Sociological Analysis Of Snowpiercer
The movie Snowpiercer contains several interesting sociological concepts. The plot of Snowpiercer follows a 2014 experiment to counteract global warming, which inadvertently causes another ice age that kills all life on Earth save for the inhabitants of the “rattling arc.” The “rattling arc” being a train that perpetually travels on a globe-spanning track. On the train a class system is put in place where the elites inhabit the luxurious front compartments of the train and the lower class inhabit the squalor-ridden rear compartments. When analyzing this film, some may be compelled to view the parable the plot is trying to convey as one about economic inequality between the upper and lower class. However, it is much more than this. The true
…show more content…
It would be a common mistake to see Curtis as the films hero because in truth the film has no heroes, just people trying to survive and surpass or maintain their ascribed social statuses. Like all of the rest of the passengers, Curtis is an individual who will do anything to survive, including eating human babies. He can be considered as too much of a Revolutionary due to the fact that instead of saving his friend, he chose to pursue and kill his enemy. Wilford, who provides socio-emotional leadership for those in the rear, is no hero either. He secretly works with the leader of the front and helps to perpetuate the system of class warfare as a method of maintaining the population. This makes it so that the people in the front of the train never grow too comfortable, for fear the back might rise up and take their place. Additionally, the down-and-out in the back are given just enough hope in a future regime-change that they don’t fall into complete despair.
The movie’s conclusion sees the train crash and the only survivors being two children in a barren winter wasteland. Therefore, humanity is perceived to become extinct with their impending deaths as a polar bear, symbolizing the harsh and unforgiving nature of life off the train, watches over them. In the end, when one political ideal tried to trump the other it resulted in the extinction of
It would be a common mistake to see Curtis as the films hero because in truth the film has no heroes, just people trying to survive and surpass or maintain their ascribed social statuses. Like all of the rest of the passengers, Curtis is an individual who will do anything to survive, including eating human babies. He can be considered as too much of a Revolutionary due to the fact that instead of saving his friend, he chose to pursue and kill his enemy. Wilford, who provides socio-emotional leadership for those in the rear, is no hero either. He secretly works with the leader of the front and helps to perpetuate the system of class warfare as a method of maintaining the population. This makes it so that the people in the front of the train never grow too comfortable, for fear the back might rise up and take their place. Additionally, the down-and-out in the back are given just enough hope in a future regime-change that they don’t fall into complete despair.
The movie’s conclusion sees the train crash and the only survivors being two children in a barren winter wasteland. Therefore, humanity is perceived to become extinct with their impending deaths as a polar bear, symbolizing the harsh and unforgiving nature of life off the train, watches over them. In the end, when one political ideal tried to trump the other it resulted in the extinction of