Escaping the Evils of Fascism
During a time where Franco was in power, Rebels had to live in a world where to take risks and disobey was the only way to survive. Rebels were tortured, mistreated and killed due to not believing in the Sadist lifestyle and that they held resistance to the Fascist. In the film, Pan’s Labyrinth, Fascism is an underlying theme that was commonly shown through the characters actions and beliefs. The Autocracy and the resistance fighters clash to fight over who will have the ruling of Spain. Pan’s Labyrinth uses the interpretation of fairy tale and contrasts it with horrific reality to express the main character’s view of living in a Sadist society.While to take in everything that is going on around her, Ofelia tries
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to rebel against her step-father, Captain Vidal, which suggests she's against the Fascist rule and strives to gain individuality. Captain Vidal’s uses his own power to lash out in violent acts, especially during a scene when he is seen beating a poacher.Vidal is considered a monstrous character from the film. He can be seen as narcissistic, emotionless, and the hideousness of his ideology of a new Spain cannot be forgotten. Captain Vidal’s actions show that he is abhorrent not only towards women, but to anyone who rebels against his idea of a autocratic Spain.
Fascism in Pan’s Labyrinth is a representation on how Ofelia lives in a reality where she faces the evil aspects of autocracy, and that the only way she can deal with the Fascist taking over power is to enter …show more content…
the fairy tale world to escape. The use of fantasy is recognizable in Pan’s Labyrinth from beginning to the final scene. Fairy-tale elements were used in the real world, which created a sense of surrealism presented in the film. This use of unrealistic elements merges both the reality and fantasy worlds and causes them to remain tied throughout. According to Smith’s review “some moments are juxtaposed with, are indeed inextricable from, the fantastic realms into which the imagination retreats when confronted by real-life horror.” Some characters face a transformation, like how real creatures were turned into fairies, and how time was an important symbol that life is limited. In the scene where Ofelia's brother is listening to her read while he is inside the womb, the “stick insect clicking and clucking, intrudes into the fantasy landscape and we follow it back to the bedroom where it transforms itself into the slightly sinister fairy of Ofelia’s imagination.” These type of elements both create a tie between the worlds that reflects the freedom of Ofelia’s life in the Labyrinth in comparison to the vulnerability she experiences in reality. An important symbol in disguised are the insects of Pan’s Labyrinth.
The insects are seen transformed into three fairies of the fantasy world.They are a symbol that act as a connection between fantasy and reality, indicating that the insects are fantastical creatures in disguise, waiting for the right moment to emerge into their true identity. This happens to be Ofelia as she exclaims that she “just saw a fairy”, as she talks to her caregiver, Mercedes. Being only known as “just a woman” to Captain Vidal, Smith notes that she “is in league with the guerrillas and will conspire against her tyrannical master under his very nose.” As Mercedes answers Ofelia’s question with “No. But when I was a little girl, I did. I believed in a lot of things I don't believe anymore,” It is a deep realization that once you grow older, you have to deal with the harsh realities of life, which is in her case, fighting the fascist leaders. It is common to know that many young children believe in fairytales, but once a child reaches the age of adolescence, those type of fantastical elements start to
fade. In later scenes, the audience can see the same bug that is shown transforming into the fairy from Ofelia’s book, transfusing from a unrealistic fantastical element and creating it literally into real life. This happens when Ofelia has entered the farmhouse; where Captain Vidal likes to reside. In such a virulent setting there is a need for an escape from the brutality that stands in the farmhouse. As the audience watches the scene, this crave for imagination heightens the dangers of the real world and having to cope with real life. Though bugs are too sickening to look at, Ofelia turns to this type of ugliness with the potential to run away from this sick reality she survives in rather than the hideousness of Vidal that cannot be wished away. She escapes back to her wonderness of an imagination in order to hide away from the horror that she feels is to come.This scene can be foreshadowed by the earlier scene from shaking Vidal’s hand. He tells her “it’s the other hand” as she has shaken with her left hand. This was when Captain Vidal was “welcoming his pregnant wife and step daughter to the mill, he addresses them in the masculine plural form (“Bievenudos”)”, said Smith in his review.Vidal’s mean, emotionless nature is further seen through the motifs of clocks ticking. The director of the film constantly refers to time in the fantastical and real worlds. The moon is a heightened symbol of time running out and being limited in the fantasy world, its natural marking of the passage of time is indicative of the labyrinth. This, it contrasts hugely to the efficiency of Vidal’s regime, everything serves a purpose and it has to be done in a precise manner. Captain Vidal’s mean manner was also witnessed in the scene when he welcomes his pregnant wife. When he used the plural form “Bievenudos”, it was on the assumption that the unborn child that Carmen is carrying, is a boy. When Vidal announces that “a son must be born where his father is”, Vidal feels that the mother must be sacrificed in order to ensure the life of his son survives just so the son will bear his father’s name. In Smith’s review he mentions that “Del Toro suggests that this fantasy of pure male filiation, without the intercession of women, is fundamental to Fascism.” When Captain Vidal has a run-in with Mercedes, he always gloats. Smith notes that “Vidal’s fetishistic attention to preciseness, to uniform, and his amorous investment in the tools of torture, suggests a fatal narcissism which is much libidinal…” Every time there is a moment of terror, nature is “decidedly unnatural”. When Vidal’s first act of violence is shown, in the middle of the scene, it cut’s to the next scene where Ofelia’s first visit to the fantasy world happens. It is suggested that the “fantasy is somehow proportional to or compensatory for the horror of the real,” according to Smith. Keeping to Del Toro’s emphasis and auteristic symbolism, Captain Vidal’s pocket watch is indicative of this. The noting of time in two different ways suggests the coming of death for Ofelia and even the fascist regime. Vidal’s insistence that his son “know the time of his father’s death” is again remaining consistent with the fairytale element of time signalling the beginning and ending of all things and both worlds take advantage of this.
