ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes the movie Step up Revolution using Louis Althusser‟s theory. The problem that is become the background of this study is capitalism. The capitalist treated his labors badly and it makes the proletariat fight against the capitalist by doing a protest. The proletariat used art which is flashmob dance to protest the capitalist. The analysis in this study is focused on the struggle of the proletariat; that is what makes flashmob dance as the art protest succeed to protest against the capitalist through the scene and the dialogue in the movie. This paper suggests that art can be used to protest against the capitalist.
Keywords; capitalism, economic determinism, art, ideology INTRODUCTION
“Art is a keyhole through which you can see the ocean of human potential. In that
way, art can do everything reality can’t.”
--Hofesh Shechter
Nowadays, there are a lot of demonstrations to protest the injustices of capitalists. Mostly, the protest emerges because the labors feel adverse with the decision of the owner of production. The protest is usually followed by anarchy where the labors do it by destroying property. The anarchy of labor protest is the last choice to succeed their action while the owners of production do not respect their protest. The anarchy protest usually happens in reality.
However, the movie “Step up Revolution” is different from what usually happens
Basically, the movie “Step up Revolution” directed by Scott Speer is a dancing
movie about the struggle of the lower class against the upper class. The lower class in the movie is the residents who do not have a lot of money and power. In contrast, the upper class or the rich is Bill Anderson who has a lot of money and power. The war between both sides appeared because of some problems. First, half of the lower class works for the upper class and the upper class treats them so badly. The other problem was Anderson, as the upper class who wanted to buy the lower class residence to expand his hotel area. The case above is what people usually call as capitalism.
Capitalism, based on Marxist Theories of Imperialism, is the relation between workers and the owner of production or the problem between two classes (Brewer, 39). The two classes above mean the bourgeois and proletariat. Based on the definition in the book of The Thought of Karl Marx, the bourgeois is the owner of production or the capitalist and the proletariat is the workers who have no production or selling themselves for getting wages to the bourgeois (McLellan, 178).
In the movie, Anderson is the capitalist or the bourgeois because he is the owner of production. As the capitalist, Anderson easily gets what he wants because he has a lot of money. Indeed, money is connected to power. When someone has a lot of money, she or he can control anyone easily. This case is supported by Karl Marx and Engels‟ theory of Marxism that is known as economic determinism which is money as the base and without money, people cannot do anything. It is implied from the statement in Original Marxism EstrangedOffspring book:
of all, before they can interest themselves in politics, science, art religion and the like” (Fulton, 86)
The conclusion from the statement above is human need money to fulfill their needs. Money is important in our lives, but it can be dangerous when it leads all our thinking. It will make us like a fish in a tank, which is the ideology of economic determinism. While the fish trapped in the tank, it makes the fish not know or think that there is something outside the fish tank.
The contrary of the bourgeois is the proletariat. In the movie, the proletariat is the Mob and the residents. The proletariat in the movie “Step up Revolution” struggle to get
their rights back. The reason why they were struggling for their rights is because of the conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariat where the bourgeois treated his labors badly and he wanted to buy the residence which caused the proletariat to feel oppressed and revolt against the bourgeois.
In the movie, even though the proletariat did not have a lot of money and power like Anderson, as the bourgeois, they keep struggling to get their rights back. Being poor does not mean that they are prohibited to struggle for their rights. Like Lebowitz said, everyone has the right to their development or wealth (3). Lebowitz‟s statement implied that caste or class status cannot stop people to struggle to get their rights.
Althusser, who claimed in Beginning Theory by Peter Barry that art is separated from material thing (159).
For instance, from what I learnt in Literature Theory class, Lenin (a Marxist) said that literature, as art, can be used to protest or against the injustices of capitalism and class differences. It is supported by Althusser, another Marxist, who said in the term of relative autonomy that “art has a degree of independence from economic forces” (Barry, 159).
