Kevin

Sturgeon, Ben Book, Ben Vernon, Jared Travis

Instructor Kaser
English 120
12/2/2015

Title: A Rhetoric-Visual Analysis of Elysium's Stance on Social Class Issues and Immigration

Overview
Elysium is a social commentary about the differences in
class systems in society along with overpopulation and
immigration. Elysium is a 2013 science fiction action thriller,
and social commentary written and directed by Neill
Blomkamp. The movie stars are actors and actresses Matt
Damon, Jodie foster, Alice Braga, and Sharlto Copley. The film
takes place on both a destructed Earth and a luxurious space
planet called Elysium. The film portrays political and
sociological themes such as immigration, health care, pollution,
and social class issues. The Film was released August 9th, 2013
in both conventional and Imax theaters. The film grossed $93
million in domestic box office and $193 million internationally,
for a worldwide total of $286 million. The film made over $11 million on its opening day, and
was the most watched movie in the U.S. for 2 weeks (par. 3, boxofficemojo).
Set in 2154, Elysium takes place on earth, where the population has little technology,
food, and healthcare, and the titular manmade planet. The other place that is inhabited is
called Elysium, Elysium is a manmade planet in Earth's orbit that is technologically advanced.
The planet is so advanced it has medical equipment called med-bays which is a machine that
can cure any medical problem that one might run into. Max Da Costa is this movies main
character is a former convict who is on parole. After a workplace accident gives him radiation
poisoning he only can to go to Elysium and get the treatment he needs. He goes through
hardships on the way and ends up dying, but by the end of the film he saves the citizens on
Earth. He sacrifices his life for the people of Earth. Once he dies the people of Earth are
registered as Elysian residents and they can get treatment as soon as they get to Elysium.
The film uses to color to show the differences in class inequality and immigration. The
wealthy individuals live on a bright, colorful planet, which will generate an emotion of success
and happiness. Earth citizens live the impoverished. The poor citizens and the immigrants of Los
Angeles live a dirty, blue-collar life-style.
The film has quite a bit of sound effects and uses of music. There are parts when
explosions and chaos are everywhere. Likewise, there are multiple diegetic sounds things going

on like gunshots, screaming, and yelling. Background music plays into how the mood of movie
is. When the director and producer are trying to portray an intense scene, the bring some fast
paced music to add to the excitement. When they are trying to show a dramatic scene they will
create long and slow music to really go overboard on creating sensations for the audience to
feel for the characters. Elysium shows the hardship of what the underclass citizens have to
endure while the upper class have an easier lifestyle. Elysium brings entertainment to a big
social issue. Blomkamp reaches its point throughout the movie, clearly spells out its problems
while still entertaining the audience with a story line.

Influences
Elysium is influenced by many sci-fi actions films, one of the biggest being its relation to the
movie District 9. Both District 9 and Elysium can be considered as the same type of genre,
action and sci-fi. Elysium has almost the same setting as District 9s, consisting
of a run down Earth, and a high tech alien planet. They both give Earth a beat
up and washed out feel to it, which shows how much Earth has been polluted.
These films are some what the same because they were both directed by
director Neill Blomkamp. This film had two different settings; one being a run
down over polluted Earth were the general population lives. The other being a
technologically advanced space habitat called Elysium. Blomkamp used
influences in today's culture. He filmed polluted earth scenes in Mexico City. He
shot the advanced society and sciences of Elysium in Los Angeles.
The movie Metropolis can also be seen as an influence on the film. Both
films follow the same theme, which is inequality of class systems. Both films
integrate machinery to the human body, making a human robot. Particularly
the films main influence would be the 1915 film Birth of a Nation (Jones).
Blomkamp was raised in a South African and witnessed first-hand how current
lines divide society. In Blomkamps interview, he talked about Nelson Mandelas influence on
his filmmaking. Blomkamp describes the world leaders influence on his filmmaking intuitive.
The way that he dealt with not turning the country on itself, and the sort of level of moral high
ground is incredible, Blomkamp explains. That is inspiring. All those things are linked. (Sec.
4) These films both have same message. People from other countries have the right to come
to the greatest country/planet in order to create a better life for themselves. In Elysium's case
the movie portrays this throughout the plot that in order to have the best life, citizens must live
on Elysium. This has a great influence on peoples view of society today, especially in America.

