Elysium

[Stan]

I rewatched Elysium last night. The first time I watched it, I felt that a true Cyberpunk movie had been made. It has quite a bit of profanity, more than I remembered. That aside, I was wondering what you all think about Max as a Messiah figure in the movie? Do you see parallels between Max and Jesus. The differences are stark, but what about any similarities? Also, how could the movie be adjusted or adapted to make it Christian fiction?

[Den]

I don't know if I have ever watched that one. Interestingly, you could learn from it and adapt some of it into the book you are working on. JRR Martin says that its not plagiarism if you copy from multiple sources.

[Stan]

None of my sketched story lines relate directly to the Elysium story line. My idea of Cyberpunk is definitely in the same vein as Elysium. I don't know enough about tech to write AIs and hackers with any degree of detail. Those would be background realities in anything I write. The cybernetics aspect of Cyberpunk is alive and well in Elysium and that is more of what I'd import, in addition to adding some of my own ideas of cybernetics. The aspect of Elysium that isn't clear in the movie, is whether cybernetic implants decreases one's humanity. The main military antagonist is pretty out there, but is it due to cybernetic implants or a long career of killing people (dirty deeds done dirty cheap). There isn't enough story time to know whether the cybernetics dehumanize Max, the hero. So, a theme unexplored in the movie. Still, Max as a Messiah figure is interesting, especially since he was an orphan raised by nuns.

Give it a watch when you get a chance and we can discuss it more.

[Den]

As it turns out, we have Elysium in our DVD collection. We watched it again because of your post. Going back to your original question, I suppose Max does sacrifice himself for others. But the overall theme of the movie is the privileged versus the have-nots. The privileged live in a tidy habitat in space (almost all of them are white) while the have-nots are in a gritty, racially diverse earth and lack medical care simply because the privileged are too stingy to share it. Elysium seems more like a parallel with liberal Hollywood politics than Christianity. If some have more that means to them that someone else must have less.

Perhaps I am less sensitive to the author's intent of Max's messianic role, but if I don't make that connection, many others won't either. As I have said before, I don't think that stories like that will soften anyone's resistance to the Bible. I contend that we need stories that overtly mention the characters' belief in Jesus.

Going back to your writing, don't be afraid to imagine whatever technical aspects you want, then just name it with some technobabble. It is just fiction, after all. I think the trick with good cyberpunk, is to make the technology more believable, rather than too far out there. For instance, the terminators in the later terminator moves that turn into a liquid form are too much for me. Elysium is very cool with all of the tech they have in it. Another one that I really love for this is Automata.

The cybernetics didn't seem to have much of a dehumanizing effect upon Max. Even the fact that his brain was being used as a storage device didn't seem to interfere with his normal function. The external body augmentation only gave him added strength as he was dying from radiation poisoning. A book that I am reading intermittently is The Last Christian which has a total replacement of the brain with a synthetic one. That book is a fully Christian book.

[Stan]

Good analysis. I'll check out your recommendations.

I don't think the author had Christian Messiah in mind when he wrote Max. I imagine his concept doesn't go beyond "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" level of messianic/savior figure.

I think if Max had been orphaned from Elysium then we could possibly see an Israel/Gentile angle - elect versus non-elect (but not in a predestinarian kind of way).

Since Max was raised as an orphan by nuns, a Christian might assume that he has heard of Jesus' sacrifice, and possibly even the Scripture that there is no greater love than to die for a friend.

I know I'm stretching it here. But, what could have been developed in the story line with the Catholic connection? With just a few changes (including a reduction of profanity) and an added scene or two, I think this could have been much more of a Christian story. I'm certain that a book has the ability to include aspects that a Hollywood production would leave out.

In what other way do you think it could be adapted to be a Christian story? Or, do you think it is beyond redemption?

[Den]

Stan wrote: "Good analysis. I'll check out your recommendations.

I don't think the author had Christian Messiah in mind when he wrote Max. I imagine his concept doesn't go beyond "The Hero with a Thousand Face..."

I agree with everything you said, including a Catholic connection. As far as making it an overtly Christian message, its tough, but let me give it a shot; Instead of Max storing the keys to Elysium citizenship in his brain, he is storing the word of God, and details of creationism in his brain, which would be outlawed on Elysium. That approach kind of steals from my own book, The Lucid Series: Android Uprising, but its all I got. Anyways, if anyone wants to spread the Gospel; steal merrily.

[Stan]

So, something of Elysium meets The Book of Eli?

[Den]

Stan wrote: "So, something of Elysium meets The Book of Eli?"

Nice. I guess we all follow the same vein on that count.

[Stan]

Finally got a chance to see Automata. It was slower than I anticipated. However, I used to live in Bulgaria, so seeing a film with locations from there was cool.

The concept that AI's could evolve beyond the limits placed upon their programming because humans evolved to be the superior beings on the planet is interesting. I was disappointed that no explanation of how it might have happened was presented in the film. I think there's a lot more potential to the world they created and the story they told. Do you know if it was based on a book that might have more detail? I've not seen any connections to such a book.

[Den]

Stan wrote: "Finally got a chance to see Automata. It was slower than I anticipated. However, I used to live in Bulgaria, so seeing a film with locations from there was cool.

The concept that AI's could evolve..."

I really liked the way the Automata androids interacted with each other and the humans. Cross-cultural (and whatever you call stories like Automata) stories are very interesting to me.

I don't know anything about an Automata book. I do, however, think it is extremely cool that you also lived in Bulgaria.