In this study, I attempt to analyze about the problems between two classes, bourgeoisie and proletariat that is related to the term of capitalism. Then, I attempt to analyze the social concept using Louis Althusser‟s perspective, which is related to the capitalism in society that encourages the society to do a movement to fight the injustice. After that, I will focus to analyze what makes the art protest succeed to change the social condition in the movie of “Step up Revolution” through the scenes and dialogues in the movie.
LITERATURE REVIEW
CAPITALISM
According to Henrik Schmidt, capitalism is “the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie” (385). It means that bourgeoisie is the one who have an authority to control. By having an authority, it is easy for capitalists to control anything and the capitalist become a priority or dominate in all aspects. As Resch stated, “capitalism became a system of domination, not exploitation”(3). One thing which makes the capitalist able to control anything is
because of money. Millios stated “in capitalist system, money is an intrinsic and necessary element in capitalist economic relations” (27). Millios‟ statement is similar like the term economic determinism which is money as the base. So, it is clear that the basic capitalist‟s thought is about money. The term of capitalism is connected to the movie “Step up
Revolution” because the background of the problem in the movie is about how the owner or the rich treated his laborers which made them feel oppressed and attacked to the capitalists.
LOUIS ALTHUSSER and the THEORY
Louis Althusser (1918-1990) is a French Marxist (Barry, 160). According to www.egs.edu, he is a famous French philosopher, especially influential for his re-invention of Marxism. He is one of other Marxists who reject Marx‟s concept about economic determinism. Althusser accepted capitalism, but he did not agree with the concept of a base. As what I said before, the term of the base means that all depend on money. Althusser has his own concept that art exists separately from the material world. According to Barry, Althusser‟s concept has “a degree of independence from economic
Revolution” because the movie tells how the proletariats succeed to change the social
condition using art protest.
Still according to www.egs.edu, Althusser believed that ideology is much better than the concept of the base. He contributed an idea that contrasted to the concept of the base or superstructure. As Barry stated, “Ideology as the system of representations at the heart of a given society to give a concise definition which makes culture (including literature) a crucial vehicle of the values which underpin the status quo in any society” (160). Based on Barry‟s definition about ideology, Althusser believed that culture (including literature) can be a weapon for society to avoid for having a low class status. Althusser‟s belief is definitely different with the term of base by Karl Marx. In the movie, ideology is used to fight the capitalist.
SOCIAL CONCEPT
According to Clarke, Althusser argues that there are two kinds of State apparatuses. They are the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) (2). Barry explained that there are institutions that are included in RSA such as the Government, the Administration, the Army, the Police, the Courts, the Prisons (160). The institutions included in ISA are groupings as political parties, schools, the media, churches, the family, and art (including literature) (160). Every institution has different functions, as Richard L.W Clarke noted:
So, the institution such as the police, the court, the army, the prison and the law which are included in RSA will secure the victim of the war between the owner of production or bourgeois and the proletariat or the worker. Comparing to the ISA‟s function according to Clarke that:
“For the ISAs function is to secure the same goal (that is, the reproduction of the relations of production, i.e. of capitalist relations of exploitation) behind the shield provided by the RSAs by inculcating in all members of society and naturalizing the dominant ideology which is that of the ruling class (2).”
Basically, the function of ISA is the same. However, the differences will be defined by the subject. For the example, the political ISA will “subject individuals to the political State ideology” (2); the communications (the press, the radio, and the television) ISA will doctrine every citizen with daily thoughts of nationalism, chauvinism, liberalism, moralism, etc.
Still, based on Clarke notes, he stated “the effects of the clashes between the capitalist and the proletariat are unified by their common function that subtending to the dominant ideology and the interests of the ruling class” (2). While the clashes happened
between the capitalist and the proletariat, the society will choose the dominant ideology and support it. In the movie “Step up Revolution” there are some groups which are included in RSA and ISA. Both have an important role in the case of the proletariat‟s protest. According to their function that I mentioned before, some of them support the protest, but some do not.
