Elysium, Django, Oblivion, Alien

Elysium, Oblivion, Alien

These are few ideas that approach the responsibility of social commentary very seriously.

Elysium, Oblivion and Alien are just a few movies which have ideas that critique social norms and societal problems. 

Elysium 

Elysium critiques the inequality and the great physical advantages that wealth brings. It shows how much being poor and in poverty makes you controlled by the wealthy and makes the playing field very uneven. (Also has great design by Weta Workshop!)

Oblivion

Oblivion is technically about 'Aliens' and less about critiquing out society. But it involves what seems to be AI, this pushes us to think about the future of technology and how it could destroy us. Although it doesn't directly comment on climate change it involves a derelict world with many famous New York buildings that would make some feel concerned if they saw it. 

Alien (1979) is a science fiction thriller that is an iconic film in the history of science fiction. A lot of movies at the time relied on strong masculine male leads to carry the movies right through. Alien instead had a strong female lead which was acceptable and believable because the film was set in the late 21st century. But could have also contributed to the changes we have seen today with gender equality slowly decreasing.

 

District 9 is a movie that heavily critiques racism, racial tension and integration in places that currently have a lot tension; Johannesburg South Africa. But instead of using a human race the race that is being abused is the 'Squid' faced aliens. By removing human races it makes the ideas in the film accessible to people who would normally be clouded by racial stigma. It gives them a lot more perspective and that is the purpose of the alien in the case of this film.

In fact it seems to be the case of the aliens in almost all films, they are a tool used to make social commentary more accessible.