SciFi+Movie+Analysis

The Final Cut

Written and Directed by Omar Naim (2004)

Keywords: Zoe Implant, Rememory, Genealogy, Immortality, Undetectable, Electrosynth Tattoos, 21st Birthday, Revisited, Violation, Secrets



Follow the link below to see a trailer of the movie: []

What would you think if someone told you that everything you did in private or even a mere thought, whether good or bad, would be put on display for your loved ones and the community to view after you pass? Would you change your ways or live on the edge? Would you delete the bad and keep the good? What would you have to hide? I chose to complete analysis on this movie after learning that the premise of the film uses technology to contradict which parts of your life could completely erased. This notion is a huge jump into ‘real’ vs. “real.” This movie was carefully selected through a process defining the relationship between culture and technology.
 * Rationale:**


 * Historical Context of //The Final Cut//:**

The histories of the culture depicted in the movie include working class families that find a way to remember their loved ones in ways unlike other cultures. The technological advances in their society begin at birth with the implanting of a device that, upon implantation, records memories of day to day events. The writer sets the scene in a familiar context i.e. neighborhoods, nuclear family’s, and transitional life changes that are relatable to events that occur today.

The writer made it possible to order chronological events by providing a very specific account of the person’s name and age in years, days, hours and seconds. There were also times when the writer provides background history for individuals by allowing viewers to travel backwards in time.

The following presents a list of specific issues, topics, and or themes that directly relate the film to the text:
 * Reading Connections of //The Final Cut//:**
 * A reflection of temporary cultural values attributed to technology.
 * Embodies both positive and negative values in their representation of technology.
 * Sci-Fi has taught us to be suspicious of government with intrusive technologies.
 * Sci-Fi retains the ability to thrill us with visions of future technology.
 * Crime, war, and poverty have disappeared in a technologically advanced society,
 * Simulation, founded on information, the model, the cybernetic game- total operationally, hyper-reality, aim of total control.
 * Mediascape- describes the saturation of contemporary life by media.
 * Theoretical Framework relating to //The Final Cut//:**
 * Theoretical Framework relating to //The Final Cut//:**

//The Final Cut// falls under the cultural materialism theoretical framework which foregrounds the complex interplay of factors associated with cultural change. The film specifically applies to the materialism component which signifies that cultural change is to be interpreted as part of a historical process in which economic, political, and institutionalized pressures play an integral part (Murphie and Potts pp18-19).

In the film, people were implanted only if parents/families were able to afford so. Some took out loans and sacrificed other means in order to get implants for their children. From a political stand, why was it so important for the memory to be revisited? In some cases, there was the idea that people hold answers or keys that unlock confidential things in their memory for power and/or safekeeping. If a person had those answers or keys, they might be in a better position politically. There were definitely institutionalized pressures represented in the film. There were people rebelling against the idea of being affiliated by force with groups that did not “respect” the secrecy of the mind. They extended any means to escape the institutionalized process.


 * Analysis of //The Final Cut//:**

Overall, this film raised questionable thoughts about how technology can affect culture through influential ideologies. As mentioned in the text, Sci-Fi has oscillated between hope and despair, between celebration and warning, and in its depiction of technological change; these dichotomous attitudes are often mingled in one work (95). In life, there is a fine line between reality and fiction. Sci-Fi has eliminated those lines and created a level of energy that as long as you can imagine it- anything is possible to put on the big screen. I appreciate the role that both writers and scientist play in taking culture and putting it against the odds.

In this film, the writer presented a variety of life lessons using fictional events. One lesson includes making decisions that evoke a sense of responsibility to the world around you. Ballard states, “Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent, they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.” (114) If you knew that your actions, words, and everyday decisions could be viewed by others, would you make a decision to live accordingly? Another lesson honors how we respect and remember those that have passed away. Will you leave them in peace or stir up controversial decisions that he/she has made? If you found out about those controversial decisions, how could they directly affect your life? Can they be taken back? There is a lot to be said about technology. The more technological advanced we become as a society, the more we put ourselves on the world for display- whether intentionally or unintentionally. Will you make a decision today about your final cut?