Totalitarims and Technocracy: Beyond Robert Wise’s “The Day the Earth Stood still” and Jean-Luc Godard’s “Alphaville”.
1.1 Introduction: Freedom and Democracy
Nevertheless, these very principles have leads us through our history, in many occasions to fight and kill, to shred the blood of those who oppose our ideas and ways of government, despite we were just defending ourselves or in expansion. Along with the time, “Democracy” has turned out to be the most effective way of social management, simply because it holds the support of the “mayority”, within a society. These politics of the current time and of the last century have been promptly understood in terms of being a citizen.
Every people who are citizens, have the right to vote and thus choose “the one” they want to be represented by. Nevertheless, in a wide sense, democracy is yet some kind of a totalitaryst system, if we consider all the people who just had a different choice and those who did not vote, because they did not feel represented by any public minister. These last two kinds of people, that opposes certain political ideas or just don’t care about politics, assume passively the shape of a government they don’t approve, but they must coexist with, since we all share a common space.
In plain words, “Democracy” is just the govern of freedom, because it makes way to people to do what they want, entrusting the responsibility of their actions on themselves, assuming they are aware that we do share a common space with some else and every action we do, has it consequences. The trouble comes, when something interferes in these actions, when our actions come under the influence of someone else, which could set aside what we thought initially. This interference clearly refers to the propaganda and media procedures in general.
Eruditely speaking, in every system persists always a dissonance, and this is simply because everything we conceive as knowledge, it does not come from out of the blue, but from our own hands. Furthermore, it’s an all time axiom, that in order to reach the truth we must first pass through the mistake. The concept of Truth is but granted from what is not truth. In democracy, the neuralgic node of this dissonance seems to lie in freedom.
In a wide sense, giving people the chance to choose, it also means giving people the alternative to care about themselves. As a result of, individuality is lighted up, obstructing the objectives and ideals that must prevail for the society’s sake.
In other means, utterly different to Democracy and just the opposite, is Totalitarism, and to human genre model of government: Technocracy. On the one hand, Totalitarism, contrary to Democracy does not tolerate freedom, but often control it, along with many other behaviors. A Totalitaryst government is very similar to a Monarchy, absolute power is entrusted to one single man, who takes part in all the decisions and represents the three powers of the state (executive, legislative and juridical). On the other hand, Technocracy is a government in which Human genre takes no part into. Chiefly, it refers to a government in which the power is hold by “Artificial Beings”, like robots, virtual and computerized entities, cyber mutations, androids or any other mean created artificially. Specifically, Technocracy refers to a highly logical model of government, in which emotions have no interference, nor valor. Every action on course regards the “Organic Law” (1) of the system.
1.2 The Day the Earth Stood Still: Freedom and Democracy.
The film described in excellent manners, a world that even armed to the teeth, felt scared of this non-human menace, which had invaded the country without legible reason. The film main role was performed by the invader itself, who would get to live with a family in USA, bound to understand human world and the reason of their inside arguments, wars and blind violence. The invader arrives to the planet, because his superiors feel the “Earth” might become a menace to its own race and the universe itself, if they continue fighting and developing mass destruction weapons. The alien protagonist, at some point, observes how the different nation leaders can’t come to agreement to even get together in a simple meeting with him, meaning that they can’t forget their differences, not even when something that concern them all is over the table.
“The universe grows smaller everyday, and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere, can’t no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestor knew this, when they make laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We of the other planets have long ago accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. For our policemen, we have created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol to preserve the peace. In matters of aggression, we have give them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At first sign of violence they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty from provoking their action; is too terrible to risk. The result is live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free of aggression or war, free to pursue more profitable enterprises. We do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system and it works. Now is no concern of us how you run your own planet. But if you threaten to extend your violence, this earth of your will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simply, join us and live in peace or pursue you present course and face obliteration”. (“The Day the Earth Still”, 1951, time: 1.27.00, scene 15, 16)
In this sense, Democracy, the government of freedom, becomes a double blade weapon, which far from being positive might turn out to be the very hell and lead people to self-destruction. “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, points out how freedom triggers off individuality and how it becomes not desirable and acceptable to society.