SUMMARY
activity is creating daily street dance performances. They even join the youtube competition to achieve the prize which consists of a lot of money.
Sean and some of The Mob‟s member are working for Bill Anderson, the owner of the Diamont Hotel. Anderson has a daughter named Emily. She had aspirations to be a good dancer, but Anderson did not allow her with the reason she could not earn a lot of money by becoming a dancer. Anderson was treating Emily like a child. Then until the day Emily met Sean, Emily‟s life is changing. Emily knew about The Mob and makes
Emily interested to join. But Sean is not sure the other members will accept Emily because of Emily‟ identity as the daughter of rich person. Then Sean and Emily lie to other members about Emily‟s status.
One day, Anderson wants to expand his inventory by buying the area near his property that is the residence of lower society. He will destroy the home, café and others building in that area after he buys it to expand his hotel. Sean and The Mob are the residents in that area. They knew about what Anderson would do and especially Emily, she felt guilty about that. Emily tried to talk to his father, but the agreement with the city council of buying the area is already in process and it makes The Mob and also the residents in that area have to move to another area.
Anderson‟s daughter. Emily‟s status as the daughter of Anderson gave a bad impact to their friend‟s relationship. Eddie, Sean‟s close friend, got angry, kicked out Emily from
the Mob, is hostile with Sean and everything is messed up.
Anderson knew that his daughter, Emily is included in the Mob and they attack him with their art protest. Emily confesses to her father because of her mistakes. Anderson could forgive Emily but the agreement with the city council keeps working. The Mob could not be silent and just watch their place being destroyed. The Mob gathers all the dancers in Miami and makes a project to protest. The amazing art protest by The Mob made the city council change their mind. The agreement canceled and The Mob succeeds to get their rights back.
ANALYSIS
Capitalist system
Based on the summary, some of the members of The Mob such as Sean, Eddie and others are working for Anderson in Diamont Hotel. The relation between the workers and the capitalists are not quite good. It is because the capitalist dominate all activities that are related to the production. In the one hand, I agree that the obligation for the workers is working for their boss. On the other hand, I disagree if the boss treats the workers as machines to earn money. The scene below is one of the examples from the movie of “Step up Revolution”, when the manager reminded Sean about the patrons in
Diamont Hotel.
Manager : “Where are my waiters? I‟ve got a two-top that‟s been waiting for 10 minutes.”
Sean : “two-top? Yeah that‟s mine.”
Sean : “You must be the new manager. I‟m Sean.”
Manager : “I‟m your boss not your homie. Next time you leave customers waiting like that. You‟re fired.”
I do support the manager‟s reminder to Sean that a worker should not being late to serve
the food. However, I disagree with how the manager reminded the worker. The manager reminded Sean with anger. The manager should ask Sean first why Sean made the patrons wait for the food. It is possible that the mistake is not from Sean, but it is from the chef who did not finish cooking the food. Besides that, firing the worker means that the manager does not tolerate the worker. Related to Marx‟s concept of reification that is according to Barry, “the term used in Marx's major work, Das Kapital”(156). The term of
reification is talk about the important of profit for the owner of production (156). The case above is also lack of humanity, because the manager forces the worker to work hard without considering the worker‟s problem. From this case, the relation between the owner
of the production and the workers is not good because they do not cooperate with each other to reach the same goal that is to give the best for the property. As Keynes argued in “Classical Theory of Capitalism”, the inequalities of the property rights between the
owners of production and the workers do not only give profit to the one side that is the owner of production. Keynes also stated that it will give “the unintended negative or
contradictory effects of market coordination” (55). The case above also shows the
domination of the capitalist that according to Resch‟ statement, domination shows the system of capitalism (3).
Another scene that showed the domination of capitalists is the scene when the workers are forced to work without being given to relax.
