This movie doesn’t focus on the weird aspects of Hughes’ life, but celebrates his creativity and drive. Hughes was a man who excelled in movie production as well as in aviation.
When he dates Katherine Hepburn, he goes to meet her wealthy family. Over lunch, her mother doesn’t want to hear anything about his achievements and tells him that “we don’t care about money,” and he responds with “That’s because you’ve always had it,” exposing the liberal Hepburns as snobs and hypocrites.
Hughes is called into an official inquiry about his airline. He upstages his interrogator by reminding him that he is a private citizen and someone who creates and will continue to create, even though he lost millions of dollars doing so when the government did not buy his aircraft. He then exposes the hypocrisy of those who want to pull him down and refuses to answer any more questions.
There are many other movies that have freedom themes. If you want to share the themes you have found, please feel free to leave a comment.
Tags: film reviews, the aviator, the incredibles, the shawshank redemption, the stepford wives, v for vendetta
April 25th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Two films I recently viewed have themes of Freedom running through them. The first is ‘One Flew Over The Cookoo’s Nest’ starring Jack Nicholson as a character (McMurphy) sent from jail into a mental institution for ‘treatment’. Despite no mental illness he is incarcerated with other patients in a ward where control by Nurse Ratched is absolute, where patients are taught helplessness, where rules have to be obeyed and where schedules have to be kept. McMurphy challenges the schedules, the system and the learned helplessness of the other patients on the ward by freeing them mentally and physically with life beyond the walls, in the process attracting the wrath of the system he rebels against by being committed as an involuntary patient of the ward and by being subjected to electric shock therapy and then ultimately a frontal labotimy. In this sense the system removes all freedoms for McMurphy, however, a freind on the ward whom McMurphy has encouraged to gain freedom sees him after these treatments and suffocates him, in an ultimate act of rebellion act against the suppression of freedom.
The second film is a 1947 classic titles ‘Its a Wonderful Life’ starring James Stewart as George Bailey. In this film the life of George is viewed from an eternal perspective, where the true impact of every action of his life is visible. As a boy George Bailey dreams of big plans for his life – travel, adventure, grand schemes – all away from the small town in which he grows up. All his plans are stymied as his desire to do what is right for others takes precedence. As a result of various circumstances he ends up in a mid life crisis, questioning the path he has taken. It is only then that an angel shows him the terrible consequences for the town if he did not stay to live his life there. This film demonstrates the profound effect our lives have on others and the tremendous good we can bring into others lives with the slightest interaction.
I recommend readers to view both films.