1.3 The Day the Earth Stood Still: Totalitarism and Technocracy.
Nevertheless, in depth, Robert Wise does not depict widely how this system works out and how can get a society, to adapt itself to such a new system. What Wise does in his film is to depict the flaws and virtues of Democracy, and thus get an answer. Thus it is stated that, it exists a wide difference on cultural, social and political terms, between human beings. In broad sense, their individual differences are defined by their individual choices, allowed by freedom. This has led them to divide themselves into smaller groups according to their interests.
This might not look like a problem but it is. Getting spread does not solve the conflict, but it increases it creating more nodes of disruption. Then, the problem comes when these differences get in conflict with others and tolerance is forgotten. The trouble comes when people have to come to agreement and their differences have the strongest weigh, like to remind them they all belong to one single group: Human Genre.
The conflict just mentioned, is depicted when the different nation’s leaders cannot come to an agreement, afraid that that might mean giving up their individual ideals and interests.
In Robert Wise film, the Tolalitaryst and Technocratic elements are introduced by the foreigner and his robot, inhuman machine that comes to represent the icon of absolute power. In this last character, there all the state’s powers are centered. A machine which comes to perform the role of a Divinity, but a Divinity lacking of feelings and emotions and reacting to only certain actions, guided by a strict frame of axioms and laws.
Theoretically, if the governor has no feelings and emotions, the system should get to be stable; therefore, logical and predictable.
The idea of erasing feelings and emotions of the “management system” is to avoid the corruption and deviance. Systems use agents to work, as most devices use energy and are composed of finite parts. In Politics, the agents of the system are object of feelings like selfishness, greed, pride and other means, events that spark off a change on them, altering their objectives, as well as the objectives of the enterprise, they belong to. This particular phenomena is depicted in the film “Alphaville” (1965), directed by the French cinema director: Jean-Luc Godard.
1.4 Alphaville: Nosferatu’s Totalitarism.
The world presented in “Alphaville” is quite different. The key on Alphaville, as of every Totalitarism model of government, it is to reach the final goal, the ultimate good at any cost. Theoretically speaking, the point in this model of government is to focus every measure taken, to fulfill this final goal, which is equilibrium or absolute equality. Thus, a Totalitaryst system does concentrate all of its efforts to guard the collective welfare, instead of the individual one, within a society. Nevertheless, despite how coherent and logical the theory sounds, human history has showed that Totalitaryst systems often turn to be systems of oppression and tyranny. As well as state that: Absolute power corrupts mankind, does corrupting the system’s functions.
Precisely of this nature is what Alphaville is about. A highly technologically advanced city, called Aphaville, it is controlled by a Doctor called: Nosferatu, and ruled by a powerfull computer named: Alpha 60.
The city’s image depicts a very particular in which everything is controlled by Nosferatu thorugh his computer, which controls the city’s functions and run the different departments. On the one hand, we have the police, in alphaville’s world called “The Minister de la Dissuasion”. It exist also a department named “residents control”, which works as enrollment place where every foreigner must pass through in other to remain in the city, as a citizen. At this place people get enrolled in the Alpha 60 registers, receiving a code of identification. This is the first step which shows how Alphaville works. It exists within Alphaville a strong emphasis on “doctrinating” citizens, function carried on by the Programming and memory department. At this place, every citizen is given a role inside of Alphaville. Thus, in the film we might observe from the very beginning strange characters with stranger behaviors.
The protagonist of the movie is Lemmy Caution, performed by French actor Eddie Constantine, who plays the role of a spy within the city, bound to get in contact with Nosferatu and untangle his plans of world’s domination. To clear up Alphaville’s world, Nosferatu is an American scientific eradicated from the country for presenting insane ideas in his field, the construction of Alpha 60. Thus, Nosferatu gets to Alphaville where he initiates the construction of Alpha 60 that later on becomes a military threaten to the world. Lemmy is sent to find out Nosferatu’s intentions and to assess how dangerous this Alpha 60 actually is.
The city of Alphaville is out of control, or might we say a completely different world to any other. Lemmy’s arrival to Alphaville means getting in touch with two characters: a programmer class 2 and a seductress class 3. A seductress class 3, it is a kind of waitress in any Hotel that makes foreigner feel comfortable, but also makes way to inform other departments about the foreigners motives of visiting Alphaville. A programmer class 2, it is girl too, that meets and guide the foreign through the city, showing what places they must visit and the formalities to do, like to attend the residents control and programming and memory department. Along with the film, we found some leads that clear up what’s going on in Alphaville.
