Other depictions of functional authoritarian societies in film?
Can anyone think of other depictions in films of ""ideal"" (and I feel I need to use two sets of quotes here...) seemingly functional and sustainable authoritarian societies like the one in 'Starship Troopers', that are united (no ongoing war at home or obvious signs of class divide and poverty), apparently completely post-racial (very diverse population and no racial-discrimination...) as well as featuring very strong gender-equality (mixed locker-rooms and showers, women in higher position of power like Sky Marshal Tehat Meru, women in the military and on the front line...)?
Of course, many aspects of the authoritarian society in 'Starship Troopers' are problematic (to say the least) by most modern liberal democracies' standards:
- It sets 'violence' as its founding principle (the whole "something given has no value.... violence is the supreme authority from which every other authority is derived" speech by Michael Ironside).
- Citizenship is conditional upon military service (all citizens are expected to serve).
- A large portion of the adult population is either maimed or disabled, due to wounds sustained during service.
- It has no second thought about sacrificing its youth to the war effort (e.g sending extremely young recruits to the front).
- Political propaganda ("would you like to know more?") is ubiquitous, which means free-speech and freedom of the press are most likely non-existent.
- It has the death penalty (with public broadcasting of executions!).
- It seems to be in a perpetual state of war (with non-human foes).
I find it extremely interesting and wise that Verhoeven chose to depict a bona fide authoritarian society without resorting to the most obvious negative features usually associated with fascist societies, such as race/sex/class discrimination or eugenics.
It makes it less easy to brush aside any possible comparison with contemporary (of 1997) American society on immediately identifiable and obvious grounds, and forces one to compare both societies based on their deeper organising principles and values instead (i.e. violence as the foundation of society, unity strongly dependent on identifying a common enemy stigmatised as the "Other", etc.).