(Scene 00.07.17-00.07.25)
In that scene, the sign is written “No employees in beach club”. While the workers
finished their job, it is time for the boss to give them time to rest, so they will not work in under pressure. The workers are also human, meaning that the boss should give them an appreciation for them. In this movie, the workers are forced to work hard, but there is no appreciation for the workers. It is shown from the scene when Sean, Eddie and a friend finished their job and wanted to relax on the beach.
Sean : “I said, you must be new here.” Emily : “Sort of. Yeah.”
Sean : “Well, I work here, too.” Emily : “Really?”
Sean : “Unfortunately
Emily : “Come on. It can‟t be that bad.”
Sean : “The pay is suck, and there‟s no benefit, and the clientele treats us like crap.”
From the statement between Sean and Emily, it shows how Sean and the other workers are working under pressure. The owner, Anderson, treated his workers as a machine to earn money from the quality in the production, but he gave less attention to the workers. The analysis above is the problem between capitalist (the bourgeoisie), and the proletariat. The workers show the domination of the capitalist in the mode of production. The problems between both of them affected their relation that makes the proletariat loose respect and hate the bourgeois.
Bill Anderson in this movie believes in economic determinism. He thinks that all depends on money and nothing can happen without money. The evidence is shown in the conversation between Anderson and Emily.
Emily : “They‟re one of the best contemporary dance companies in the world, Dad.”
Anderson : “You know how I feel about this. How many people make it as a dancer? One out of 1000? One out of 10000?”
Emily : “Yeah”
Anderson : “It‟s one thing to dance when you‟re a kid and it‟s another thing to try to make a career out of it.”
“Emily, most people would kill for an opportunity like the one I am practically begging you to take. You work hard, you could end up running the whole company. I just don‟t understand the attitude…”
“Either you‟re a professional dancer by the end of the summer, or you come home to Cleveland to work for me.”
From the dialogue above, Emily wanted to study in Wynwood, a professional dance school in Miami, but Anderson insists Emily to continue his business as the owner of production. He underestimates dance which is an art could not be a formal occupation and he thinks that being the owner of a production is much better than working as a dancer. He does not believe that people can earn a lot of money by working as a dancer. Anderson‟s basic thought is about money. He always thinks how he could earn a lot of money by
developing his business. The way how he develops his production is by asking Emily, her
daughter, to join in his business with one goal that is to earn a lot of money. This case is strengthened Millios statement, “in capitalist system, money is an intrinsic and necessary element in capitalist economic relations” (27). Anderson thinks that everything will be easy
when he has a lot of money. I connected his thought to the scene when Anderson wanted to expand his hotel area.
Emily : “Are you planning to build in the Spring Gardens District?” Anderson : “Why do you ask?”
Emily : “My friend, Sean. He lives there.”
Anderson : “This just keeps getting better. So, you spent the night in a slum?” Emily : “It‟s not a slum.”
Anderson : “Emily…”
Anderson : “Every time I build, something else get knocked down. Someone‟s house, someone‟s business, it‟s the price of progress. Besides this is a done deal. Trip is meeting with the city council next Thursday. And once they give it okay, we break ground at the end of the month.”
Emily : “Please, don‟t do this.”
Anderson : “Let‟s make a deal. I won‟t tell you how to dance, and you don‟t tell me how to run my company.”
From the conversation above, it shows that Anderson did not care about people. His goal is only how he can increase his commodity to earn money. He did not think that he lacks humanity, but he thinks that his goal is a price of progress which means he deserves to get that. By looking at Millios‟s statement, the intrinsic element in capitalist system is about money. The evidence above shows that Anderson is the real capitalist because he constantly thinks about money.
The bold statement above proved how easy Anderson could get access to the city council. The agreement between both is already a done deal. Anderson said that the project would start at the end of the month. So, it means that he can do the project quickly. How easy Anderson could get access to the city council is shown by the power of the capitalist as Millios said, “Consequently, it is revealed that the capitalist class possesses not only the economic, but also the political power (6)”. In this case, Anderson has an authority to control the city council to be on his side because he has money to pay the tax to the city council.