These two dramatic role changes are thrust together to sharply contrast the former agents of socialization that forged this unlikely couple. Weaver-the-former-army ant is left to labor back home, while Z takes on his new role performance as caretaker to the Princess, saving her from destruction, starvation and desertion. Bala needs Z for his ability to guide her back to whence she came. This role strain, shared by both, comes to a head when the promise of insectopia is visible and within walking distance. The Thomas Theorem comes to bear on this resolute decision to march onward towards a better life for Z, who has "defined the situation as real, so it is real in its consequences" (W.I. & Dorothy S. Thomas, as quoted in Henslin, 2009, p. 105). Here, the fantasy of insectopia parallels our own desire for happiness by attaining the life of our own choosing, illustrating the Social Construction of
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) written and directed by Guillermo del Toro is a dark fantasy film that uses fantasy and inspired true events of the after effects of the Spanish Civil War to create a symbolic parable that was influenced by fairy tales and myths. Even though this film is explicitly about the times during Franco it is also a film that can speak for any time period, past, present, and future. Through the use of phantasmagorical elements in the fantasy sequences del Toro uses doubling to reinforce the horrific events that have and can happen again in reality. The film takes place five years after the Spanish Civil War during Francisco Franco’s reign of terror. The story focuses on Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) as well as Ofelia’s evil stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Both characters represent something bigger than they actually are; Ofelia is seen to represent Spain and the antifascists whereas Captain Vidal represents Franco and fascism. Ofelia has to complete three daunting tasks given to her by the Faun (Doug Jones) that is said to reunite her with her family, the King and Queen of the Underworld. Del Toro uses doubling of the mythical realm with the ‘real world’ throughout the film that emphasizes the underlying meaning of the film. The film also follows the story of the anti-fascists rebels that are hidden amongst the trees and mountains. The character Mercedes (Maribel Verdu) is able to fool Captain Vidal for most of the film and help the rebels. It is not until the near end of the film where Captain Vidal realizes that Mercedes has been helping the rebels the entire time and it is due partly because of his misogyny that he is unable to see her as a threat to his cause.
The theme leads a person through a whole different world. A world where paranoia runs wild and chaos is second in command only to Nurse Ratched, or society and how powerful a single authority can be. Chapter by chapter and scene by scene, the plot unravels, separating truth and insanity to reveal an amazing war of the mind. The power of strict, systematic control, verses the power of rebellion, is a strong issue of the 1960’s and this issue works well as the theme for the novel and film.
It is not often that a strong and significant female character is introduced in a movie and/or book as the main character. Pan’s Labyrinth, though not the typical fairy tale, introduces the viewer to three females that prove controversial and necessary to the plot, which passes the Bechdel Test, designed to identify gender bias in the media. There is Carmen, the loving mother, Ofelia, the supposed princess/innocent girl, and then there is Mercedes, Captain Vidal’s maid and rebel spy. These three women show different portrayals, different characterizations, of how women should defy the gender bias in films.
While staying at Mel’s home, the adolescent female narrator personifies the butterfly paperweight. The life cycle begins with the narrator “hearing” the butterfly sounds, and believing the butterfly is alive. The butterfly mirrors the narrator’s feelings of alienation and immobility amongst her ‘new family’ in America. She is convinced the butterfly is alive, although trapped inside thick glass (le 25). The thick glass mirrors the image of clear, still water. To the adolescent girl, the thick glass doesn’t stop the sounds of the butterfly from coming through; however, her father counteracts this with the idea of death, “…can’t do much for a dead butterfly” (le 31). In order to free the butterfly, the narrator throws the disk at a cabinet of glass animals, shattering the paperweight, as well as the glass animals. The shattering of the glass connects to the shattering of her being, and her experience in fragility. The idea of bringing the butterfly back to life was useless, as the motionless butterfly laid there “like someone expert at holding his breath or playing dead” (le 34). This sense of rebirth becomes ironic as the butterfly did not come back to life as either being reborn or as the manifestation of a ghostly spirit; instead its cyclic existence permeates through the narrator creating a transformative
The film amalgamates the horrific realities of the Civil War under fascist occupation, yet it also attempts to adapt the fantasy genre as an imaginary world. Ofelia is a young girl that finds an escape from reality by being asked to find the missing Princess Moanna in an imaginary labyrinth. However, the opening lines of the film imply that the horrors of Spanish Civil war will be forgotten, and that Ofelia will escape into the faery Underworld: “A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world” (Del Toro). These opening lines, however, are incorrect, since Ofelia must face monsters, such as demons, and other hostile forces in her attempt to liberate the lost princess. Scott (2006) defines the adult themed content of this film, which shifts away from the child-like imagination of the underworld as an escapist
her grandmother) and grief, Viramontes successfully paints an endearing tale of change. “The Moths” emphasizes the narrator’s oppression by her
"Pan 's Labyrinth" is directed by Guillermo del Toro, is a magical realism drama. The screen shows the magical world of bizarre situations, a fictional out of Pluto 's daughter "Ophelia" to roam the world. To 1944 as the background, the fascist murder of guerrilla fighters as a real-world story. The whole film myth and reality are intertwined, is a complete metaphor and reflection on the Spanish civil war. One side is the little girl innocent fairy tale, while the Nazis are inhuman torture and slaughter. Two living scenes intertwined in a film, brings out a moral and human conflict. This is the child to see everything in the eyes, and what we see, it seems that the other world.
