I have thought about how in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the Soviet Union officials are the villains, but they are shown to be acting in reaction to existing United States weaponry and technology that is threatening their country and government. RedLetterMedia does good job of explaining this in their review of the movie.

However, their main goal is to use the titular skull for mind control against Earth's population.

  • Waldoz53 [he/him, any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    the netflix transformers war for cybertron series is a wild one. the entire transformers great war is about the control of energon, the food and power source for transformers and their technology. the idea of primes is literally divine right to rule.

    takes place just before the autobots leave cybertron, and after megatron already murdered the last Prime, overthrowing the Prime monarchy that has existed literally since the beginning of time. megatron is trying to find the allspark, which is just the classic MacGuffin trope. its a magical piece of tech that does whatever the fiction wants it to.

    through out the show optimus prime frequently accuses megatron of being a tyrant who owns slaves (no slaves are ever seen). megatron is seen telling one of his decepticons to STOP torturing an autobot they captured. there are tons of random bots cheering for megatron when he makes his speech (obv that can happen under fascism too but hear me out).

    theres a scene where one decepticon defects to the autobots, and the autobots don't trust him, which makes sense. the former decepticon offers to have a brain bomb inserted into his head (i guess like suicide squad). a couple of autobots are like hmmm wait whats that? and then they mention that the brain bombs were used to MASS MURDER PRISONERS BECAUSE PRISONS WERE BEING OVERFILLED

    as soon as i heard that, instantly i wanna know how anyone can justify being an autobot??? lol. megatron murdered the last prime because of the lack of energon that the average bot was getting, and i imagine he had a problem with that many prisoners getting killed too. i feel like if you have so many prisoners that you have to murder them to make room, then its your own goddamn laws that are the problem lol

    yes megatron murdered a lot of people, but he didn't mass murder people in prison lol. the autobots are trying to uphold that weird monarchy for whatever reason. its insanity!!

    eventually optimus manages to find the allspark, and him and most of the autobots leave cybertron with it. unfortunately by taking the allspark, energon becomes EVEN HARDER to find on cybertron. season 2 is an extreme energon shortage. megatron has resorted to draining the remaining autobots of energon, so he can find optimus, get the allspark and restore cybertron

    NOTHING about the autobots in the netflix show seems well thought out. they are so fucking stupid lol.

    extremely critical support to comrade megatron who wants equality for all robots on cybertron without upholding a genocidal monarchy

      • all_or_nothing [they/them,she/her]
        ·
        4 years ago

        In a society built around a grand Cybertronian taxonomy that is obsessively revised and reinterpreted, the one thing that never changes—the one that must never change—is the system itself. Every revision, every reinterpretation takes place within a rigid framework of social stratification. Nothing must threaten the Functionists’ core philosophy: utility as an organizing principle.

        If you could step outside the system you would recognize it for what it is: a prison. Worse that that, it is a prison full of willing prisoners. And not only are you a prisoner within the system, you are a prisoner within your own body. Whether you were born or made, forged or constructed cold, you are trapped inside your alt mode. The Functionists built the lock and the Senate holds the key; but most of are unaware that we are locked in.

        Make no mistake: your life is mapped out in front of you are, as clear as the grooves in your transformation cog. You can no more choose to change jobs than Cybertron can choose to stop orbiting the Sun. You can no more acquire a skill unrelated to your vocation than the sky can acquire a conscience.

        In denying you the ability to reject your alt mode—in preventing you from pursuing a path of your own choosing—both the Senate and the Council say they are acting in your best interests. They have a responsibility, they say, to ensure that you make best use of your god-given form. If you turn into a drill, that is because Primus knows that Cybertron needs drills. To deviate from your function is to risk invoking the wrath of god and brings the world to its knees.

        In truth, it is about control. Multi-skilled population is an empowered population. And if you reject your alt mode, what next? Could you reject your class? Would you reject your government?

        The Functionists don’t rely solely on the theology when rebutting arguments for change. Working outside your alt mode would be confusing, they say. Imagine being treated by a medic with tank treads; you would question their competence. And they extend the same question to the minors. “Would you feel comfortable working alongside a microscope?” And to the military: “Would you put your life in the hands of a soldier who turns into a data slug?”

        And it is true. People would be unnerved—at first. But the Functionists—enabled by the Senate—have created the conditions that have given rise to the culture of suspicion; and they have done so deliberately, because it reinforces the status quo. Moreover, it fosters division, and division is another means why which they can control the population. The more walls you can put up between people, the easier it is to contain them, and the stronger the structural integrity of the system.

        And that is why when you see a stranger you don’t think, “What are they like?” You think, “What are they for?” You don’t think, “What are their hopes, dreams, aspirations?” You think, “What do they do?” and then you think, “Where are they positioned in relation to me? Do they sit above, alongside, or below? Are they better than me, or I them?”

        Even if you believe in the grand Cybertronian taxonomy, ask yourself this: who decides on that order? And then: why should there be an order? And that is the question the Senate and the Functionists fear the most, because they know that their world would collapse if people arrived at the answer. Why should there be an order? I’ll tell you: there shouldn’t be.

        Be happy in your work, they say, for it enriches you. Be grateful for your alt mode, for it defines you. Be thankful for the system—it protects you. Be mindful of your betters—they think for you. I say enough. Reject your work. Reject your alt mode. Resist the system. And your “betters”? You have none. We are all equal. And we have a right to decide how to live our lives.