Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Perception of a Utopian ideology: The Flood

By Joshua Etienne CG Arts & Animation 2011/2012 24/01/2012 1590 Words

Lead Tutor: Chris Hunt

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Contents Page 1 Title Page 2 Contents Page 3 Introduction Page 3 Essay Body Page 8 Bibliography Page 8 List of illustrations

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Introduction The utopian ideal is one that varies depending on the perception of what a utopia is to the individual, but the ideology from pop-culture is often absorbed by the individual, influencing thought. This essay will talk about utopian socialism and surrounding theories by using the Flood from the Halo video game franchise as a case study to discuss the impossibility of such a system. The Flood fit into explicitly defined and unique roles with distinctly different purposes and has an equal standing in their society regardless of function. The Flood works very similarly to the workings of the utopian socialist ideals. Supporting research of existing theories/evidence from Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx, Geroid Tanquary Robinson, Louis Althusser, Frederic Jameson and Plato will be used to reinforce the theories mentioned in the main body of the essay.

The Flood What are they?

Fig. 1 The Gravemind holds Master Chief, the Arbiter and an Oracle captive

In the Halo video game franchise, The Flood are considered the scourge of the galaxy of which an ancient alien race known as the forerunners attempted to eradicate, using the eponymous Halo rings. The Flood propagates by infecting and assimilating other species using spores and thus unites another creature under their leader, Gravemind. The Gravemind is the hive-mind of The Flood and makes active decisions to ensure the survival and future propagation of his own species.

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

The Flood A Utopia? Despite The Floods aggressive and violent means of propagation to other species that other species observe, fear and are repulsed by, The Flood live in perfect harmony with each other and essentially in a utopian society. The Flood have no civil war, no poverty or unemployment, everyone gets an equal share and have no conflicting motives/goals/desires.

The Flood Whats the problem? This perfect society is the result of a process akin to re-education of captured opposition. Only through the loss of personal identity and ideology can the individual become part of this blissful (as Gravemind would put it) union, a fate perceived to be worse than death by some. What this reveals is that for a human, creatures who can be afraid of change, they must fundamentally change both physically and mentally for them to be part of the functioning Utopia. F. Jameson explains the loss of personal identity and ideology through re-education being common to Utopias.
The reflexive paradoxes of reprogramming - the educators must themselves be educated or reeducated - are common to revolutions and Utopias alike. - Jameson, Frederic 2007

This reveals that for assimilated lifeforms to live in harmony, they must first lose themselves and succumb to the masses. This brings us to the main topic of the essay in such that is a Utopia in a human society simply impossible due to the very basics of human nature? An individual must undergo transformation of the human mind.

Flaws of Utopian ideology - Dictatorship One glaring flaw of a Utopia is that there is no room for democracy, since it is assumed that you are either with them or against them, there is no room for debate or disagreement, you obey the state. A widely accepted quote from Lord Acton states, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." It could be seen that what he is saying is that an essentially omnipotent leader is inherently bad and will surely have an ulterior motive toward having complete control over their people. This rings true with the Gravemind whose actual goal is simply to consume more and more of the Galaxy to feed his own Gluttonous wants, the utopian society is simply a tool for the Gravemind to maintain control over his people and acquire what he wants.

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Fig. 2 - Stalin, the grim reality of enforcing a utopia

The Utopian ideal is arguably revealed as a masquerade for manipulation of the masses to serve the few who are intelligent and powerful enough to rule. The perceived notion of the term, Utopia is generally a positive one, and we have seemingly been educated to blindly accept this term as such. What this says about our own societies is arguably worrying. The term Utopia may be seen now by any strong willed individual as a terrifying ideology. F. Jameson details an example of an attempt at socialist utopias with Stalinism.
During the Cold War (and in Eastern Europe immediately after its end) Utopia had become a synonym for Stalinism and had come to designate a program which neglected human frailty and original sin and betrayed a will to uniformity and the ideal purity of a perfect system that always had to be imposed by force on its imperfect and reluctant subjects Jameson, Frederic 2007

What could be taken from that is that re-education is necessary for the individual to perceive the ideology of another as their own, but also believe it whole-heartedly.
man is an ideological animal by nature. Althusser, Louis 1970

This is where L. Althusser could be trying to point out that man is inherently wilful and hard to influence. The nature of man is such that they wish to form and hold their own unique version of an ideology to suit themselves. Humans can be seen as selfish creatures, a survival trait argued by some. This variation, however slight to the original doctrine, presents a blockade to said individual becoming part of the perfect system.

