FINAL DRAFT :)

‘What are the messages of Post-apocalyptic/sci-fi films? Paying Particular attention to Children of Men (2006)’
‘No Children, No Future, No Hope’[1], does this idea reflect the unconscious thinking of the audience, and are the audience’s morals/attitudes affected through the reflection of this in films?
Post-apocalyptic science fiction is perhaps one of the most versatile and imaginative of genres. Children of Men (2006) directed by Alfonso Cuarón presents the fear of the population dying out through the idea that women no longer gain the ability to become pregnant. Cuarón has acted in the way of reflecting the zeitgeist of genetically modified pregnancies through science, whilst also reflecting the ideas of pollution and contamination, as well as poor international relations, ultimately reflecting the ‘what if’ situation, such as what if we didn’t have science to counteract infertility? The term apocalypse is ‘used to refer to the end of the world’.[2] Uses and Gratifications is the idea that ‘people use the media to get specific gratifications, so audiences use media to fulfil their various needs. These needs serve as motivations for using media.’[3] According to Steve Neale (2002) the ‘typical repertoire of elements’ or ‘recurring themes/elements in an individual genre.’[4] This is the key basis in which sci-fi/apocalyptic films engage with their audience, by giving them what they want to watch.

Sci-Fi asks the ultimate question of ‘what if?’ However, sci-fi is almost always based upon the reality of creatures, technology and the events that may actually happen to us. The fears of infertility, pollution and contamination, as well as poor international relations are reflected throughout Children of Men (2006), Children of Men is a dystopian (a creation of a nightmare world) sci-fi film, the film is set in the future of 2027 in the united kingdom, the film explores a grim world in which two decades of global human infertility have left humanity with less than a century to survive. In many ways this is reflecting the issues that occur in today’s world, as it is so often reflected in the media. ‘Infertility affects at least one in six couples and currently success rates for IVF treatments are about one in four’.[5] Where as in The War of the Worlds (1953) directed by Byron Haskin, the fears of being invaded by beings of another kind, or aliens, were reflected. However in both texts the theme of apocalypse is brought to the audience’s attention. On one hand we are presented with the idea of women no longer being able to give birth, representing a dying population, on the other hand we have beings from another planet attacking the human civilisation

Telotte describes science fiction as an on-going trend of ‘[rendering] the artificial as ever more human.’[6] The lengthy shots combined with the detailed mise-en-scene add to the distinctive and recognisable genre of science fiction. This can be linked with the film Blade Runner (1982) and its very futuristic mise-en-scene, for example it’s hovering cars and digital adverts on the side of buildings, etc. Cuarón’s use of low key lighting help to manipulate the audience’s perception of hope, they add to depression and grim events that occur. Calhoun supports this, by stating ‘it’s the film’s nervous and energetic vèritè style...that makes it so involving.’[7]

Perhaps the most memorable scene in the film comes at the end, a six minute-long single shot sequence in which Theo, the protagonist of the film, struggles through a gun battle between the ‘Fishes’ and the British Army. Cuarón intentionally shoots the scene in a cinema vèritè style. The camera follows Theo in a way reminiscent of a tracking shot and as a result the audience are put in a position where they feel they are part of the action on screen.

‘Many critics argue science fiction...uses its tales of alien invasion, science and technology gone wrong, and vision of the future worlds to explore the issues of contemporary significance.'[8] The zeitgeist of pollution has been massively distributed around today’s media, with the threat of global warming ending the world, there has been a moral panic throughout the media altogether, as seen in the sci-fi drama on BBC, Doctor Who, in which pollutant cars threaten the end of the world, along with invading aliens. The threat of pollution and global warming is also reflected in the film The Day after Tomorrow (2004), in which an outbreak of deadly storms threatens mankind’s existence. Schatz’s proposition that a ‘genre film...involves familiar, essentially one-dimensional characters acting out a predictable story pattern within a familiar setting’ (Schatz 1981). The narrative components of a non-genre film – the characters, setting, plot, techniques, etc, assume their significance as elements as they are integrated into the individual film itself. In a genre film, however, these components have prior significance as elements of some generic formula’ (1981), this formula is established by repetition.[9]

However the sci-fi film that links to Children of Men brought forth the idea that one being creating another being is an unnatural and tabooed process, this film being Frankenstein (1931) directed by James Whale. Social realism can be seen through the representation of the character Frankenstein himself, his birth is seen to have been a negative thing, reflecting how this has changed as we still are being presented with the argument that genetically modified births are wrong, however they are still being carried out. This can in addition be linked with the film I am Legend (2007), in which a scientist that is immune to a virus tries to cure cancerous diseases with science, yet again reflecting the zeitgeist, through the unnatural overcoming of these natural processes, with science. The term social realism is the representation of characters and issues in film and television drama in such a way as to raise serious underlying social and political issues.[10]

The films are usually shot in a naturalistic way, which is the case in Children of Men, for example in the opening sequence we see that the lighting is very dark, or low key, presenting the idea that the scenery or cinematography has not been altered, to give a realistic approach. Despite its realistic approach Children of Men grossed $69,612,678 worldwide, with $35,552,383 of its revenue generated in the United States.[11] Children of Men was nominated for 2007 academy awards for best achievement in cinematography, best achievement in editing and best writing, as well as adapted screenplay. The film is distributed by Universal Pictures; Universal Pictures are a subsidiary of NBC Universal, which is one of the six worldwide major American film studios.