Issues
The main Issue in Elysium is upper class versus lower class citizens. The higher class
citizens have anything and everything they want or need. The less fortunate citizens are forced

to live on a poverty stricken planet with few resources, disease, and crime. Earth is
overpopulated with humans trying to find a way to survive. All of the wealthy left and deserted
everyone else to fend for themselves.
Another issue that corresponds to the issue of upper class versus lower class is the
message on the health care system. In Elysium there is a quest for perfect diagnosis and
treatment. Every home is equipped with a medbed, which is a machine that looks like an MRI. Not
only does this machine diagnose its patient, it fully
cures the patient from whatever sickness or injury
they sustained. It can even bring people back from
the dead. It's the ultimate non-invasive treatment
requiring no doctors, nurses, or expensive human
labor. Earth has no promising cures to sicknesses.
They only have some treatments or pills. Sick Earthlings desperately try and reach Elysium for
that specific reason. Citizenship in Elysium is a direct metaphor towards health insurance in
America. As of 2014, close to half of today's adults, 117 million had one or more chronic health
conditions. Over half of these diseases ended with death (BW Ward 5). Each person should get
equal access to health care and treatment. It should not matter how rich you are or what health
care provider you have. Elysium sends a direct message to a better health care system in our
world today.
Elysium also addresses the issue of illegal immigrants. Los Angeles is a perfect place for
this movies setting because of the diversity, and the large amount of Spanish speaking people
that are found there. According to MigrationPolicy.org, in 2013, when this movie was released,
an all-time high of 41.3 million immigrants lived in the United States (par. 1). The movie shows
an extremely large population of Hispanic people on Earth while all of the wealthy, Caucasian
people are safe on Elysium. This is portraying how immigrants are immigrating into and
crowding America. All of the issues in this film help recognize real life issues in todays society.
This film's star, Matt Damon, thinks some people will not connect with this film the right way,
he says I dont feel like anyones going to feel like theyre the ones on Elysium. (par. 20). The
goal is to make an impact on individuals in a positive way by making them visually experience
what needs to be fixed in reality.

Genre
Elysium is a social commentary that uses sci-fi and action to prove its point. As stated in the
overview section, Elysium features two main settings, Elysium and Earth. The film uses sci-fi
genre to explain issues on earth. The planet Elysium is a completely man made space habitat

that exists in the orbit of Earth. On this planet the wealthy are completely separated from the
poor, and Earth's problems. Neill Blomkamp describes
Elysium as glowing over Earth, it is like Bel Air in space,
(par. 1). As all of the wealthy individuals have fled to a new
and advanced community in space, the ordinary people
are forced on a desolated Earth that the wealthy helped to
destroy. This represents the films social issue that he
wealthy expect the less fortunate to suffer, while they sit
back and do nothing to help.
Elysium is dominated by fantasies of the wealthy
saving the world (i.e Iron Man, The Dark Knight). This film
represents a change by showing a group of working class
individuals doing the saving instead. Newsmax, a
conservative American news media organization, referred to this film as sci-fi socialism and
political propaganda, and The Hollywood Reporter referred to it as politically charged flight
of speculative fiction (par. 17). These statements from the media helps portray and clarify the
genre of this film Influences from other films play a large role in setting the plot and setting of
the movie while still keeping an action based identity.

Rhetorical Objective

Elysium is a social commentary because it takes issues we see in the world today like
health care, social class issues, overpopulation and poverty. Putting these issues into a movie to
entertain its audience by sending a message showing real world problems and the
consequences these problems can cause. Elysium also portrays its view on immigration, being
that in order to have an overall better life people must move or relocate to the best place. In
this film's case that place would be the planet of Elysium. Elysium also takes a stance on health
care, the film shows that it is not right to leave people without proper health care. Elysium
portrays todays society and how it attempts to depict the message of being kinder to those
around us, and more thoughtful particularly to the lower class. Elysiums overall objective is to
inform people of these big issues going on in our world, especially in America. Blomkamp does
entertain his audience but his message is deeper than an action film. Elysium shows an extreme
of problems to get the audiences attention. He gets his point of view across and shows the
audience what is actually happening in society today.






Audience
Elysiums audience includes those who enjoy of action and violence. The Elysium
audience may include viewers from District 9 because they are both directed by Neill
Blomkamp. Elysium is full of weapons, spaceships, and futuristic technology. Elysium engages
this audience best when displaying the creative weaponry of its universe. The most creative
piece of weaponry seen in the film is the mechanical exoskeleton Max has installed on him in
order to help him fight as he gets
weaker from his radiation sickness.
The suit acts as mechanical body
armor that magnifies his strength
and speed, allowing him to
continue to function as his sickness
becomes worse. This film also
engages the audience by giving
them an inside look at what the
future could be like, a big part of this is the health care aspect. The movie shows machines that
can completely cure diseases like cancer. This film also seems to show the audience just how
much pollution and the overall way that we live affects Earth, the movie shows this by creating
a destroyed and polluted Earth. Another audience that this film could attract, is the
environmentalist audience. They might watch this film as a prediction to see what Earth look
150 years from now.
While this movie is filled with violence and futuristic technology, it also has its sincere message
to lessen the division between the rich and the poor. A new perspective is given to sci-fi lovers
that will make an impact on the changes that need to be made in today's society. Overall the
main audience of this film will be anyone 15 years and older, that has a particular interest in
action/sci-fi films.

Logos
Matt Damons character, Max Da Costa, is dying and needs to reach Elysium to be cured He
goes to a man named Spider, who lives on the streets of Earth, and has enough power to get to
Elysium. Max asks Spider for a ticket there but is threatened and rejected right away. Max then
tells Spider he is dying and is given a counter offer and a choice. He can either go through with
a crazy experiment to become a hero to the people that live on earth and go fight against the

people in charge in Elysium, or he can die on earth. Max chooses life because the appeal to live
instead of die is always the correct option.
Another example of logos in Elysium would be when three ships are sent to Elysium for a
chance to cure their sickness and have a better life. Before the ships reach Elysium they are
detected by Elysium's radar and are in the hands of Defense Secretary played by actress Jodie
Foster, named Delacourt. Delacourt is told that she cannot take down or harm any ship from
earth, as part of the rules stated by Elysium's president. Delacourt is absolutely against people
from Earth and treats them more as objects than people. She orders an Elysium agent to take
down the ships with a futuristic
version of heat seeking
missiles, as seen in the photo
on the left. This part of the film
adds to one of the film's main
themes of immigration, it gives
you an inside look at just how
hard it is to reach Elysium.
Logos is also shown in this film during the flashback when Max is talking to the Nun about
Elysium about how Elysium, and Earth, are beautiful from a distance. The idea of this is that
even though Elysium looks life-changing from earth, it too has problems. Referencing to the
theme of immigration, this also shows that as Americans living in a wealthy country we are far
too disconnected from the problems of immigrants trying to come into our country to see their
real problem. Another key part that portrays logos is when Freys daughter, Matilda, tells Max
the story about the meerkat and the hippopotamus. This particular scene does not mean a lot
to Max at the time, but it plants a seed. At the end of the movie when Max is about to die and
is on the phone with Frey, he tells her that he liked her story and he figured out why the hippo
did it. Those are some of his final words, and it shows the importance of their friendship. There
are judgment calls made in the movie which state the storyline of movie. All of these decisions
are there to give reason to why all the characters make the choices that they do. The
filmmakers not only need to be credible and important to the audience, they need to keep the
viewers on the edge of their seats by investing them emotionally in the film.

Pathos

The lighting in this movie connects to the emotional tone for the audience. We see two
different types of lighting between Earth, and Elysium. Elysium is a lot brighter. The houses and
land on Elysium show a better lifestyle than
the lifestyle on earth, which is dry and filled
with sand. It even seems as if the clothing of
the people of Elysium shine. These particular
pieces of the film can make you pay
attention to mis-en-scene. The thought of
how they used lighting and color in the
frames relate directly to the films message.
This shows pathos because it shows how
different the two populations live, which
appeals emotionally to the audience. Love is
another example of pathos in this movie. The main character, Max, is in love with Frey who has
seemed to move on throughout most of the movie. This makes the audience hope that this
adventure that they are taking (to Elysium) leads to them re-uniting their love. Also, Freys
daughter has a disease in which they need to complete the mission to get to Elysium for the
proper treatment to heal her on a med-bay. The whole journey of her disease and the goal of
saving her also touches the viewer's emotion. The plot of this movie is Maxs story. Maxs
character changes throughout the whole movie. He starts by trying to save his own life, to
trying to save the lives of everyone else and be called a hero to everyone on Earth.
Elysium has a lot of times during the duration of the movie where you can feel the plot
appeal to your emotions. One instance is when Max is trying to turn his life around and is
trapped in a metal container full of radiation. He did three years in prison for Grand Theft Auto
and now he is working full time and trying to earn his way up to Elysium the honest way. One
day while working he is trapped in the container and the radiation exposure almost kills him.
His body starts to crumble from the inside. He has five days to live. The audience questions why
terrible things happen to people who do not deserve punishment.