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Flaws of Utopian ideology - Utopias are boring While the idea of a Utopia is generally accepted to be a peaceful one, it requires that everyone accepts and acts according to doctrine. This does not allow for creativity (when in compliance with doctrine) in an explicitly utopian society nor does it allow for any internal conflict. Everything must stay in strict accordance with doctrine.

Fig. 3 - Redecorating is forbidden

With no disparity, there is nothing to compare the positive from the negative and therefore drains from life that which humans require for identification of said qualities. Life then becomes an arguably stale and uneventful experience, and without outside influences (of which are only seen to be negative through re-education) of conflicting doctrine, there is nothing to identify as anything other than a fellow citizen of your glorious nation.
Surely, he said, a man may be expected to love those whom he thinks good, and to hate those whom he thinks evil. Yes, but do not persons often err about good and evil: many who are not good seem to be so, and conversely? Plato

With Plato explaining the subjectivity of peoples perceptions of ideology and how it is possible to fathom that ones own ideology may be flawed without your own knowledge is an ability that The Flood have had removed from their own kind through transmogrification and assimilation.

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Why wouldnt The Flood be considered a Dystopia? As far as perceptions of what a utopia is, changes from person to person, but is not specifically what the term utopia is reserved for. Rather, the term is widely regarded as short term for an individuals or groups perception of an ideal society. A Dystopia would be in a system where the individual maintains their free will or does not conform exactly to the enforced doctrine. This is only a perception of society through the eyes of and outsider or dissident, one cannot see the trees from the forest, so to speak. A true Utopia seemingly cannot exist without the subjects being machine like, de-personalised robots, therefore only a Dystopia can ever exist in reality. A Utopia is doomed to stagnate and ultimately become technologically and socially obsolete in the presence of other more flawed societies, as their social and technological progression would halt, as any progress made would cause instability to the equilibrium of the Utopia. This may in fact be what makes The Flood so frightful. They do not threaten to eradicate life, they threaten to halt all progress and keep the universe in a state of limbo; absolute nothingness.

Conclusion In conclusion, The Flood and the word Utopia seem to have something in common that may not be considered by some. Both are arguably frightful ideas that involve the complete depersonalisation of oneself and others to work. It is arguably the pain and suffering that we as a species endure that makes the contrasting moments ever so enjoyable. There is no light without darkness. The Flood could be perceived as an analogy for the fear and misunderstanding of the socialist countries of the Cold War through the eyes of an American, unable to grasp the desirable traits of the socialist utopia. Perhaps it is also the fear of ones own doctrine becoming obsolete or irrelevant in the presence of another supposedly perfect doctrine that threatens to destroy everything youve ever worked for to have whatever control you think you have over your own life. The fear of change is what may drive those who believe in a utopia to halt all progress and keep the status quo while using the masses as a tool for acquiring dominance over all and being forever content with ones own life. The Utopia is arguably the tool of those afraid of change to have control over their lives vicariously, however contradictory that may sound.

Joshua Etienne

CG Arts & Animation

Perception Essay

Bibliography: Althusser, Louis. (1970) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, Monthly Review Press 1971 Jameson, Frederic. (2007) Archaeologies of the future London & New York. Verso. Marx, Karl & Engels, Freidrich. (1848 original) (1888 translation) Manifesto of the Communist party Moscow. Plato. The Republic Robinson, Geroid Tanquary. (1954) Symposium of Ideology and Reality in the Soviet System

List of Illustrations Figure 1. The Gravemind holds Masterchief, the Arbiter and an Oracle captive http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070216040006/halo/images/thumb/5/57/Gr avemindcapture.jpg/725px-Gravemindcapture.jpg (Accessed on 24/01/2012)

Figure 2. Stalin, the grim reality of enforcing a utopia http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/09_03/stalinDM2109_468x551.jpg (Accessed on 24/01/2012)

Figure 3. Redecorating is forbidden http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YreSoIqCsQ/TSYOjewo12I/AAAAAAAAE6s/q8MrCFLVrhs/s1600/dystopia.jpg (Accessed on 24/01/2012)