Elysium - Connotation and Invented Lexicon

Digging further into analysing Elysium as part of a Preliminary HSC Advanced English Comparative Study, I think it's necessary to address the role that genre plays in the film's context and language choices. 

Elysium is a very much a science fiction text in the most conventional sense of the term. Set in the future, and featuring a high concept collision between the tropes of utopian and dystopian societies, and coming with all the hardware trimmings that modern audiences have come to expect from big screen forays into the genre, I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn't classify it as a science fiction film. 

But what is it that separates Elysium from Animal Farm in its exploration of corrupt governance when we consider genre? Well, as most sci-fi fans will know, nearly any effective piece of speculative fiction will feature some sort of invented lexicon. When composers work with invented worlds, it becomes effective for them to represent the somewhat abstract concept of an imagined space with new terms. Several techniques can come into play here:

• Portmanteaus: a combination of pre-existing words into new words to reflect new contexts.
• Loanwords: words 'borrowed' from other languages to represent the increased influence of particular cultures on one another.
• Euphemisms: softer/dishonest ways of portraying harsh ideas; used to reflect the rhetoric of oppressive governments in their attempts to propagandise and persuade.
• Connotations: the associations people bring in their understanding of certain terms.
• Allusions: references to other bodies of knowledge; be they religious, mythological, historical, cultural, literary, etc. 

Not all of these come into play in Elysium, but some quite clearly do. An example is the term 'undocumented', which is used by the Elysium citizens to refer to the ships that carry desperate Earthlings. These are people who are attempting to travel to the elite space station in the hope of accessing godlike medical technology. Whilst 'undocumented' isn't an unfamiliar term, it is somewhat euphemistic as it belies the true attitude of Senator Delacourt towards the ships (IE. She wants to destroy them). The connotation of the term also calls to mind refugees in our own context; the 'undocumented' illegal immigrants who cross the border from Mexico to the U.S.A. (which should be familiar rhetoric to any student who has seen American television and Donald Trump's recent campaigning).

The document below contains a list of examples from Elysium's invented lexicon, and some of the bigger allusions made (such as the use of favelas and the origins of the term 'Elysium' itself). Students are asked to analyse the allusions made and consider the reasons for the director's choice of imagery. Following this, students can work in pairs to explain the connotations of some of the invented terms. The sheet then finishes by asking students to bring their analysis and understanding of context together as a personal response that assesses just how successfully they think the director has built a realistic vision of the future through the use of this language.  

Resource - The Language of Elysium