Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas Concept of “predacity” as related to class topics: The concept of “predacity”, in my opinion, is related to so many of the topics discussed in class. The most formidable connection would be that of human on human. In regards to race, class and gender, “predcaity” fits the system in which the American culture has been designed around. Rich white men have been the predators of poor minorities and women since the creation of the United States. Minorities and women have been discriminated against since the pilgrims set sail and the revolutionaries first wrote the declaration of independence.
What followed was a constitution that, in theory, gave only white men the freedom of life, liberty and property. Women and blacks couldn’t own property nor did they have the same liberty white men had. To this day women and minorities are still discriminated against in a predator like way. Predacity could even be taken to the extent of harming women and races that weren’t white. The Native American Indians were murdered for their land, Africans were enslaved, killed and tortured at the crack of their masters whip. The vicious truth of human nature is one of animal like “Predator vs Prey” approach.
The one actor said a couple times throughout the movie that “those who are weak are meat, those who are strong will eat. ” Rich white men have preyed on the economical and social gain of others for millennium. What we’ve discussed in class shows predacity like examples in current systems we have in the United States today. The way corporations prey on those who will work or are forced to work for cheap or no labor in over sea workshops and brothel like set-ups gives more verification to human predacity in modern times. Recurrence as a theme and preventing predacity from recurring:
The theme of recurring in the movie happened with every different time and environment. People preying on people, companies preying on companies and groups preying on groups were all part of the theme of the movie. Examples like the oil company hoping the nuclear building failed and killed as many lives as possible was a form of predacity. The cannibal hunters that continued to attack Tom Hanks village was a form of predacity and the Asian women being used as a tool for economic gain was a form of human on human predacity.
What was clear was the failure of some individuals to change the path of recurring predacity. The way in which predacity was prevented from recurring was an individual’s love for another. It was the love for another person that forced change within the individual that created a change from the recurring theme. We saw examples of this when the man who helped the African on the sail boat and decided not to deal with slave owners and move east to help the abolitionists, Tom Hanks when he didn’t kill or stop Halle Berry when she told him that what he believed in was actually false and incorrect.
In order to change the recurring theme the individuals within the environment must change first. This is one of the fundamental ideas we have discussed throughout course discussions. I personally loved this movie. It was arguably one of the best movies I’ve seen in some time and was highly enjoyable. It showed the power of love for people and the way an individual can change the course of predcaity. I gave it an A+.