Most of the character acts like robots and perform always the next phrase when meeting someone: “I’m very well, thank you mercy”. Besides, there’s one fact that always shocks the protagonist as well the viewer and it is that characters often mix up the meaning of words.
“you never have love affairs? (Lemmy asks to a programmer class 2)
What? (answer the programmer class 2)
Has no one ever fall in love with you? (ask again lemmy)
Love? What’s that? (ask the programmer class 2)
“Nearly everyday words disappear, for they are forbidden. They are replaced by new words, expressing new ideas”
Such is the case when Lemmy finds out that the word “why” it does not mean to ask for explanation, but means because, so that people cannot ask anything.
“Why didn’t you kill him?
Why? What does that word means? I forgot”.
The reality of Alphaville is that, Alpha 60 controls everything. Foreigner gets to Residents control, where they are given a code of identification. After that, they go to “programming and memory” where they, in plain words, are brained washed, getting a function to do in Alphaville. At this very department they learn everything related to Alphaville’s language and proper way of behavior, functions established by the Institute of general semantics and the minister de la dissuasion.
At some point, Lemmy also attends a show, in which people with illogical behavior are executed.
- Why he was condemned? (Ask Lemmy to someone attending the show).
- Because he wept (that someone answers).
Thus Alphaville works under highly logical computerized patterns. Emotions and Feelings are banned, and remarked as improper behaviors. In such case, The Institute of general semantics is to deal with such problem, by erasing the meaning of words that recall any feeling or emotion. As well as emotions, Dr. Nosferatu sees on literature a menace to his personal perfect society. This very same issue, it might be seen on Farenheit 451 (1966), directed by Francois Truffaut, adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s novel with same title and that describes a similar attempt of government.
To sum up, Dr. Nosferatu runs a Dictatorship on Alphaville by controlling every function of Alpha 60, machine that represent the first step on artificial intelligence. On the one hand, the big difference with any other Tyranny is that thanks to alpha 60, not many people get to know what’s happening in Alphaville and live their lives according to the function given. Therefore, even though there are public executions, most people seem completely blind or convinced that the people that dies, deserve to die due to their behavior.
What Alphaville does in the end, it is to reaffirm what history says, absolute power entrusted to one single man means tyranny and the corruption of a system, Totalitarism. Thus, establishing that “Human Nature” is highly unstable and unpredictable, as well as power corruptible, the only possible lead to make this system works, seems to be a Totalitarism ran by highly logical machines to prevent the abuse of power, for they lack of individual feelings.
1.5 Conclusions: The Inhuman Model of Government.
At the current course of times, Democracy seems the most humane model of social management. It entrust to every man liberty in doing and thinking, but also the responsibility of the collective welfare. The question stated in this work is about how good is that, not in the individual sense, but in the social sense. On the one hand, Literature as stated in Alphaville, promotes individual ambitions. On the other hand, feelings as well, promote the wish of possession and individual care…none of them, promoting the collective or social welfare.
The biggest difference between Democracy and Totalitarism is how both of them deal with the concept of freedom. The second one, it is very strict and severe, often has control of every action, which means restriction of individual freedom. Nonetheless, the paradox lies in that individual freedom suppression, in broad sense, might be understood as providing wider freedom, in social terms. This means the individual welfare gets oppressed for the sake of the collective or social welfare. The point then is, how willing people are to do this sacrifice.
The virtue of Totalitarism is establishing the rules at once, while Democracy entrust this action to every human being, individually. In keeping with this, during the whole work, and having basis in both films, it has been affirmed that this process does not work, unless there’s the proper teaching.
As conclusion of this brief and very personal work, it might be pointed out that human at the current course is incapable of fair self government, and as in any actual system; there will always remain differences and disputes between the different interests. At this final stage, it could be a great deal of analysis, the assessment of brand new models of social management, more efficient and stables than the current ones.
For the future to come, there should be acknowledged the daily decrease of natural resources and the coming world over-population. By the time conflict comes, the strongest weapon to posses is but a strong model of government, and self-responsibly citizens.
“The final war to come would not involve man and the machines or aliens, but mankind against, between and amongst, mankind”