“…more especially of the capitalist state (its hierarchical - bureaucratic organisation, its “classless” function on the basis of the rule of Law etc.) corresponds to and insures the preservation and reproduction of the entire capitalist class domination (6).”
Based on Millios‟ statement, the hierarchy is insures or guarantees the capitalist safety during production development. In the movie, the city council is the hierarchy in Miami. The city council guaranteed Anderson‟s safety by giving a deed of the residence area after the agreement between both was deal. The deed is Anderson‟s power. With the deed, the residents could not do anything. The power of the deed in the movie is shown from the scene when Ricky, the owner of the café in the residence area, accepted a letter from the city council which contained a mandate that the residences should move to another area.
Sean : “What‟s wrong?”
Ricky : “Ever hear Anderson Global Properties?” Sean : “Yeah, why?”
Ricky : “This Anderson guy, he wants to build some sort of development. Luxury hotel, designers shop. He‟s buying the whole strip on this side of the river, this bar, your home, the shop where your sister works, all gone.”
Sean : “Can you say no, Ricky?”
Ricky : “It‟s not my choice, hijo. I’m like everyone around here. I rent. A lot of people are making a living on this strip and now everything is gonna be wiped out. Gone.”
Art Protest
The idea to do art protest in the movie emerged from Emily. The art protest that the Mob did is flashmob dancing.
Eddi : “We need to be working on the next mob. We‟ve already got over 4,000,000 hits.”
Emily : “So you got a lot of hits on you tube. That‟s great. Maybe you‟ll win this thing and you‟ll win some money. But it‟s not gonna change everything. Believe me.”
Penelope : “So what are you proposing?”
Emily : “I‟m saying enough with performance art. It‟s time to protest art.” From the dialogue above, Emily is in contrast to her father. She does not believe that money can do anything. It is shown from the conversation between her and Eddie. She believed that art has a possibility to change the condition. This evidence is supported by Althusser that art “has a degree of independence from economic forces” (160). It is quite
difficult to imagine how art can fight the capitalists who have the power. In this movie, The Mob packaged their protest through choreography. Even though they were not speaking too much in their art protest, implicitly there was a message from their gesture or choreography of flashmob dance. They demonstrated what the capitalist did through their choreography with the aim that they wanted to fight the injustice.
represents the capitalist. Then, when the suitcase opened, there is the short sentence said that “We are not for sale”. The sentence emphasizes the message of the protest to the capitalist that they are not supporting the capitalist project. Also, the meaning of the sentence is ironic. The word „sale‟ is related to stuff or things. Implicitly, from the
portrayal of the creature lacks humanity. Anderson treated the proletariat as though he can buy it anytime he wants as long as he has money.
The degree of art in the Mob‟s protest is not only about the Mob creativity that is
the flashmob dance, but it is also the video. The degree of the video is the same like the Mob‟s performance that is to gather people‟s interest to support the protest.
Social Concept
Based on the Althusser social concept that is the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), the institutions included in RSA in the movie “Step up Revolution” are the government or the city council, the police, and the
prisons. The institutions included in ISA in the movie of “Step up Revolution” are the media such as youtubeand the news, family such as Sean and Ricky family, and art.
The role of media ideology in this movie such as television and youtube, have an important role to attract or inform the audiences. The more news published, the more people will support the protest.
The news on television : “All indications are that video is quickly going viral turning these local art vigilantes into something of a cultural phenomenon.”
broadcasted on the television, but also by mouth to mouth. Moreover, when people already heard the news, they will talk to their friends. Then, friends will talk to another. In this case, the media is like a doctrine to the society. Then from society, it may spread to another society or media.
Eddie : “Sean… Guys! You‟re not gonna believe this. Another million hits in less than two hours.”