Fascism is one of the great political ideology in the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government that, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.” Two of the most successful and to be in the vanguard of fascism government is Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, though in many regards very similar - have the same political ideologies, still have many aspects to them that make them different from each other.
The controversy between those who believe humans are inherently good versus inherently evil has been debated for ages. However, the idea that humans are neither good nor evil, and instead shape their values along with their character through experience seems to be the winning argument. While the majority of people land up somewhere in the center rather than either of the extreme ends, some become humanitarians and philanthropists whereas others become monsters. Stephen T. Asma defines a monster as “human beings who have, by their own horrific actions, abdicated their humanity.” In their search for power, humans abandon their empathy in favor of commiting monstrous acts. In the film Pan’s Labyrinth, the character of Captain Vidal symbolizes
Fascism is one type of political system based on the notion that some races are superior to others. Something that seems ridiculous in to enlightened modern day thinkers, which unfortunately makes it all the more difficult to try and understand for someone who has not experienced it. However by looking through history and taking into account some of the results of practised fascism, we can maybe begin to understand why so many people took up, and are still taking up fascism. Hopefully then we can understand exactly what we should learn from it, and possibly understand how we can prevent it appearing on the scale it did in the Second World War.
The film Pan’s Labyrinth, has several common concepts with Joseph Campbell’s theory on heroes in Hero with a Thousand Faces. His theory emphasizes on tests that show their moral and basic instincts for the rite of passage to their threshold, in this case, the underworld. Campbell’s theory is a concept that surrounds an individual’s journey to heroism. This concept pertains to Ophelia due to her circumstances as a child who ventures out on thresholds, tests, and so forth. Campbell’s depiction relates to Ophelia as he describes the levels in which one must attain and accept as a female heroine. Furthermore, his theory exaggerates on the making of a hero to the resurrection in terms of physical and spiritual transformation. Ophelia’s character depicts a hero who has been resurrected as a human. Thus, she begins her journey to cross the threshold, “pass from the everyday world in the world of adventure,” (Campbell). There are many stages in the film that depicts Ophelia’s introduction to the stages of being a hero. More so, it focuses on tasks, which Ophelia must pass or fail in order to determine her role in the film; Princess of the Underworld or just a human soul. This is lead by the faun who simply reassures a place of ‘paradise’ for Ophelia only with her cooperation to listen and follow her morals.
In order to understand the entirety of a society, we must first understand each part and how it contributes to the stability of the society. According to the functionalist theory, different parts of society are organized to fill discrete needs of each part, which consequently determines the form and shape of society. (Crossman). All of the individual parts of society depend on one another. This is exhibited in “A Bug’s Life” through the distinct roles the ants and grasshoppers play in their own society. The two species are stratified in such a way that they each contribute to the order and productivity of the community. In the movie, the head grasshopper states that “the sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, and the grasshoppers eat the food” (A Bug’s Life). This emphasizes social stability and reliance on one another’s roles. The grasshoppers rely on the ants for food, while the ants rely on the grasshoppers for protection. This effective role allocation and performance is what ensures that together, the ants and grasshoppers form a functioning society to guarantee their survival.
Paper One: Morpho Eugenia The passage given is from “Morpho Eugenia” by A.S. Byatt. It describes a man entertaining two of his interests: insects and his love interest. The man, William, is in the position to protect his love interest when she is swarmed by a group of male moths, who believe her to be the newly hatched female Emperor Moth. In the passage, Byatt explores the roles of men and women in romantic relationships.
To create a sympathetic tone for the moth, and to get the reader to think about what is happening, Virginia makes sure to take great care to describe the events as full as needed to get the reader to connect with it as if they were the ones watching this moth. Through this by explaining the thoughts of narrator she gives the reader something to think about as well, in this case thinking about the peculiar life of the moth. Much emotion is brought forth from the way Virginia writes her story, from the way she describes and personifies the moth, putting forth theories of what it is thinking, to how the narrator considers the life it leads pitiful and curious all at the same time.