The cinema vèritè style cinematography and lengthy shot sequences, which Alfonso Cuarón is recognised for, linking the idea to Alfred Hitchcock’s career, ‘Macguffin’, this being a plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story,[12] the argument that can be derived from this is that Alfonso Cuarón uses typical generic conventions in order to keep the audiences appealed and interested, whilst indirectly progressing the idea that he can influence the audiences beliefs/attitudes, even through the techniques that make the film what it is. Cuarón uses sound and music to bring the fictional world of social unrest and infertility to life, by using a creative yet restrained combination of rock, pop, hip-hop and classical music, as well as the mundane sounds of traffic, barking dogs, and advertisements. The film makes use of silence and sound effects such as the firing of automatic weapons, and loudspeakers directing the movement of “fugees”.[13] Cuarón’s technique of using an anti-hero (Clive Owen) helps to alienate the audience, creating the connotation that everyone is affected, through the use of identity and not having one, however this can be contradicted to the lifestyles of the audience, as they can relate or identify themselves with the day-to-day working lives that they have to live out.

Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun Times said ‘the film serves as a cautionary warning. The only thing we will have to fear in the future, we learn, is the past itself. Our past. Ourselves.’[14] This quote serves as reiterating the idea that most apocalyptic films work in the way as to make audiences dwell on the idea that they are destroying the world, this film therefore gives hope in the form of contextual factors, more than textual ones, influence the way the spectator views the film or television program.[15] So ultimately the audience are relating themselves with the text as a means of getting some form of relationship. In many ways this is the preferred Reading that the director has intended, the preferred reading being the meaning of a text as intended by the author, linked to the work of Stuart Hall and David Morley.[16]

Peter Bradshaw from the guardian said, ‘Cuarón has created the thinking person’s action movie’[17], this gives the impression that the audience is therefore active rather than passive, which can be linked with Uses and Gratifications theory, audiences were made up of individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons and in different ways. In 1948 Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for individuals and society,[18] the theorists Blumer and Katz theorised the idea that audiences watching different texts gain certain aspects from watching these texts, with relation to Children of Men the audience are acquiring the uses and gratifications of personal identification or rather surveillance. However the idea that apocalyptic/sci-fi films being entertaining through the idea that it targets your deepest fears comes into play as well.

‘From the earliest studies of film audiences it is clear that the routine methods of social science could tell us a great deal. In these audience studies and in many others like them since the 1910s, what we have are deductions made from the collection of quantifiable information – information about, for example, frequence of visits to the cinema and genre preferences.’[19] The quotation simply repeats the idea that studies dating back since 1910 have developed the idea on what audiences look for in a film and determine whether it is worth watching, as well as watching movies of the same genre.

Manohla Dargis in the New York Times observes that Cuarón’s film ‘is a gratifying sign that big studios are still occasionally in the business of making ambitious, intelligent work that speaks to adults.’ [20] The idea that the ambiguity of the themes that are presented in the film have a purpose of interacting with the audience, in some ways this can be seen to be that the director has purposefully raised the level of ambiguity in order for a certain interaction to be made with the audience, this is also known as the preferred reading.

In many ways Alfonso Cuarón is seen to be an auteur, Auteur theory suggests that a director can use the commercial apparatus of film-making in the same way that a writer uses a pen or a painter uses paint and a paintbrush. It is a medium for the personal artistic expression of the director.[21] Some of Cuarón’s works include Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, A little Princess and Children of Men. One of Alonso’s personal quotes is ‘the only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it’s just to see what you learn for the next one.’[22]

Alfonso Cuarón makes it clear from the outset of the film that the government across the world has collapsed, with Britain ‘soldering’ on. With reference to a British audience this in many ways is similar to the times in which the British Empire was in rule. This can also be linked with the idea of colonialism. Ashis Nandy says ‘Colonialism transformed Britain culturally by suppressing and declaring tenderness, speculation and introspection as feminine and therefore unworthy of public culture, and by bringing the most brutish and masculine elements of British colonial life to the fore.’[23] Children of Men therefore adapts the idea that Britain has become the most powerful country altogether, giving them the power to mediate what is culturally popular, so to speak. The Matrix (1999) deals with aspects of sci-fi such as the question of ‘what if the world as we know it no longer exists?’ Many other sci-fi films reflect the what if situations that are, what if some unknown, probably unnatural plague came into existence and wiped out most of humanity?

