MovieChat Forums > In Time (2011) Discussion > One cliche that I am very tired of

One cliche that I am very tired of

posted 10 years ago by schwarfy
10 replies | jump to latest

Off the top of my head, I count three recent future-dystopian movies in which the main character is a "lowly factory worker". In Time, Running Man (remake), and Elysium.

Not only is this cliché overdone in the first place, but don't they realize that having active factories is usually a sign of a good economy?

Where I live, it would be great for the city if some of the old, abandoned factories were back up and running again.

They need to think up of some other way for a character in this situation to be making a living, 3 big-budget films with the same character's job released so recently is just way too much

[–] fluffchop 10 years ago

People are mainly stupid losers, and so a lot more people will identify with another stupid loser, hence they will say they liked the movie and tell others to see it.

What annoys me is that perfectly good systems exist to keep the masses enslaved and some punk can somehow destroy everything. That is far more bothersome than having characters that happen to be factory workers.

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[–] sbowesuk 10 years ago

Like you say, the whole future-dystopian thing is a tired clique, but then that's Hollywood for you. They'll jump on any bandwagon if it means making an easy buck.

The sad thing about this movie is it's one of the weakest examples I've seen from the trend. The writing was just appalling.

[–] userrrrr 10 years ago

well, brazil did it right. that and blade runner are the only worthy movies of this type.

[–] TRinzler 10 years ago

In Running Man, Arnie Beefburger played a police copter pilot who was framed for the killing of non-violent civilian protestors. Did you perhaps mean "Total Recall"? Although, in that film his construction job was a cover...

Also, don't forget Ellen Ripley from "Alien", Sarah Connor from "The Terminator" (although she was a diner waitress), "Gattaca" and the disposable workers in "The Island" to name a few more...

[–] creatorof2002 9 years ago

Well in Soylent Green the main hero is a police officer, that is not a factory worker.

[–] TRinzler 9 years ago

Surrogates, Minority Report, Blade Runner, Avatar (a Marine - but close enough), Mad Max, Serenity (ex-army), The 5th Element and of course Robocop - to name a few....

I think you just identified another cliche!

[–] WingMaker 9 years ago

havn't seen the remake of the running man "did not even know there was one" but i think the idea of the factory worker in both of in time and elysium goes beyond being a working class type of a protagonist, Have you noticed in both films what were they actually producing! I personally loved the notion.

And i recommend any one liked those two movies to watch Snowpiercer "its my favorite amongst the class war type of movies"

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[–] Long_Ball_Larry 8 years ago

Writers tend to create workers being used by the gov't or big corporations, so we usually see cops, factory workers, etc. slaving away so the rich and powerful can prosper. Most of the movies on this thread have that theme, and if you want to compare it to real life, China and North Korea are great examples, with Russia and Cuba fitting in nicely.

I don't consider it a tired Hollywood cliché, as sci-fi writers tend to side with the underdog, and have great contempt for the over-privileged.

I'm better than you.

[–] grungyhappycat 8 years ago

Is it still a cliche if it's only been done 3 times? OP lists 3 examples, 1 of which is this movie. 😅

[–] queensofalicenomore 8 years ago

Overused and cliche really?

I can think of a much more over used cliche. The one where the top of the class or brightest in the field becomes the blah blah etc. That cliche is far more annoying!

The reason I don't like it is purely and simply this. Just because you have book smarts, doesn't mean you have any practicality what so ever.