Like many people, I loved Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 for its powerful message mixed with a fresh and intriguing sci-fi story. It was also impressive that it was done on a (relatively speaking) tiny budget of $30 million. So I was excited to see what Blomkamp would do when given a budget four times greater, and bona fide stars like Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. The result was Elysium, and as much as I wish it weren’t the case, it disappoints.
The titular space station is a paradise for the “haves” who have escaped the disgustingly overpopulated Earth. Its name is a reference to the Elysian Fields, the promised land of Greek Mythology, which was a bountiful paradise for the afterlife of those who lived righteous lives, chosen by the gods. The protagonist, Max (Matt Damon), lives in Los Angeles, which, like the rest of Earth, is incredibly overpopulated and impoverished. Max contracts fatal radiation poisoning at his job and his only hope for survival is to break into Elysium and access their futuristic technology, which can heal anything.
As Tasha Robinson and Scott Tobias point out over at The Dissolve, Elysium essentially ends up a “bigger, broader, and dumber version of District 9.” Some could argue that comparing the two films isn’t fair since Elysium isn’t a sequel, but the reality is that it feels exactly like that. It’s the same “have/have-not” narrative, but in space.
But Elysium’s biggest problem is its characters. In Elysium, there are only two types of characters, the “have-nots” who want to “get” and the “haves” who want to “protect.” These one-dimensional characters aren’t very relatable. Even Max ends up seeming more like a robot than anything else. The closest we come to a sympathetic character is Frey, Max’s childhood crush who now works as a nurse and whose daughter is dying of leukemia. Because of these one-dimensional characters, the whole movie seems to be a game of king of the hill.
What I did like about Elysium was how it related to the Old Testament stories of the Promised Land. While Elysium seems to be doing its best to ignore religion, it can’t.
[Warning: Spoilers Ahead!]
In the world of the movie, there are enough resources to make everybody “haves,” but the residents of Elysium are unwilling to release their abundance of privilege to allow everybody access. This is not the case in the Old Testament in which the Promised Land, while abundant in resources, was also limited in its resources just like everything on Earth. So God promised it only to His chosen people, the Israelites – and a good many other groups were displaced in the process. However, in the New Testament, in today’s world, the promised land of Heaven is not limited in its resources and doesn’t have “limited capacity” because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. It is truly open to everyone. The Old Testament can be hard to read because it does get violent, and the God of Wrath can be seen as disconcerting (see Christianity Today’s latest cover to the left).
Max acquires a code that would reboot Elysium and make everybody on Earth a citizen, giving them access to all of the resources of Elysium. The code is in his head and to upload it and put it into action he must die. In his death, everybody on Earth is allowed into the Promised Land. Though the fear of his death is what drives him throughout the movie, he realizes that in his death everyone may have life, and he becomes willing to make that sacrifice.
Through Jesus, we all become grafted in as His Chosen People, and much like at the end of Elysium when Max dies to open the resources of Elysium to everybody, we are all saved. So, though slightly robotish and a one-dimensional as a protagonist, Max can also be seen as a Christ figure.
We hold onto a hope that one day God will make everything right in the world, that poverty and war will be no more. But we also know that, no matter our background or nationality, we are “rich in Christ.” So even though as a story I was let down, I am grateful for the reminder of how Christ opened the gates of heaven to the likes of you and me!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIBtePb-dGY&w=600]
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2 responses to “Elysium: The Promised Land (Not of Film)”
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I liked Elysium. The style of its version of the future was really compelling, both in the hood (earth), and especially on the Elysium station. I’m a sucker for sci-fi outer space interiors, btw. I thought the “hold-up” scene and the “operation” scene were pretty great too. The characters were not all that, for sure, but another theological theme, an obvious one, stood out to me. It was the atonement idea, that through sacrifice of one, Max, the rest of the world experienced a freedom from captivity and access to health and release from otherwise unwavering suffering. Sure it’s just one simple expression of that endlessly profound idea, but as a Christian, it is still a story that I love to reflect upon. Elysium enabled me to do just that. And also, the bad guy, the South African guy (who I think was the lead in District 9), was just fantastic, the one strong character, a really great villain.
I watched Elysium Wednesday night ( because the initial trailer a few months back excited me just by seeing Matt Damon…he’s Matt Damon…plus I envisioned an action-packed movie like the Bourne series. I knew nothing of District 9). Well, I got an action-packed movie alright, but nothing like the Bourne series. The difference was the squished storyline. Such an interesting concept with well-known (experienced) actors may have looked more complete with enough time to fill in the blanks. Maybe.
The end drew my mind and heart straight to Jesus Christ, as well. A slight resemblance of Christ’s harrowing act of self-sacrifice (which was according to the Father’s will and by the power of the Holy Spirit) is all it takes for me to thank God once again. The picture of Max (the main character in Elysium) holding the locket of the Earth, given as a reminder of its beauty and worth from afar, pictures the Lord in my mind giving worth to humanity through the precious, perfect blood of Christ the Lord.
P.S. My brother-In-Law says I need to see District 9. It is good, he says.