Critical Commentary
Utopia Vs Dystopia
Introduction
In this essay I will be analysing two different images using the concept of Utopia and Dystopia. When we look at anything with the use of our sight, we always see more than one thing. We connect what we see with other things we already know or have seen previously to make sense of the image we’re looking at. Everyone has a different “way of seeing” (Berger, 2012) at things, this is because we all have seen and experienced things in a different way to each other.
“Images are sights that have been recreated or reproduced”. (Berger, 2012). An image is normally a visual object which has been placed there on its own away from its actual source and probably is being seen in a different time from when it was actually made. Every image represents its own “way of seeing”. (Berger, 2012). Thus every image has a different interpretation to it even though the person who made or photographed it viewed it in a specific way. Furthermore the background to which it belongs has a specific story to tell regarding to the image and it could reflect something different to how an external person sees it because they could have a totally different view on it.
Fig.1
Fig.2
Figure 1
From my way of seeing the first image represents a destroyed city from an earthquake. The buddings are half intact, all the windows have been shattered and it looks completely abandoned with no trace of humans anyway near. All the external structures of the tall buildings have been destroyed. They all appear to be covered from dust and have the same colour. It seems like this was a busy city before the earthquake which wiped and destroyed everything. In reality this picture is from a film called “Divergent” and represents the city of ‘Chicago’ which has been destroyed by a war in a futuristic era where very high technologies were used. The context behind this image is that since everything has been destroyed, in order to survive, people been living under a supreme power that has control over their lives completely. The supreme power has control on how the people should conduct their personal lives (they decide their careers) and how these people will be helping their community while staying under their control and if they do not obey then they use chips of extreme high intelligence to control their minds for their own propaganda.
Here comes the concepts of Utopia and Dystopia. In the case of the first image the concept applied to it is Dystopia, which is defined as an unpleasant living place, where the people have lost any rights and have no freedom because they are all controlled by one big power and a place where the land has been destroyed. (Oksd.wednet.edu, 2018). This is mainly taken place in the future world like in the case of the first image where the events take place in a dystopian society where a power is controlling everything in order to maintain peace. By time this reveals oppressing by purposely keeping people away from thinking about themselves and what is actually going on around them. In the film where the image comes from the concept applied at the beginning was utopian; ““Utopia” It is a play on the Greek prefixes “ou” meaning no or not and “eu” meaning good. So, a utopia is literally “good place”” (Oksd.wednet.edu, 2018). This place is normally a peaceful and pleasant place where everyone is equal and laws are created for their benefit in order to maintain tranquillity and people have access to all social and educational services. In the case of the first image the people living in the city were organised in factions which had the purpose of keeping balance and peace. But nothing is perfect forever and if Utopian society is not completely perfect then those little imperfection become bigger and lead to a dystopian society as I mentioned before and in this case people in different fractions who were being controlled, started demanding equality and started a war. “Dystopia may simply showcase an oppressive form of control characters are living under.” (Owlcation, 2018). In this case Utopia and Dystopia both play a role.
Figure 2
My way of seeing of the second image without looking at its source and background is similar to the original point of view of the person who created this poster. I see a Futuristic world where flying cars have been invented so the technology has progressed on high levels. You can see that the environment and the greenery is well kept so the living conditions of animals and people are good and this technology did not affect the environment badly. You can see the statue of a black panther on the right side of the image. According to my view this could be a symbol representing the city. Now in reality this image is from a film actually called “Black Panther”. The image represents the nation called “Wakanda” which is a utopian place and it takes place in future where fiction gadgets are present for the benefit of the people living there and not used against them or to control them. As you can see Wakanda has high skyscrapers, parks and gardens which all represent a developed world where the land matters. (The Verge, 2018). In this case the technology in the future is represented as a beneficial thing for the development of the society while the peace is maintained and is used to protect and help humans unlike in the previous case where the use of technology and power was being used to control people and maintain ‘peace’ which in reality was oppression that leaded to a war (Dystopia).
Conclusion
These two images represent two different societies and point of views, but the common thing they both have is that they are representing the future even if in different ways. Both assume that the technology will be the reason for the world to be the way it is represented. Lastly as mentioned before the viewer can have a completely different view on the image from the original creator if they are not aware of the background of it and the time of it when it was created. It all depends on how the creator or taker of the image clearly represents his point of view to the watcher.
Bibliography
Berger, J. (2012). Ways of seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corp.
Google.com. (2018). allegiant destroyed city – Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB711GB711&biw=1366&bih=664&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=MTolXLqhE-LsxgOt6Z34Dw&q=allegiant+destroyed+city&oq=allegiant+destroyed+city&gs_l=img.3…16131.20342..20712…0.0..0.67.949.19……0….1..gws-wiz-img…….0j0i7i30j0i24.Wxz5HS-9qFU#imgrc=eFPqQY4SKFA1UM.
Google.com. (2018). wakanda black panther – Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com/search?q=wakanda+black+panther&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB711GB711&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwili5LSrcPfAhXdRxUIHagwDgkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1366&bih=664#imgrc=uX-XPxKBS4B2QM,
Oksd.wednet.edu. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.oksd.wednet.edu/cms/lib/WA01001356/Centricity/Domain/120/Utopia%20vs.pdf.
Owlcation. (2018). The Difference Between a Utopian and Dystopian World. [online] Available at: https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Difference-Between-a-Utopian-and-Dystopian-World.
The Verge. (2018). Black Panther’s Wakanda is a transportation utopia with a dash of reality. [online] Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/23/17044448/black-panther-wakanda-maglev-train-hyperloop-transportation
Photoshop images
Image one: Red light balls in London
Before:
Image two: Lost in city lights
(4 images Photo-shopped to give 1)
After:
Before:
Animation (Using After Effects)
Link from youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxjIBwtWoc