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I recently saw The Giver.
I usually read the book before I go see the movie, but I didn’t do that this time, so I have no idea how closely the movie followed the original plot. But in the words of one of my professors, movies are my generation’s literature…books are fading into the background more and more as special effects get more special and books just get more…well, dusty.
In the style of other recent dystopian movies, The Giver explores the boundaries of government intervention and control – what happens when the government goes too far, and for that matter, how far is too far? How much government regulation is beneficial to society, and where do we draw the line? In this case, the government has (supposedly for the sake of the common good) taken steps to erase all distinctions, including color, in order to promote absolute uniformity. Cameras cover every inch of the city, and nothing is secret. Predictably, the main characters of the film decide that their happiness is contingent upon breaking out of the Big Brother mold and restoring variables (and personal privacy) to society.
While this outcome is cliche in today’s popular culture (I’m looking at you, Hunger Games, Divergent, and the slightly older V for Vendetta), the questions it raises are classic. Under the banner of national security, how much of our lives should the government have the authority to monitor and regulate? In a world of government surveillance and NSA scandals, people are asking a lot of questions, and there is certainly room in the national dialogue to accommodate more movies like The Giver.
Hollywood, D.C. 