Jordyn Kopelson- Blog Post 7

I have chosen to work with the film, The Giver. The Giver takes place in a futuristic society that is run by “the Elders”, where there is no pain, fear, war, hatred, color, music, love, etc. Therefore because of these absences, everyone is portrayed in an extremely uniformed manner. Within this community, “the Elders” control almost all aspects of ones life, as they chose whom one can marry, who their children will be, and what job they will be “assigned”, and when one is ultimately “released” from the world. Yet, despite the uniformity that prevails, Jonas, the main character is seen as “different”, where he has different colored eyes than most and has the unique ability to perceive color. Jonas then receives the job as the Receiver of Memory, where he receives memories from the “Giver”, which reflect what life was like before their community was created. Overall, once Jonas is exposed to the other side of the world, the side filled color and emotions, he is able to see through the system that “the Elders” have created and realizes that he must escape, in order to find the real world that lies outside of this oppressive society.

This film fits my interests within the dystopian genre very well, as I am extremely interested in futuristic societies. I enjoy seeing how different people perceive the future, where I then like to make my own predictions. Also, I think the overall concept of this film is very clever. I am really interested in seeing what specific memories Jonas is able to see and how much they differ from the life he currently lives in. Within this film, it seems that the authoritative state is taken to the extreme, as everything in ones life is planned out for them, where there seems to be absolutely no exceptions to the rules. In addition, I am curious to see why certain people, like Jones, have light colored eyes and have special powers that the majority of citizens do not possess. This aspect within the film is similar to Divergent, as Tris is also born with a “unique” virtue. Lastly, I am interested in seeing the development of the various relationships within the film, especially between Jones and the “Giver”, and also between Jones and the little boy, Gabriel.