Movie: The Giver

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_v1zVAOuXs
Trailer: I could not find a clip that is longer unless I show the entire movie.
The video is about the movie The Giver which illustrates living in a futuristic type
society where negative aspects in life are eliminated simply by taking daily injections. The
people living in the community cant feel pain, sadness and all types of emotions- to prevent
inequality between different social classes. There would be no conflicts and war because
differences were not allowed so there is no competition. Jonas the main character was given a
highly respectful role to be the receiver of memory. He receives good and bad memories from
the giver who keeps all the memories to ensure the society to not make past mistakes. In the
video, Jonas assignment was to go to the giver and receive part of his memory. The old man
(giver) transmits the memory of the past by placing his hands on top of Jonas. Jonas receive all
types of memory including, pleasure, sadness, terror and love. He realized that these memories
were stolen which kept life meaningful. The clip showed a baby crying, people enjoying
concerts, the rush of jumping down a cliff and lively music playing. The giver explains that these
emotions whether good or bad are removed by the injections that takes them away completely.
The next scene shows Jonas talking to a girl named, Gabriel. Jonas tells Gabriel to skip the
morning injections the next day. The president who is portrayed as an old lady with white hair.
She is not happy the way her citizen Jonas is behaving. She sees Jonas as very harmful and
dangerous to the people.
Auguste Comte, a French philosopher who discovered the doctrine of positivism. He is
known as the father of sociology. Comtes theory on sociology is that as we begin to study

science and empirical research, further knowledge will be discussed and new ideas will get
reinvented. Sociology means the study of the processed of companionship. We bring changes
to the community we feel that needs reconstruction. Comte endorses the same political construct
as the society in The Giver. They both share the same ideas, the need for social orders and
hierarchy. Though, compared to the movie, there is not an obvious statement of hierarchy of
different social class. The president whom dictates social orders provides a distinct status of
authority. Comte emphasized on social dynamics rather than social statics. He believed that
people strive to become more intelligent through the development of evolution. Comte would
view this video similar to his idea and concept of sociology. Human behaviors and the
development of class structure is studied through scientific evidence.
Karl Marxs sociological theory explains how race, religion and class and gender can affect
an individuals choice. With different gender and race involving in a community, unequal
distribution of resources can be apparent. Marx Illustrates conflicts between class struggles
present in the community, that our society is made up of different opinions and values causing
them to override each other. He believed that these problems we face day to day is an essential
part of society. Marx would view this video as the opposite of his conflict perspective. The video
portrays a community all living in the same social class, with no competition. As a result, no war
would be involved in this case. Marxs idea would fall out of this category since inequalities
dont exist in that type of futuristic world.
Durkheim studies how outside factors can be a powerful force to an individuals behavior and
choices. The society beliefs, people values and opinions, and social norms creates social
integration. Durkheim developed two types of social solidarity: Organic and mechanical. Organic
solidarity involves the community having shared beliefs that is collective conscious. Mechanical

is more complex, involves member of society to take on a distinct role as the society grows as a
whole. Durkheim would interpret this video to be related to his own social theory. It is similar in
the way that the society combines to work together thus sharing same values and beliefs.
The paradigm exhibited in the video is a society where each subgroup is interdependent
on each other. The people in this kind of community must all contribute to help the society
progress. This is known as a functionalist perspective, which requires each person in the society
to devote their life to the community. The concept is similar to that of cogs and pieces in a watch.
Every part is functioning together for the watch to work seamlessly. This form of institution is
comparable to that of communism. Under this social solidarity, people will be given jobs best
suited for them and all the rewards will be dispersed amongst the entire institution. Theoretically,
this will give rise to many innovations and prosperities, but due to the fact that human nature is
not one-dimensional, these kinds of systems tend to end rather frequently. In the Giver, the
functionalistic roles every person play, can be seen as the focal point of the movie. For this
perspective to be successful, the community must have full compliance from everybody. This
will in turn take the self out of each individual.