Sean : “We‟re up to 6,000,000 hits.”
From the conversation above, it showed the important role of the media. The news of the protest art is quickly accepted by people in the world. Many people uploaded their feeling in youtube and other social media such as twitter after the Mob did the protest. As I explained before, the news made society curious. While societies try to find information from any kind of media, indirectly, they will inform to others about the issues or information they got before and the information will spread quickly, even becoming popular.
In the scene when Anderson held a gala for city council, some members of The Mob tried to sabotage Anderson‟s speech and messed up the gala. The Mob did it with
communicates to the society and announces that The Mob who did this is a criminal. The society noticed The Mob action and it is spread quickly which makes their interest down. From my explanation before, a protest using anarchy in this movie failed to attract the society‟s attention. It means that to make the art protest succeed, anarchy should be avoided. In the end of the movie, the Mob did it. The Mob did a huge art protest that was flashmob dance. The art protest avoided from anarchy and it attracted a lot of attention from the residents. It made the city council cancel the agreement between city council and Anderson. A crucial point in this case is because of unification. The residents from any kind of ideology such as family ideology, labor ideology, etc, are unifying to become a unity with the same goal that is to fight against the capitalist. As Clarke noted, “the effects of the clashes between the capitalist and the proletariat are unified by their common function that subtending to the dominant ideology and the interests of the ruling class” (2). So, when all ideology is decided to be one voice, it makes their argument win. As Schmidt stated in “A Marxist Theory of Class Struggle”, “the greatest event in the history of the worker‟s movement was the fusion (386)” From Schmidt‟s statement, it is
implied that fusion or unity is the effective way to beat the capitalist. He also added that “workers movement is a process in which the hegemony of scientific socialism has been
victorious (387)”. Schmidt‟s statement is demonstrated through the movie. While all
CONCLUSION
The protest art by The Mob happened because of the problem between the proletariat and the bourgeois or the capitalist that is dominated by the bourgeois. The capitalist domination makes The Mob dislike and even hate the capitalists. While the protest art emerged against the capitalist, it was attractive to the society to support them. All ideologies such as family ideology, labor ideology, media ideology unify become one voice. The unification of all ideologies to support the proletariat showed the evidence of Althusser‟s social concept according to Clarke:
“the effects of the clashes between the capitalist class struggle and the proletarian class struggle, are unified by their common function: subtending the dominant ideology and, thus, the interests of the ruling class (2).”
So, The Mob is the dominant ideology and the rest follows the dominant ideology. The protest art succeeded to change the condition because the protest art attracted all the ideology and made them to be unified or fused against the capitalists.
centre at the Gezi Park. The same case in the movie “Step up Revolution”, the protest art used to against the capitalist.
ACKNOWLEGMENT
Finishing my thesis, I would like to thank to my Lord, Allah S.W.T for the blessing and strength to finish my thesis. Without the blessing and strength, I cannot finish this study.
My supervisor, Danielle, thanks for your guide and suggestion in the process of finishing my thesis. Before you leave Indonesia, finally I finished my thesis. I also thank to my examiner, Ms. Suzana Maria, thanks for asking my thesis progress every time we met.
My family, especially my parents, thanks for forcing me to graduate soon and supporting me financially. My sisters, Lintang and Pupe, thanks for supporting me. Finally, I can finish my study.
My friends, Vici, Tika, Maya, Tya, my dance crew Eternity Official and all of you that I cannot say the name one by one, thanks for supporting me and thanks for all the stories you share to strengthen me.
For my beloved faculty, English Department, thanks a lot for all experiences.
For Niners, I am proud to be part of you. Thanks for sweet memories in Makrab, EDLT, EDO, Loved and Talent Night. We are niners,born to be the winner!Shikaka!
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McLellan, David. The Thought of Karl Marx. 2nd ed. London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press LTD, 1980. Print.
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