leaders of the rebellions
TRANSCRIPT
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Jennifer Sandman
Final Paper
May 6, 2013
Heroes of the Rebellions
The concepts of dystopian films are always set to where a person or a group
of people rebels against the overpowering party for their freedom. While
Equilibrium by Kurt Wimmerand Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion a manga
and anime written by Ichiro Okouchi are set in completely different worlds, they
both are fighting for a world where everyone can live freely. In both of these works,
the main characters John Preston and Lelouch, while minorly helped by members of
their parties, are soley responsible for bringing victory to their cause. The
determination and strong wills of these protagonists bring justice to the minorities.
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an anime series based upon a time
where a War had been fought between the capital city of the Holy Britannian
Empire, Pendragon, and Japan. The month long war to win Superiority and land
between the two countries was won by the Britannian Army in following which they
gave the name Section Eleven to the defeated Japan. The people that live in Section
Eleven are referred to as elevens and were considered to be equivalent to the rats
on the streets that they lived on. Elevens are highly looked down upon and are
sanctioned off to areas of the country where there is no hope of survival. Since most
of the war was fought in Japan, a lot of the destruction left many of the people on the
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streets without the necessities needed to rebuild their community. The Elevens are
restricted upon entering any part of Britannia and the punishment for stepping foot
on their Holy grounds is immediate persecution. There is only one way for Elevens
to enter their city, and that is to join the army in which they are ordered to kill
Elevens, their families.
Lelouch Lamperouge is the protagonist of this series and he was the prince of
Britannia, but was used as a bargaining tool and was exiled to live in Japan with his
sister Nunally. Going from being Royalty in his home country Britannia, to being
sent away at the age of ten to live in the place where everyone was considered scum
sparked off the flame in Lelouch that will in turn lead to the fall of the Britannian
Empire in the end of the series.
While attending school in Japan, Lelouch is caught up in a raid from the
Britannian army where he is saved by a super natural woman, C.C., who makes a
contract with Lelouch and grants him the power of Geass, also known as the Power
of the King. The power of the Geass allows Lelouch to command anyone that he
makes eye contact with to do anything he wants for a single time, whether it be to
bend their will to fight, live, die, or anything else he could possibly think of. With his
new found power, he obtains an alias and is called by Zero while in the process is
named the leader of a resistance known as the Black Knights to fight against Holy
Britannia for the freedom of all Elevens.
The Elevens are uplifted with the uprising of the Black Knights rebellion that
they are no longer saddened by their status of being Elevens they begin to
revitalize their pride in their culture and who they are. Similar to Equilibrium the
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people are forced to hide, for what they are, how they were raised, and what they
believe in. With Lelouchs power he leads many attacks to the Britannians Army and
ultimately he kills the person who is at fault for giving Elevens their reputation as
lesser beings, who is also his Father, the King of Britannia.
Equilibrium is also based upon a world that has undergone a Third World
War which leads to the ideology that has pointed to human emotion being the very
cause of all destruction and the root of all conflict. Father is the leader of the
Tetregrammaton Council, which oversees that everyone is in conformity of the rules
of their society and the Grammaton Cleric enforces the laws. The soldiers of the
Grammaton Cleric are trained in the martial arts of Gun Kata in which they use
against people who are against Father.
Similar to Code Geass Section Eleven, where there are the people outside of
controlling totalitarian government, Equilibriums equivalent is called the Nether
which hold the people who are considered sense offenders. Any type of emotional
content whether it be art, music, decoration, etc. is banned and if caughtsense
offending like Viviana, Prestons wife, then execution is the cost of feeling. In the
Nethers raids from the Grammaton Cleric incinerate all items that can lead to
someone feeling emotion which is perfectly portrayed in the scene where the Mona
Lisa among many other paintings were blow-torched.
Emotions are what make humans, it would be the most difficult task to mask
your anger, happiness, love, hate, without any substance controlling your brain. For
this, Prozium is a drug that is required by the Tetragrammaton Council for it
suppresses emotion, the root of all the conflicts and war. When Preston accidentally
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breaks his daily vial of Prozium he begins to experience the emotions hes gone
without for so long now. He decides against taking Prozium again and with his
regained emotion he finds the rebellion group known as the Underground and
joins them in order to complete the mission to kill Father and to destroy all of the
plants that manufacture and store Prozium. The Underground knows that if the
entire population goes without the drug, even for a day, it will lead people to realize
that emotions are part of being human.
Corruption and double standards are prevalent in both of these works. In
Equilibrium they consciously accept to taking Prozium in order to live in a society
where they can live happily and peacefully without war and violence. The drug takes
away their emotions so do they get to fully enjoy the peace that they seemingly
achieved? Even though this movement was to end war, there is still war going on,
killing of the people who want to feel their emotions, good or bad. While in Code
Geass the War fought was to achieve unity between Japan and Britannia, the King
was engulfed in his power and contradicted the purpose of the war.
Freedom of individuality is a main theme for Equilibrium and Code Geass.
Individuality is the main root of every person. In Equilibrium, everyones
individuality is taken away with the use of the emotion-suppressing drug. Everyone
follows Father and every word he says is right, like in the Novel 1984 2+2=5.
(Orwell, George) Individuality is the ability to think for your own, feel emotions and
being able to act upon them as you wish. In Code Geass the individuality of the
Elevens are taken away from them and replaced with the individualities that the
Kings wants them to have, and person to disagree is prosecuted. The goals to regain
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their individualities are both achieved through the protagonists conquering the
antagonists of the stories. Also both Preston and Lelouch defeats symbolize that it
doesnt take an army to win the battle. The fact that they made a difference for a
whole population is a reminder to everyone that you can make a difference if you
stand up for what you believe it, not just sit idly by blissfully ignorant.
Though the plots of these works differ from each other where in Code Geass
there is no option for the Elevens to become a part of Britannia, and in Equilibrium
the people chose to go against the government that controls them, they are
ultimately the same. The hero of each single handedly destroys the leader of the
totalitarian government that exists in their society. With many obstacles in the way
for both Lelouch and Preston they overcome each one of them for each of these
heros obtain the skills and powers to give equality and freedom to the populations.
Where Preston is the highest skilled Grammaton Cleric, and Lelouch gains the ability
to use Geass, they both manage to wit their way to their freedom.