Browne Diana Professors Thomas, Warner, and West Thinking Globally: School of Global Studies August 30, 2006 Film Log 1: Brazil The film Brazil, is set in a futuristic dystopia in which society is under the autocratic rule of the government, similar to that of the novel, 1984. Often in Brazil themes presented in class are reflected through the film. These themes include instrumental rationality, thought communities, cognitive universalism and individualism, nature and the individual identity. A general characteristic of instrumental rationality includes "focusing on how to...rather than why?" In the film, the protagonist Sam Lowry, and his supervisor Mr. Kurtzmann are not worried about Mr. Buttle, the man confused to be Mr. Tuttle; instead they are occupying their time with Lowry's promotion and drinking tea. It is then later at the restaurant, the waiter is flabbergasted when Lowry does not order the number on the menu. The waiter cannot function and says, "you must say the number!" Similar to the dystopia in Brave New World, citizens have been taught certain procedures and when a situation goes askew they become baffled as to how they should improvise to correct the situation because they do not ask why something is done a certain way. The society does not question the authority of the government, they only know how to complete tasks efficiently because "a clean desk is an efficient desk." In addition, society emphasizes the unimportant, while ignoring the significant. This demonstrates that the society in the film has a false sense of reality, wherein nothing is as it seems. The thought community present in Brazil is one that society cannot think for itself nor can it function without procedures and paperwork. Emphasizing the unimportant facts, Lowry, visits Mrs. Buttle, wanting to relinquish her husband's check from his supervisor, all the while she is crying hysterically wondering where her husband is. Lowry does not console Mrs. Buttle, but rather insists that she sign the forms confirming that she has received the check. Similarly, the lady who continues to have plastic surgery on her face does not question that it is more than just an allergic reaction; the doctor does not know what he is doing because her condition is worsening. Cognitive is universalism objective, and can be applied to all the citizens of a society. When society applies rules to the entire society, with no exceptions, mistakes are made because they do not take into account individual differences in the same way that cognitive universalism does not take into account individualism or individual differences. The dystopia in Brazil does not take into account the individuals of the society although many conform; the exceptions are Mr. Tuttle, Jill, and Lowry. Jill, protagonist's love interest in the film is a rebel, in the fact that she does not fit into society because she is both an atypical male and female. The women in the society were submissive, while the men were dominant but submissive to the government. She is neither. Both Jill and Lowry rebel against society by reversing their typical gender roles. Jill is more masculine and dominant, while Lowry is obedient and feminine. In this dystopia, there is no real personal identity, everything is made to be impersonal including Lowry's name, and after he is promoted he is called "DZ-015." Resorting to numbers and letters degrades the citizens in that society so that they cannot feel like an individual. Lowry's friend Jack, has one of his triplet daughters in his office, and confuses her by calling her the wrong name. This also signifies the lack of individual identity because Jack is implying that it does not matter what her name is because she and her sisters are the same. Nature is also a constant force in Brazil because it is constantly present in Lowry's dreams. In the beginning of the film, Lowry envisions himself as a person with amour and
wings; he is gliding through the sky, which symbolizes that he does not want to be a part of that society. He wants to be free, hence the flying. In Lowry's next dream, he is soaring over green pastures, and gigantic skyscrapers form in the pastures. This signifies that industry and society are the barriers between Lowry and his liberation. Lowry cannot reach Jill as she floats off in a cage because a monster signifying industry is holding him back. Near the end of the film, the same monster invades reality through Lowry's hallucination, which represents that he is closer to his goal of fighting off society to become an individual.