“Demolition Man””Demolition Man” is an action/science fiction movie staring Sylvester Stallone as a police officer named John Spartan, Wesley Snipes as a criminal named Simon Phoenix, and Sandra Bullock as an SAPD officer named Lenina Huxley.
The movie begins in the year 1996 in the “out of control” city of Los Angeles. The city is out of control. John Spartan arrests Simon Phoenix for a hostage situation, but the hostages are killed and Spartan is charged with their murders. Both men are then sent to a prison where they are to be frozen until their parole.
In 2023 when Phoenix is thawed out for his parole hearing he kills some prison officers and then he escapes. Because of Phoenix’s actions Spartan is thawed out in order to recapture Phoenix. After Spartan is released he teams up with Lenina Huxley. Spartan and Phoenix have been frozen for 36 years. When they are released the city has changed dramatically, it is now a computerized society called San Angeles. In the city of San Angeles there is no chaos, everything is controlled and in complete harmony.
In San Angeles everything that is harmful to people is illegal. Smoking, drinking, salt, caffeine, spicy foods, meat, and contact sports have been banned. This computerized society can keep track of every citizen because they all have a microchip in their bodies and there are cameras on every corner. There are fines for cursing and dirty jokes. The music that the citizens in San Angeles listen to is commercial tunes. Taco Bell is the only restaurant because of the franchise war.
San Angeles has a lot of control of its citizens. There is rarely any physical contact, the clothing is bland and it covers up most of the body. Fluid transfer is illegal so women have to go to a clinic and be tested in order to get pregnant. The people who will not obey the strict rules of San Angeles live underground in tunnels and sewers.
They are called Scraps or Hooligans. The tunnels and sewers are very dirty, smelly and crowded. The Scraps are against the rules of San Angeles because they feel they take their freedom of choice. The Scraps drink alcohol, eat meat, and curse freely.
Because of their behaviors and beliefs the Scraps are seen as outcasts from the rest of society and they are left to fend for themselves. They must steal food from above so they do not starve. “Demolition Man” can relate to the study of psychology because it deals with the concept of social control. Social control is how society controls how people think and behave. In the movie the city of San Angeles gives us a sense of how people would think and behave if these rules and regulations were placed upon them and some of their freedoms were taken away.
In San Angeles the government has complete control over their citizens. There are so many limitations to what a person can do. The government can monitor everything a person does, there is no privacy. All of the different restrictions cause a lack of social and mental freedoms. In San Angeles every citizen is emotionally balanced, there are no excessive like love, excitement, and anger.
The citizens believe and do everything and anything their government asks of them without any questions because it is the only thing they know. The individuals do not decide what is good or bad for them the government does that for them. There is no differentiating between the citizens, everyone thinks, behaves, and views life in the same way. The freedoms and emotions are so important to the Scraps that they are willing to live in underground tunnels rather then succumb to the rules of the government of San Angeles. I do not think that a society like San Angeles could not exist today because you cannot take away the sense of individualism in a person. Besides a government would not be able to have total control over its citizens.
The effects of living in a civilization like San Angeles would be very bad because people would not think for themselves and they would just agree with what the authority tells them to believe in. Everyone would just be the alike. They would think and behave the same way so you wouldnt be able to learn anything new about a person. No one would have any original ideas and everything would just stay the same.
