THX-1138

THX- 1138 was a film that went more deeply into the themes of privacy, personal choice, and the way in which technology can influence the evolution of our society. In the world of THS not only life, but death have been trivialized. A computer camly announced deaths in the hundreds, while others are told to stay calm and finish their work. The populatrion is kept docile and relatively devoid of emotion though drugs. The characters in this film all look the same, signaling the way in which the technology of the future could lead to the downfall of individuality and creative thought. Also their heads are shaved, this could be a commentary on the decline of sexuality and devision between the sexes.

An interesting element of the film was the use of religion to control the population. This was made apparent when THX went to the little prayer booth. In this booth the representation of Jesus only gave him standard generic advice without actually showing any real insight. This illuminates the way in which the population is being commoditized and streamlined in their thought to the point where most of their problems can be answered with a series of planned responses. Later when the control center for the religion is infiltrated, THX is told that he isn’t supposed to be there. The center for religion is, in effect, a set. Also when his confession is over, the deity in the booth to which he has been confessing, tells him that one way to happiness is to consume and buy things. In effect religion is being used to control the population and manipulate them.


The way in which Lucas utilizes existing structures illuminates the fact that, in a way, our society is already living in the future. Overall I liked the movie for the creative way in which it tried to make its statement. The only thing I would change is that the scenes, which were recently added, took away from the plot because they looked so different than the rest of the film. It looked like they cut in clips from star wars in the middle of the film.