Pride and Prejudice

-Bride and Prejudice

Bride and Prejudice is the Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. As a musical, the film attempts to answer the question of what Pride and Prejudice would be like, set in modern times, transcending cultural differences. The result is the same comedic, effect, satirizing unnecessary differnces that should not prevent a match made in heaven. 

-Bridget Jones's Diary

A modern rendition of the beloved tale. The titular protagonist, Bridget, suffers the same pressures to seek a mate, just as Elizabeth did. The same conflict that unfortunately still confronts women is highlighted, as Bridget gets over her prejudice of the rude Mr. Darcy, an affluent divorce lawyer, who slowly rids himself of his arrogance. Much of the key aspects of the novel remains intact, as love triumphs all.

 

 

Brave New World

-Idiocracy

Idiocracy shows a world set in the future where everyone is a Epsilon-minus Semi-Moron. In Brave New World the people are under complete control from birth and their entire life is decided for them. Both stories create a world where everyone is controlled and placed under limitations by society rather than their own doing. The people in both worlds are living in blissful ignorance and do not see anything wrong as long as they can have the things they want. There is a total disregard for relationships, sentimentality, and the desire to make change. The giant consumer culture makes it very hard for the people to truly care about anything.  

 

-"Soma" by The Strokes

“Soma” by The Strokes is directly influenced by the pill used to control the masses in Brave New World. The song talks about how soma is taken “when hard times open their eyes, and saw pain a new way”. It is a drug used to take one’s mind off of any pain, imbalance, sadness, or imperfection. In Brave New World, the people are conditioned to never feel such things, and are prompted to take soma whenever they do not feel satisfied and happy. The song mentions how the people try it, like it, and use it for many years without any consequences. Soma both in the song and in the novel is something used by everyone to numb emotions and escape reality. 

 

 

Candide

- Forrest Gump

Candide's influence on Forrest Gump is undeniable. Both Candide and Forrest are very simple-minded characters with the innocence and optimism of a child. Their attitudes are almost comical given the fact that they have dealt with the most unfortunate situations and have seen how cruel the world can be. The famous lines from both pieces, “All that is very well, but we must cultivate our garden.” and “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”, are both derived from that idea that life is unpredictable, everything happens for a reason, and that we must approach the hand we are dealt with positivity and move forward. 

 

 

-WALL-E

Candide’s influence on the film Wall-e is portrayed by the theme that true happiness grows from hard work. In Wall-e, the people apparently have an excellent life, a life where they do not have to life a finger, yet they are all unhappy and out of shape. Their only hope of being happy again is rebuilding Earth and returning to their planet. Candide had to cultivate his garden to be happy again and the people in Wall-e had to cultivate their own garden, Earth, to be happy.