I was not prepared for The Giver. I had no idea what it was about other than it was being hyped pretty hard. I had not read the book it was based on, so I had no preconceptions about it going in. Boy, was I presently surprised.
The Giver is a sci-fi story about a post-apocalyptic world, apparently. The movie isn't specific about this. Mankind has been able to abolish all emotions and feelings from life, creating a society free of strife and crime, but also devoid of vitality and life. Conformity is strictly practiced, and personal relationships as we know them are outlawed. The emotions are purged through daily injections of some kind of drug, leaving everyone in some kind of waking stupor. Everyone has a job and contibutes to society each according to his talents and receives each according to his needs. There is total equality. However, occasionally a child is born who doesn't fit into normal criteria, and they are given the unique job of Recever of Memories from the Giver of Memories. This job is in high regard and the Receiver will act as an advisor to the Elders, the rulers of the society. As the main character Jonas becomes the Receiver, he begins to get the totality of the human experience from The Giver. He quickly realizes that the society is soulless and wants to share his experiences, which is cores sly forgiven. He eventually runs from the society and takes down a tower that apparently runs the illusion society is in, freeing their minds.
So, this movie asks one of the fundamental questions of humanity, that is What are we? What is our makeup? The movie argues that a world of Serenity and tranquility robbed of the chaos of human experiences is really a hollow shell, robbing us of a vital piece that which makes us human. The movie illustrates this through its use of color. The sterile is black and white, but Jonas sees washed-out flashes of color. When he meets The Giver, he experiences an explosion of color and sound that overwhelms him. He learns of love, happiness, music, hate, violence and fear at different times which fundamentally changes his perspective, similar to Plato's Shadows in the Cave to daylight. The movie is actually a thinly-veiled allegory of The Garden of Eden. The sterile society is in a state of grace until the Devil introduces to Man the actual knowledge of Good and Evil, thus provoking the Fall of Man. In this case, the Devil is our humanity and seems to be arguing that our Fallen selves are much preferable to living in ignorance of what is out there. Indeed, this serene existence kills us inside. With no context for morality, we be one totally amoral, with only pragmatism as our guide. This, we can do monstrous things in the name of the pragmatism. In the movie, this is illustrated by the babies. If they are not perfect, they are unemotionally killed and disposed of like garbage. Same with the elderly. As soon as you are are a burden, you are expelled. Many movies and books have touched on this: Logan's Run, 1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World, Ministry of Fear, Soylent Green, Schindler's List, but the most obvious comparison is the similarly great Pleasantville. They all warn us that though we are flawed beings, it is central to what we are, what life is. They go on to admonish us to never forget this aspect of ourselves. They implore us to hold onto what is good, but understand what is bad so as to keep perspective. The movie is wonderful, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
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