Another scene makes you angry when the guy who kills people for a living, has his face
blown off and then is fully restored to health only to be stronger. People who are evil shouldnt
get second chances and that is exactly what occurs in Elysium. The movie also shows pathos by
making you feel sorry for Max, and the the things he is put through in order to save himself and
get to Elysium. Max is first introduced to radiation and given five days to live, and in order to
survive and have a chance at getting to Elysium he has a mechanical system inserted in his body
through a painful and gruesome surgery. Then Max is stabbed by Agent Kruger after recovering
information about Elysium and almost dies. As a viewer it makes you feel compassion for him
and wonder if he will ever catch a break. Elysium also uses pathos to connect to the audience's
emotions by creating the character of Matilda, Frey's daughter who is very sick with leukemia

and does not have much time left unless she can reach Elysium. The character of Matilda is one
of the movies form of hope, it gives the audience and the main character Max a reason to reach
Elysium. Elysium has no lack of pathos to satisfy its viewers. Differences in setting, lifestyles,
and actual characters all contribute to the pathos of this film. By using emotional stories
throughout the film, it helps keep the audience hooked. The filmmakers expressed several
ways to make their appeal to trust, and credibility more effective.

Ethos:
An example of ethos that is present in Elysium is the behavior of the people living on Elysium.
The people of Elysium are antagonistic toward the people on Earth. It is hard for the audience
not to see the people on Elysium as bad people because it seems like it would be easy for them
to provide help, like hospitals, to Earth. Also, the film relates to other films expressed up above
like District 9 and Metropolis. The actors Matt Damon and Jodie Foster are also popular stars
that should be well known by the audience. Neill Blomkamp has also directed other well known
films like District 9, and Chappie that draw an action-filled audience.
The difference between Elysium and Earth are spelled out clearly reflecting on what the
social issue is all about. They show class system separation clearly and that is important.
Elysium literally means a place of utmost happiness. Earth is falling apart and dying as a
planet, showing how great the distinction between the classes are.
The other glaring issue is the migration of illegal aliens. The city on Earth which the
setting takes place is Los Angeles. Almost all of the characters speak Spanish and are Hispanic.
They are always trying to reach Elysium even if it is
by ways that arent allowed. This is a direct showing
of illegal immigrants crossing the border from
Mexico to The United States. The audience sees
that clearly and understands that specific problem
in society.
The social class issues seen in the film is
similar to the world that we live in today. The rich feel as if they are better than everyone else,
and most feel the need not to provide support to those less fortunate. The film shows the rich
exactly this way, where poverty is almost like a disease and the rich refuse to come close to
anyone from earth.

Analysis summary
The social commentary issues in this film are all pretty apparent, despite the film being
mostly action. The main issues in this film are immigration, social class issues, health care issues
and overpopulation.

Immigration issue is shown by how all the people on Earth try and reach Elysium by any
means necessary. People on Elysium
have all they need in life and never
have to worry about any types of
problems. People on Earth are dying
and struggling to survive in horrible
conditions. Social classism is the most
apparent problem reflecting modern
society. Overpopulation on Earth is
expressed anytime there is a scene on
Earth. There are people everywhere in
all places on Earth. The health care
issues are also very obvious in this film.
People on Elysium have all health
problems quickly cured through the use
of a medbay. On Earth, it is a totally different story. Anyone that gets a disease has little chance
for treatment and the people of Earth are very desperate for health care. The social class issues
are very apparent throughout this film with the rich getting all the best things in life by living on
Elysium, while the lower class are stuck on a destroyed and polluted earth with just the
necessities to survive, and given little chance of ever being able to live on Elysium. This movie is
set in 2154, but according to Blomkamp it is about life today. Elysium is meant to be an
allegory. Blomkamps main message that he strives to drive home to his audience is the
inequality and immigration that exists in our world today.

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