Slavoj Zizek's Ally in Science Fiction film

    Slavoj Zizek speaks of a society devoid of poverty as the sole morally correct way of dealing with that problem. The problem, of course, with this assertion is that humanity has yet to encounter a society that has eradicated the possibility of being poor. As a movie-lover, I always find it interesting to explore science fiction as “what-if” scenarios for social or political systems yet to be realized in our timeline. However, when looking for a portrayal of a flawless, ideal communist society devoid of poverty, not much will surface. Future dystopias, or even apparent utopias usually contain undertones of deep class-divide. However, these examples, in their highlighting of what many communists point to in their most pointed critiques of capitalism, are just as valuable of a communist message.

    In Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop (1987) and sequels, a scathing picture of future Detroit as a corporate-overlord state is painted, with Omni Consumer Products controlling the city’s police force and mayoral office through blackmail and otherwise overwhelming economic superiority. Slummy areas and their denizens are often steamrolled and re-located arbitrarily by private contractors or outright criminals involved with the corporation, in an illustration of the raw, unchecked power exerted in a system with no regard for economic balance.

    In a more isolated example, the 1979 thriller Alien operates on some pretty heavy subtext, with the (Spoiler!) revelation that a massive, faceless corporation has dumped a half dozen harmless blue-collar workers into a deathtrap to acquire an unstoppable potential weapon. Situations like this (even when in space) serve to highlight the fundamental flaw with an unequal social class system. These kind of examples illustrate the fact that any such capitalist setting will inevitably end up with one group of people oppressing another.

The right hand of evil-future-corp exposed

    The closest example I can think of that gives a positive light to a communist system in Slavoj Zizek's vein is the almost-harmless, charming space adventure Wall-E (2008). In Wall-E, the titular protagonist stumbles upon a spacefaring colony harboring what's left of the human race after the Earth's apparent over-pollution. Poverty is eradicated, everyone receives what they need and more, and the people seem content and trusting of their governors. Of course the big-brother paranoia is prevalent, but hey, it's a functional society devoid of the "ugliness" of certain capitalist tenants that Zizek disparages!

    For the most part, science fiction movies seem to advocate Slavoj Zizek's ideals through exemplifying the dangers of opposite scenarios. However this may be just as an effective prescription.