Pouqqatsi Analysis

Immediately beginning Reggio’s Powaqqatsi, a large group of miners are working away at a mountain of dirt for the smallest piece of gold they can find. Nearly every worker in the mine is following the same pattern, going one direction together and moving at the same pace. Only one person stands out from the rest, going the opposite direction. He's clearly noticeable by his bright yellow outfit, which contrasts the more earthy tones of those around him, as well as by his obvious struggle to find stable footing as he takes a different path than his comrades. The struggle of the man in yellow parallels that of the hero of Fox’s Undertale, Frisk, as he/she follows the Pacifist Route through the Underground. Every single monster that Frisk runs
Following behind her is a pack of runners who look to be a spread of ages between preteen and young adult, all of them wearing the same outfit. While the woman is front is a clear and defined picture, the younger runners behind her are very blurry, taking a long time to solidify before the old woman is out of shot and the runners are closer to the camera. The absence of clarity in the runners that fixes itself as the old woman walks away is mirrored by the reactions of monsters, young and old, to the new way that Frisk is making his/her way peacefully through the Underground. Undyne, one of the more seasoned monsters that Frisk meets, immediately assumes that Frisk is murderous and needs to be disposed of, based solely on the ideas that Undyne had been taught by the other monsters around her. Monster Kid, a dramatic foil to Undyne, is the exact opposite, immediately befriending the human Frisk and following him/her around early in the game, even defending Frisk when Undyne tries to attack for the third time. Undyne’s old way of thinking matches that of the old woman carrying a produce basket in the movie, clinging to the way things used to be done. Monster Kid mirrors the runners in the movie, introducing a new age and a new way to react to the world as it changes. At one point, Monster Kid’s heavy contrast to Undyne’s violent desires almost cost the former his life as he defends Frisk, a human trying to bring about a time of peace. The ushering out of old actions to make way for new ones is revealed in both Reggio’s Powaqqatsi and Fox’s Undertale, and considering that a character came close to death due to their desire for change, there isn't a question of it taking bravery to do what elders might say is