September 15, 2013 - Junip

Oblivion as an Allegory for Working at Target – Warning – Spoilers

I just saw the movie Oblivion staring Tom Cruise and throughout the whole movie I couldn’t stop thinking that the story line is just like working at Target.

Once again, this includes SPOILERS. Read only if you have seen the movie or don’t care to know the plot details. You have been warned.

The average Target employee is played by Tom Cruise’s character, Jack Harper. Jack is a good worker and does the dirty work of making sure everything on the planet, aka Target, works fine. He does everything his commander, Sally, tells him to do. Jack also can think for himself and does have the idea that everything he is doing isn’t just “another day in paradise.” I think he has a sense all along that its just bullshit and from time to time he has to escape it all by going to his forest retreat where his corporate masters can not find him.

The Team Leads are played by the character Vicka. She stays behind the scenes while Jack does all the work. She loves Jack but her main motivation is the delusional idea that one day she get to be with Sally, her boss, on the new planet Titan. This is really all she cares about, just like TL’s only care about eventually becoming ETL’s. She doesn’t like Jack’s rebellious nature because she feels it jeopardizes her plan. She will throw Jack under the bus if it means she gets to go to Titan.

Morgan Freeman plays the part of an old, veteran team member who has seen it all. He knows Sally’s secrets and is always planning on taking her down. He tries to reveal the truth to Jack.

Sally is the ETL team and STL rolled into one. She watches what is happening from afar and never gets her hands dirty. She gives the orders and only cares that Jack and Vicka are an “effective team.” Sally repeats this phrase after almost every sentence, just like the “vibe.” She also constantly demands Jack to fix the drones, which is kind of like selling Red Cards. She demands obedience and when Jack and Vicka are no longer an “effective team,” she terminates them. It is revealed that Jack and Vicka are just clones and are easily replaceable. It also is revealed that Sally is really an A.I. sucking the planet dry of its resources for her own benefit. She is taking advantage of everyone just to feed her massive hunger for power, authority, and resources. She is the real enemy who fools the workers with her shit eating grin and warm charm but she really is a ruthless bitch.

Julia, an astronaut Jack rescues, represents the reality that Jack could have. She is more of an idea then a person. She is Jack’s real love as she is his wife from before Sally took over. Through her he is able to realize his true potential and starts to follow Morgan Freeman in his rebellion against Sally. In the end they are successful and they live the rest of their lives in the paradise Jack had created to escape from Sally.

I know Jack dies in defeating Sally, but he lives on in the clone that visits Julia at the end so in a sense he never could be killed, he to is an idea of the will of the people to fight our corporate masters and live meaningful lives outside the retail world.

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