Cold Bullets Inc.

We were American Indians
In the hot summer heat
Playing and dancing and
Stomping our feet.

We washed in the river
Got mud in our eyes
Stole feathers from pillows
We made our disguise.

The woods called to us
And to the woods we did run
Moccasins on our feet
Backs warmed by the sun.

With an old arrowhead
We bloodied our hands
Brothers forever
As tradition demands.

Crouched on a hill
In summer’s hot grasp,
We beat a toy drum
While burning sweet grass.

We played games ‘till the sky
Was tainted with red
Our mighty war cries
Could waken the dead.

American Indians
Now late in the night
Our war cries grow quiet
The moon gives us light.

With notepads and pens
We recount the day’s glory
So we’ll never forget
Our Indian story.

Equilibrium is a dystopia-genre film based in a totalitarian society. The film is set in the year 2072, after the earth has experienced the Third World War. The leaders of the world decree that emotions are to blame for man’s “inhumanity to man”. In order to create a society free of war and human suffering, “emotionally stimulating material” is banned, along with all human emotions. A new city-state is formed: Libria. A totalitarian governing body is constructed, the Tetra Grammaton Council, run by a figure only known as Father. Equilibrium demonstrates the negatives aspects of totalitarian governments and urges that human existence is meaningless without emotion. The film focuses on how the totalitarian “Big Brother” government controls their populace, with positive intentions but in actuality strips individuals of their humanity and oppresses them.

Ironically, the city-state of Libria is devoid of all liberty. The supposedly humanistic society of Libria is created to keep humanity from destroying itself. All subjects of Libria are required to take a daily injection of Prozium, a drug that all but eliminates emotion. While the powers that be celebrate that Prozium has eliminated war, jealousy, hate and negative emotions, it also eliminates positive emotions. This leaves the citizens of Libria as vacuous drones, incapable of feeling anything. The emotional balance of the society is controlled by the Council and how much Prozium they determine people need. The government views their work as a success, in that the “disease of human emotion” no longer controls society. Individuals have the security of knowing that if they play by the rules and take their injection, they will be safe. They can take comfort in no longer needing to make their own decisions.

Like all totalitarian governments, the Council does not allow anyone to challenge their authority. In one scene, the protagonist John Preston argues against the decree that all Resistance fighters the Clerics encounter are to be killed on the spot. Preston, who has become able to feel emotion, states that he feels these people are being treated unjustly. He argues that they should be put on trial and given a change to re-enter society. Dupont, the voice of Father, states: “It is the order of Father that they are to be shot and killed on sight. Father’s word is law.” There is no justice system in place to challenge the decisions being made by the Librian’s government. Father’s word is Law, putting him in a Godlike position. How can an individual challenge God? They cannot, unless they form a body of resistance. Within the totalitarian government structure, there is no room for justice to parties outside Libria.

Thus, the Council leaves no room for diplomacy with the Resistance. The government devises a plan of action to rid Libria of anything that might stir emotion. The Council creates the Grammaton Clerics, who enforce and destroy any vestiges of emotional material. They also hunt down and kill “Sense Offenders”, individuals who have gone off their Prozium dose. This is a clear case of an extreme type of censorship, controlling every intake that the society has available. This is clearly evidenced in the monochromatic landscape and clothing that every individual is required to wear, eliminating individuality.

The emotionless humans in Equilibrium do not have the ability to discern what is right and wrong. The characters that are on the Prozium drug are unable to comprehend why the Resistance has such an attachment to art, books and even dogs. The film shows us that without the basic component of human emotion, we cannot fully understand what it means to be human. We have no ability to care for others. If we do not have some concern for others, we cannot truly discern what is right and wrong. We would have to base what is moral off what the government tells us is right.

In addition to being merciless towards humans with emotion, Libria is also a sexist society. Women do not have a role in the Council and are barely seen throughout the entire movie. The only female character with any screen time is Mary O’Brien, a resistance fighter who embodies human passion and love. Preyston is obsessed with a piece of red ribbon that contains her scent. A women’s only role is in the family structure, but since there is no love, they are not nurturing to their children or husbands. They are merely vehicles for human reproduction and child rearing.

In a larger context, Equilibrium is commenting on the role of censorship in our present society. Illegal materials are rated "EC-10" for "emotional content". This is an intentional reference to the MPAA film rating system by the director, Kurt Wimmer. The film borrows a great deal from other classic dystopian works. Equilibrium shares the idea of mass consumption with Brave New World. As well, the burning of books in Fahrenheit 451 echoes Father’s decree that all materials containing an emotional charge are to be eliminated. Complete conformity is promoted in the society. In all of these works, the governments control what we are and are not allowed to engage with. They take the idea of censorship to a new extreme, a warning to us to take notice of censorships placed on us in the present age.

Ultimately, the totalitarian state is toppled with the death of the Father Figure. Preston commits this murder as an act of individualism to regain emotion for his society. Without feelings, we would lead a meaningless existence. Free will and free thinking prevail over the dominant totalitarian ideology. The hope at the end of the film is if the Resistance can disrupt the flow of Prozium for even one day, the people will embrace their human emotion and revolt against the totalitarian structure of Libria. Equilibrium demonstrates the meaninglessness of human existence without emotion and the dangers of living in a totalitarian society.