Phillip French from the guardian website says, ‘What the narrative demands, and what Cuarón provides, is moral ambiguity and a testing hopefulness that suggests the possibility of redemption.’[24] This presents Alfonso as a man of great skill, however it also relates to the idea that the audience are able to identify with the text as they feel a need for redemption through the viewing of the movie, ultimately making them think twice before they carry out a normal life. Like reception study, a semantic/syntactic/pragmatic approach refuses determinacy to textual structures from the institutions and social habits that frame them and land the appearance of making meaning on their own.[25] This basically means that with the zeitgeist in mind the audience’s attitudes and beliefs can be affected through the film. This can also be referred to as ‘Value Judgement’, value judgement is a subjective opinion based on an individual’s attitudes, beliefs and values rather than any objective criteria.[26]

The film’s tagline is ‘No Children, No Future, No Hope’[27], this works in reinforcing the fear of apocalypse, however unlike many other taglines, it is repetitive of the word ‘No’ and uses a negative approach, reinforcing the film’s negativity which can also be linked with the idea that the purpose of the text is more to sway your attitudes and beliefs, rather than focusing on the entertainment side of this, even though the audience does get some form of entertainment through the action and suspense that build up to the dramatic events of apocalypse. My view is that Alfonso Cuarón has taken into perspective all the things that are wrong with today’s world and created a film out of it, however he uses it as a means of communicating a warning within mass amounts of viewers, the message being that ‘if we don’t fix up now then there will be no hope at all!’

Referring back to Steve Neale’s work, the ‘typical repertoire of elements’[28] brings forth the conclusion that most Apocalyptic/sci-fi films are successful at creating this too, which is achieved through a process of repetition, many films have reoccurring themes, which make them easier to classify into different genres. However with regards to theories such as reception and uses and gratifications, it can be argued that the film Children of Men allows the progression in change, the change in the audience, if they were to watch this film in a cinema, they would come out with a new perspective of life, they would be more willing to think about the things around them and not take things for granted, a way of redeeming the bad things that they have done to lead up to the bad events that have been predicted in the film.

So with regards to Peter Bradshaw’s review, Children of Men is ‘the thinking person’s movie’, the audience are an active minded audience, they therefore create their own perception of what the film means to them, however with the context of the idea of social realism, the events that are affecting the economy will influence the way in which the perception of the film is derived from, backing up my idea that apocalyptic/sci-fi films affect the morals/attitudes of its audience, regardless of whether this is the preferred or oppositional reading that the director was trying to get across, the dominant reading of the text is that we need to start paying attention to the things that we are doing that are affecting the environment, otherwise bad stuff like what’s in the film will occur.

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[1] http://upload.wikipedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/Children_Of_Men_3.jpg - Children of men poster
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse - Definition for apocalypse
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_gratifications - Definition of uses and gratifications theory
[4] Neale, Steve (2002), Genre and Contemporary Hollywood
[5] http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/ivf+breakthrough+could+help+couples/2906587 - news article on IVF treatment for women
[6] Telotte (1995) cited in The Cinema Book
[7] http://www.timeout.com/film/newyork/reviews/83505/Children_of_Men.html, Dave Calhoun
[8] Unit 6 – Critical approaches to genre booklet
[9]
[10]
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_Of_Men - information on Children of Men, such as money made, etc.
[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin - Definition for Macguffin.
[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reception_theory - definition of reception theory
[14] http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/REVIEWS/710040307/-1/REVIEWS01 - review given by Chicago sun Times
[15]
[16] Probert, D. (2005) As/A Level Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary (Essential Word Ditionaries). Unkown: Phillip Allan Updates.
[17] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/sep/22/juliannemoore.thriller - review by Peter Bradshaw
[18]
[19] Nelmes, Jill (2003), An Introduction To Film Studies (Third Edition)

[20] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/news?year=2006 - review by Manohla Dargis, New York times, by imdb website.
[21] http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/siryan/Screen/Auteur%20Theory.htm - a definition for auteur theory.
[22] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/bio - a biography like/information page on the director Alfonso Cuaron
[23] Booklet on Representations, Introducing Media Studies, Ashis Nandy.
[24] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/114077/children.of.men - Phillip French Review, the guardian website.

[25] Nelmes, J. (1999). Introduction to Film Studies. London: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
[26] Probert, D. (2005). As/A Level Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary (Essential Word Dictionaries). Unknown: Phillip Allan Updates.
[27] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_Of_Men - information on film Children of men, such as money made, etc.
[28] Neale, S. (2007). Genre and Hollywood. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.