Heaven on Earth – Elysium

Heaven on Earth – Elysium

By: Jenna De Bono

1. The place at the ends of the earth to which certain favored heroes were conveyed by the gods after death.
2. A place or state of perfect happiness.

 It is inherit in the human condition that we often realize the importance of something or someone when it is no longer in our lives.  We look at what we don’t have and miss out on what on right in front of us.  This is the fundamental current that runs through Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium. 

Blomkamp depicts Earth as a dirty, graffiti covered, overpopulated, poverty stricken and disenchanted world.  We see Max (Matt Damon) covered in tattoos (like many of the male protagonists) presented as a scruffy physically strong unkempt man.  He lives in a derelict house that is poorly lit and incredibly small.  We get the impression there is no space, the hospitals are constantly overrun and supplies are limited.  It is a stereotypical ‘ghetto’ world and this is further emphasized by the use of a rap/dub step soundtrack.  Elysium, on the other hand, is the complete opposite to Earth; clean, sterile, safe and sanitized that is coupled with the use of a classical music soundtrack.  These are drastically different worlds, however, they do have something in common, well, not necessarily the worlds themselves but the people who occupy these worlds; the idea of ‘the other’.  To the Earth citizens, Elysium is the utopian world.  A place that has the technology to cure all diseases, a place that is safe and a place of peace.  In fact, Elysium (the station itself), looks curiously similar to the iconic peace symbol.  Elysium in the dream, the ultimate destiny, for it has everything Earth does not have.  Elysium citizens perceive Earth as a place that is occupied by lower class people that results in a strong fear of contamination.  We see Delacourt (Jodie Foster) release missiles on planes that are that are heading to Elysium from Earth that kills several people.  Earth is a world to be feared for its people will contaminate and destroy the harmony of this god-like world. 

 Elysium in many ways, is similar to Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, raising questions of morality and commenting on political and social divides that are very much alive in our world.  We do not have to look far to see how the fear of contamination and fear of the other are relevant in our world.  Australia has recently rejected Asylum Seekers landing on Australia soil. Blomkamp highlights the social divide in our world through his films and this (for me) makes his work very powerful and important

Elysium (the film) also embraces advances in technology and representing it as a means of freedom.  Max undergoes a brutal operation to be surgically implanted with a robotic-skeleton-like suit, that gives him incredible strength that enables him to ultimately save the citizens of Earth.  We see machines that can cure any ailment with the touch of a button.  Elysium (the station) could be perceived as heaven on Earth.  The perfect place of rest.

Elysium is commenting on the way our world operates and the consequences that we endure.  People fall through the cracks in our society because they are seen as being less valuable.  Elysium is about the uprising of people and giving themselves power, showing us that we are equal.  At the end of the film, we see Max holding a photo on Earth in his dying hour.  Throughout the whole film Max is desperately trying to reach Elysium and now that he is there, he looks at a photo of his home.  Despite the sophistication of technology and the security that a certain place can provide, we all feel a connection from where we have come from.  It may not be a positive connection but nevertheless, there is some form of connectedness that we feel.  As people, we often look beyond what we have and focus on the potential of ‘the other’.  We loose sight of what’s right in front of us until it is too late and it is gone.