This is such a great movie on many levels. I won't take the time to re-cap the story line which all of the reviews here have already done so well, but I didn't want to comment on something that no one else has up until this point.
First of all, I don't really see this as sci-fi, because it is already happening today- we don't even need the "mind bands" to dumb us down because there is already an insidious growing movement to see diversity squashed and mediocrity rewarded. TV has become a banal wasteland of "reality" shows like Survivor, Lost, American Idol, etc. There is nothing but "empty calories" in these shows (btw, this is not to say that I do not recognize the need for some mindless entertainment at times.) And American Idol has as much to do with uniqueness and diversity as it does with real singing. There was a time when TV did have some thought provoking commentary that was presented in an entertaining way. Examples would be Star Trek or All in the Family. (These are just 2, I could put more here, but I'm on a time constraint to go to work.) Kids AND adults are rewarded everyday for getting 10th place... or last. That's not to say that that person in last place didn't work as hard as the person in first- it's to say that there are "winners" and "losers" in everything - even life, even in the "afterlife" there is heaven and hell. Watch a lame antelope getting tackled by a lion- it happens. In our cerebral (irony) society, we think that we have somehow conquered that idea- that it is benign and kind to want to remove the "sting" of being the last- but life isn't like that. That is an unreality. That "sting," helps to give us as human beings an impetus to strive for things and make things better. This is part of what this movie addresses so well.
To be honest, my favorite scene is the one in which Plummer's character shows Astin's character Bergeron the DVD of the "cost" of intelligence and uniqueness. He makes a compelling argument that ALMOST convinces the viewer; that somehow, all this diversity is the cause of wars and hate. That if we were just all the same somehow, it would disappear. No more brilliance? No more great music, movies, or art? Maybe, but isn't it worth it if there are no more senseless deaths? But then, perhaps some things are worth dying for. This scene in the movie actually leaves it "open" so the viewer can make their own decision. (Personally, I *need* music and movies and art- I don't think I could live without them.)
Strangely enough, I always think of the movie/play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" when I think of this movie, because there's one scene in which George makes an off-handed comment about the biologists and how they are the ones that are going to make everyone the same, that there will be no music, poetry and not much learning, but we will have a sublime civilization of men that are all the same. (I'm paraphrasing from memory, so cut me some slack.) He also says, "You take the trouble to construct a civilization, to build a society based on the principles of... of principle. You make government and art and realize that they are, must be, both the same. You bring things to the saddest of all points, to the point where there is something to lose." Well, I think we are at that point already. There is something to lose, and it's our minds and souls.
First of all, I don't really see this as sci-fi, because it is already happening today- we don't even need the "mind bands" to dumb us down because there is already an insidious growing movement to see diversity squashed and mediocrity rewarded. TV has become a banal wasteland of "reality" shows like Survivor, Lost, American Idol, etc. There is nothing but "empty calories" in these shows (btw, this is not to say that I do not recognize the need for some mindless entertainment at times.) And American Idol has as much to do with uniqueness and diversity as it does with real singing. There was a time when TV did have some thought provoking commentary that was presented in an entertaining way. Examples would be Star Trek or All in the Family. (These are just 2, I could put more here, but I'm on a time constraint to go to work.) Kids AND adults are rewarded everyday for getting 10th place... or last. That's not to say that that person in last place didn't work as hard as the person in first- it's to say that there are "winners" and "losers" in everything - even life, even in the "afterlife" there is heaven and hell. Watch a lame antelope getting tackled by a lion- it happens. In our cerebral (irony) society, we think that we have somehow conquered that idea- that it is benign and kind to want to remove the "sting" of being the last- but life isn't like that. That is an unreality. That "sting," helps to give us as human beings an impetus to strive for things and make things better. This is part of what this movie addresses so well.
To be honest, my favorite scene is the one in which Plummer's character shows Astin's character Bergeron the DVD of the "cost" of intelligence and uniqueness. He makes a compelling argument that ALMOST convinces the viewer; that somehow, all this diversity is the cause of wars and hate. That if we were just all the same somehow, it would disappear. No more brilliance? No more great music, movies, or art? Maybe, but isn't it worth it if there are no more senseless deaths? But then, perhaps some things are worth dying for. This scene in the movie actually leaves it "open" so the viewer can make their own decision. (Personally, I *need* music and movies and art- I don't think I could live without them.)
Strangely enough, I always think of the movie/play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" when I think of this movie, because there's one scene in which George makes an off-handed comment about the biologists and how they are the ones that are going to make everyone the same, that there will be no music, poetry and not much learning, but we will have a sublime civilization of men that are all the same. (I'm paraphrasing from memory, so cut me some slack.) He also says, "You take the trouble to construct a civilization, to build a society based on the principles of... of principle. You make government and art and realize that they are, must be, both the same. You bring things to the saddest of all points, to the point where there is something to lose." Well, I think we are at that point already. There is something to lose, and it's our minds and souls.