Movie Review on Snowpiercer (2013) (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Snowpiercer: A Classist Look at the Social Burden of Genders Snowpiercer, a film directed by Bong Joon Ho of the award-winning Korean film Parasite, strongly depicts a social class struggle among people. It sets the world's social structure on a smaller scale by using a train with each carriage as a symbol of social status; the front being the upper class and the tail as the lowest class. This film has garnered different reviews and opinions because of its theme and target issue which is social class struggle. In talks of social status and class struggle, there are underlying issues that add up to the hardships of those at the bottom. In this paper, we will look at the movie through four overlapping lenses: representational analysis which focuses on social class, feminism, classist ideologies, and semiotics. This paper would anchor on these theories to talk about social class issues in a feministic approach. Contrary to the belief that feminism only talks about women and their struggles, in literature, this theory also talks about the patriarchal system and how it has abused those whom it perceives to be weak and inferior (Tyson 83). That is to say, the women, the minority, and even the men have been subject to an unfair system of patriarchy. In the movie Snowpiercer, male domination is very much evident. Throughout the film, there are only three women with a major role (Yona, Tanya, and Mason). With prejudice, one may say it is understandable as the movie is mostly action and brutal. That belief gives the assumption that women or femininity are for more gentle and slow-paced activity. It is manifested in the film when Curtis' group encounters the men with axes and spears, the only women in their group, Yona and Tanya, are gently pushed away from the front. Other women in the film appear to have typical women's roles (e.g. the pregnant teacher, Wilford's right hand, and "woman", the female student with an attitude). In the early days around the 50s to 70s, women were expected to be soft-spoken, calm, and reserved. Beyond those characteristics, women could be diagnosed with hysteria, an illness associated with women alone. It could be being a loudmouth, sexually active, or expressive. This reminds us of a character in the film who could be diagnosed with hysteria: Mason. With her eloquent language and provoking attitude, Mason does not fit the old idealization of a woman. One ideology is in parallel to the women's standing in the film. Classist ideology, according to Tyson, is defining your human value according to your social status (59). Which is to say, the more superior you are the more privileged you become. Being a woman puts women on a boxed pedestal where everything is safe and harmless, but guarded. Some would believe being a woman is a privilege and it places women on a higher class which means, at times, they are prioritized. However, some women prefer the battlefield, the discomfort, and the hard work. Snowpiercer somehow allows these instances to two women in the film; Curtis allows Tanya to join the group after insisting; Mason holds the second-highest position in the train. The cases of Tanya and Mason may be because this film is set decades later but the instance I mentioned earlier about Tanya and Yona suggests that the small society still carries that patriarchal mindset. Let us now look at what is most associated with some of the characters. Women in the film like Tanya, the teacher, and the random woman holding a baby, are all associated with kids; the teacher is even pregnant. What is interesting is that fathers are looking after their children, too (i.e. Andy's and Yona's fathers). Whatever the circumstances are behind those two fathers being the ones to look after their children, their characters open the idea of men being child rearers. Another interesting portrayal is Claude, Wilford's right-hand "woman" who, in the latter part of the film, invited Curtis inside the engine. Claude is seen holding a gun in one hand and a longer one on her shoulder. Remember that Claude is Wilford's mistress, a societal prejudice against women, but at the same time holds a gun, that one thing highly associated with men. Lastly, Yona's character is a paradox. She is a soft-spoken 17-year-old who is addicted to Kronole. These details about her shatter the idea that women can only be prim and proper. The associations of these characters send a message about the evolving gender issues: men and women can do whatever they want to do regardless of gender. At last, examining the language and words of the characters can give us a clue on how these people view each other. It is noticeable how the people from the front of the train think of the ones at the tail: from the words of Mason, "disorder", "scum", and "ingrate."(Snowpiercer) Tyson, in his book Critical Theory Today, defines false consciousness as a way to "mask its failure" (58) and "promote the interests of those in power." (58) Wilford, during his appearance at the end part of the film, made this manifested this concept through his words. He told Curtis that "everyone has their preordained position." This very familiar belief is also carried by Mason in her speech in the first part of the film when she talks about their "preordained position" and that "I am hat. You are shoe." (Snowpiercer 17:59/2:06:12) Also, Maosn, with so much worship to Wilford, accuses the people from the end of the train of being ungrateful to Wilford for giving them their basic needs. There is an assumption that Wilford provides everything but, in reality, at the expense of the marginalized.  The commodification of women is also confirmed by Wilford's words when he says women from the end of the train "manufacture a steady supply of kids." (1:51:24/2:06:12) His words treat women, particularly those from the end of the train, as laborers and their children as products he can consume. This is proof of their belief that they have their respective places on the train which justifies the exploitation of the poor people in the train. Women, in a worse position, experience not just the struggle inside the cramped carriage but also the pain of having their children abused. Snowpiercer's most obvious agenda is to tragically retell the world's classification of society for us to see how the marginalized struggle with that class structure. Class struggle is harder to fathom for those in ...