In the 40s, people feared invasion by foreign forces- the germans et al. They expressed these fears through films, with alien fleets invading and what not. This eventually segued into films like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" as the public fear became not extermination, but communist regimes. In the 90s films like "Independence Day" and "Terminator 2" explored our fears of nuclear war beyond our control or understanding.

Today, though, the fear is of terrorists- we have a completely unfounded terror of Islam. Once someone reveals themselves to be Islamic, or a car reveals itself to be a Robot in Disguise, we immediately (be it thanks to the media, racism or just a need to have an enemy) assume they are terrorists or- you guessed it- decepticons.

This theme defiantely showed itself for me in the scene in the new Trailer where sector seven attack Bumblebee. A similar cocept was explored by X-Men.

This is why as long as the film has likable characters and awesome action, it is already very clever and importnat indeed.

 

what?
I think I can kind of see what your saying, it's like saying TFs decepticons and Autobots are both a race of transformers, and they fight each other. But they are all transformers so they should get along. And not squabble over petty differences, like wanting to rule the galaxy, and the other wanting peace in the galaxy. Yet I think this thread is on a thin line of stepping on religion.

 

lol

i wrote it for an english essay

 

That is a very, very well thought out point, and I agree.

Welcome newcomer!

 

That's kind of a stretch. You are just drawing your own conclusions based on what you are looking for. It's true that films from the 40's and 50's were a subtle play on our fears of invasion of other countries. But, a film like ID4 was a nostalgic throw back to those films. The Terminator films used nucular war as part of it theme, not being subtly relavent.

This story has been around for 20 years and has nothing at all to do with current events.

 

Battlestar Galactica addresses similar themes with Cylons that look like everyone else.

 

You have a great start, although I'd have included War of the Worlds since it is a metaphor for the dangers of industrialization.

Like backpack said, you are fitting a size 10 foot in a size 6 shoe. This movie is purely a thoughtless action film, nothing more nothing less. Besides, those communist movies in the 50s and 60s were the films of nuclear fear. 90s films represent money.

This is a bit of a stretch, people don't reveal themselves to islamic the way a gay person might. They don't 'come out', say 'look at me I'm islamic', and people fear them because of it.

I give you major props for trying to connect the film with something important. Welcome to the boards 

 

TFs are living on borrowed time. were just waiting for the it to bottom out.

*holds up the end is near sign*

 

Yes, welcome.

You get a A for effort! I do think the "robots in disguise" could fit into the "they are secretly among us" types of fears but that can relate to either terrorists of today, or communists or yesterday, or many other things. I guess the general theme, if there is one, would be that "people fear what they don't understand."

 

I think it's only natural for fans to try and read stuff into things. Heck, how else do you explain so-called scholars writing essays and terms papers on subjects as rediculous as applying Freudian psychology to Hamlet? Then again, I was an English major and am fanfic writer so maybe I've just been trained to read too much into things. All stories have some kind of theme no matter how shallow it may be, even if it is just good vs evil. And this is the new movie we are talking about here, not the cartoon, so we won't know what it's theme is until we see it. Personally, I think the analyzing is all just in good fun. We don't want to scare away the new guy.  

 

Welcome to the boards!

First off, if Transformers is something you feel strongly about and you can articulate it well - whether you use analogy, metaphors, comparison of theme, or whatever - then write on. Writers have used television and film as the basis to explain real world events more than enough; it's common ground.

The theme of what you wrote - the analogy behind real people being afraid of Middle Eastern people who might be "terrorists in disguise" and the TF universe's robots in disguise - is sound. I like the general idea behind it. I think that, if you ever decided to expand the paper into something larger (i.e., an essay,) that you should really look at the current IDW comics, as they look at the idea of "robots in disguise" pretty well - how long should the Autobots and Decepticons hide their true form from the planet they're on (Earth?) What repercussions will revealing themselves have on Earthlings? How will it affect their plan (which, if you stretched it, could be comparable to a Middle Easterner's ability to live out their life?)

Don't listen to the other folks that are calling this crap. The idea is great; I just think you need to expand on it. If you're doing this for a full-size paper, it's got plenty of potential for being a real knockout. Just make sure that you're not drawing too broad a comparison. It might be more worth it to focus the real-life side of your analogy on current events (i.e., focus more on modern America and the Middle East, avoid the sweeping comments about historical regime evil; they just don't fit.)

 

I'm not saying the story was necessarily made for this reason. I'm just saying that, maybe, there are still lessons we can learn frrom it.

War of the Worlds, according to interviews with the author, was actually a comment on what the British were doing in Africa. WE were the martians.

I have a friend who, a few months ago, told us that he was a Muslim. i don't know if he had just become islamic, or had always been a muslim in secret, but nigh-on everyone treats him differently now.

Cheers! I only actually joined to look at some images linked to another board, but I think I like this one better.  

We're all living on borrowed time- one day Chuck Norris is gonna find us.

That is essentially what I'm getting at. And lets be honest- we're all guilty.

Nah. Like you say- English is all about finding meaning where there is none. Look at shakespeare  

 

There are some valid points to be made though in the way cinema is done.

Many times what's on screen does reflect the real world. And while the religeous/socialogical implications are interesting, you also have a sudden war erupting on an unknowing public. Even more so as the attackers are objects you initially thought were safe, launching explosives at each other. The most destructive of whom wearing the guises of police and military.

Now drop in any political or sociological war commentary from an era into that.  

 

Very true, the British and the rest of Europe were the Martians, however it was because of industrialization that enabled the European power to Scamble for Africa.

That is one case of a friend revealing that he is Muslim, which you and your friends may never have thought to ask before. However, you apply how you treat one person to how everyone in the nation treats muslims.

 

Actually it was dead between fall of 1990 to the spring/summer or 1993, for the start of G2. Some of the worst years of my life. Why were they so bad you ask?
-1. first He-man reboot
-2. death of most 80's lines
-3. Tatooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills

 

I've never seen this myself, but I dig ideas like this. I would disagree with one point you made, though. You say "a completely unfounded terror of Islam," but since there are forces which currently commit and justify violent acts based on their interpretation of Islam, it's not entirely unfounded. This applies to the Transformers in that all of them are initially feared--but in reality, only some (the Decepticons) are malicious 'terrorists,' while others (the Autobots) are peace-loving, despite being essentially indistinguishable from the first group in the eyes of most of the non-Islamic world (humanity as a whole in the context of Transformers).

Ultimately, the "Robots In Disguise" theme can be oversimplified to the truism that things aren't always as they seem.

 

perhaps. but there is a lot of that mentality. if someone says "allah" you think boom.

 

That's funny because the other day I showed my wife the new trailer and when she herd the line about "Our enemy can take any form, they could be anything, anywhere" she said (in a mocking voice) "Ohhhhh... just like terrorists."

Then she rolled her eyes.

 

I think if you heard 'allah' you think boom, but vast majority of us don't sorry.