The Movie "Antz"

“ANTZ” was indeed a movie in which power, conformity and social inequality played a part in the very unfolding of its plot, characterization and theme. It was a movie that had much to say about power and social inequality. And these comments were made primarily through the hero of the movie – Z.

If one were to look closer at the way in which “Antz” stands out as a movie comprising of many social scenes that sustain a pre-occupation with these issues, one would find that these issues are seen through its main characters or “Social actors”

The values and selfish priorities of General Mandible who is tyrannical in wielding his power towards his own interests which is to “cleanse” the ant colony of weak ants, demonstrated the concept of” social connections and interests” in which social actors for example Mandible, work towards their own interests which favour outcomes based on self-driven motives which would advance his own personal interests even at cost and detriment to the bigger whole of society. The movie “Antz” showed the manner in which Mandible sought to further his interests with an almost diplomatic approach to those he tactfully managed to control. He knew that impressing favorably to the extent of winning the Queen’s consent to marry the Princess and remaining in the Queen’s good books would thereby exert control over strategic resources which would help him achieve his goals. Even Cutter’s name was used by Mandible to inject terror in the ants at the beginning of the movie. The Queen who was unable to see through General Mandible’s interest-social connection strategy until much later in the movie, is paralleled with Cutter who complies and tows the line until he realizes that he ought to have spoken for himself too. Cutter who was dispatched to bring back Z who was on a quest of his own, ultimately helps the ants to save themselves and the colony. All of this is in keeping with the manner in which society functions with its inequalities and discriminations as those in power tend to be corrupt and deal oppressively to those who are inferior “subjects”

To me, the character of Mandible defined the capacity of “Power” which is described in Chapter 4, as “the ability to realize one’s own interests despite the resistance of others”. I was able to see elements of repression and dictatorship that is characteristic of those who hold “Power” in their hands. “Antz” helps us understand this concept as Mandible was a character who used power vested in him over the masses, to almost corrupt lengths which included deceiving the Queen and smooth talking his way with the hierarchy that mattered, in order to have the co-operation of the masses until his personal motive was (almost) achieved. His character almost personified the concept of “Exploitation” which is described in Chapter 4, as one of three general theories of inequality.

The General was able to successfully manipulate Colonel Cutter who was like a Corporate Executive who has formal authority), the Queen (who I felt fitted in somewhat to the class of “Capitalist”, Princess Bala (who however, has a will of her own and a strong sense of her own self) and even the workers (the ants who begin their rebellion by screaming “Z”in unison and almost immediately begin to shout “Mandible! Mandible!” instead, which could be paralleled to the influence of Sid Neville on George Stern, while Princelss Bala’s resistance and especially Z’s quest for freedom from what seems so wrong, is similar to Alex Quills’ perplexed determination to atleast question the “orders” given to him during his meeting with the provost Stern, in the Decision Case “The MPS program at Southeastern State University: The Price of Admission”

The system of social stratification in which the three social divisions stand out as particularly important – namely social class, race and ethnicity and sex, was evident in the movie “Antz.” There were varied “races” – ants (who were members of a colony). Termites who were five times the size of ants and sprayed acid from their foreheads as they were created differently.

Various social classes existed. There was royalty in the high class Princess Bala and the Monarchy of the Queen (her mother) and the “worker” class of the ants, also the “soldier” class of ants who do not typically switch roles (resistance to this stratification being shown through Z who did switch rolls with his friend Weaver, the soldier who has his own approach to the different kind of life and work of a working class ant which is new, easy and refreshing to him). Even the attraction between Weaver and Azteca and the love between Z and Princess Bala helped to highlight the dilemma of social actors who are in certain societies that do not readily condone inter-racial interaction/alliances or frown on love relationships between classes.

One could observe the manner in which the concept of The threes Strategic resources of property (the Queen deciding how the Colony should be run), Authority (Mandible) and Skills (the supervisor/worker relationship) operated in the movie “Antz”. According to Chapter 4 of “Sociology in Action – Uncovering Inequalities and Power”, “In higher-skilled occupations, people tend to design the work that others in less-skilled occupations perform. This was evident as the workers (the ants) and those who were placed in supervisory roles, were prime examples of designers and performers.

The “unskilled” supervisor drilled in just once and the water gushed through a hole and began the destruction that hastened the near – ruination of everything – a calamity that would not have taken place if the worker ant was at the end of the tool. Moreover the concept of Workers who control one important source – their own labouring capacity through which workers gain power by collectively threatening to withhold labour was also shown through the movie.

In the backdrop of all these power and inequality issues, the manner in which conformity played a part in society specially when its members (ants) were all-too-willing to conform in order to further their non-disruptive social functioning was contrasted by the non-conformist attitude of the one Ant - namely number Z-4195. I felt that the movie “Antz” did justice to the human experience of carrying on as merely another number among hundreds of similar people – an experience that would perhaps be relatable and felt in a collective society. Z questioned the ideology of the colony (or society) that prized the need of the many above those of the individual and his search for "insectopia" a place where one's individuality could reign supreme made the movie make a statement to the effect that one does not have to remain a victim to a society that does not feel comfortable to oneself, specially when power, conformity and social inequality makes you feel trapped and feeling that you’d prefer to “just curl up into a larval position and weep”.

As a whole, I felt that one would find the movie “Antz” to be directly complimentary to the key concepts laid out in Chapter 4 of “Sociology in Action”. The movie was one that I personally found to be one that portrayed many realistic sociological concepts of inequality that would be evident if one were to analyze any given society.

Finally, I found “Antz” to be a movie that helped to understand the importance of the individual within society and the very real dilemmas faced by anyone who’d feel the brunt of being part of a larger society that sails along with inequalities, wielding of power and expected conformity. The lines “you know, when you’re the middle child in a family of five million, you just don’t get any attention” and “I’ve got to believe there’s some better place for me” were particularly poignant in proving that “Antz” was an excellent animation for its handling of deeper sociological concepts.

© Slow Chills