"Haves" vs. "Have Nots" - a basic struggle in humanity that can almost be synonymous with the notions of good versus evil. A concept vibrantly displayed and depicted in synchronicity with any number of books and films today, even grand Shakespearean plays of the Victorian era. For the most part, it is a scenario that can be called upon in any number of forms. Verily too general a function of the status quo. Yet, a very specific point in our struggle to be...Well, just to "be". Shakespeare posed this question beautifully in the form of a soliloquy. "To be or Not to be, that is the question." While poets and scholars can infer many ordeals in the human condition from this one wonderful statement. The media artists of our day, scholarly or not - even if most are contented to toss a few explosions throughout - still tend to ask these questions in a way that bring our version of the famous soliloquy to life on the silver screen, "To have, or have not". I'd like to explore this singular concept that drives human society, and take a look at the most recent entries focused on this widely understated, yet ever present, concept in films. Like I mentioned above, this concept is virtually present in all forms of conflict in films. So I want to focus on the large scale aspect of said form, displayed mostly in the forefront of the films concept. As an example, generic apocalypse topics are something I won't be focusing on, because essentially that is the extreme dystopian entry as a sub-theme, or genre if you prefer, of this kind of conflict.
Honorable Mentions
Blade Runner - In truth, this film was at the pinnacle of science fiction filmmaking during its time that illustrates our current topic beautifully, however, I wanted to stick to more modern interpretations. I would be remiss to not remind our readers that this is quite possibly one of the greatest non-apocalytpic entries of a Dystopian future that demonstrates the separation of those with power from those with nothing, and took over the mantle beautifully from the film that carried that torch before it, Alphaville. The Fifth Element & The Matrix are also both necessary to mention, even if I didn't really want to deal with apocalyptic concepts, as in The Matrix. The Fifth Wlement is almost 20 years old, and is still to this day among my favorite films that borrowed from a variety of sci-fi epics to paint its picture. While we mostly don't get to see a large amount of the concepts we've been talking about in this editorial, we get a minor glimpse, when we see one example of how people are treated by authorities, and how even within their own homes the assumed expectation of criminal activity is present. While these movies are science fiction, the one binding factor is that they all show the worst humanity has to offer. In the end what we are really seeing, through grandiose depictions of technology and future morality is humanity being human.