T1 112009074 Full text
ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes the movie Step up Revolution using Louis Althusser‟s theory. The
problem that is become the background of this study is capitalism. The capitalist treated
his labors badly and it makes the proletariat fight against the capitalist by doing a protest.
The proletariat used art which is flashmob dance to protest the capitalist. The analysis in
this study is focused on the struggle of the proletariat; that is what makes flashmob dance
as the art protest succeed to protest against the capitalist through the scene and the
dialogue in the movie. This paper suggests that art can be used to protest against the
capitalist.
Keywords; capitalism, economic determinism, art, ideology
INTRODUCTION
“Art is a keyhole through which you can see the ocean of human potential. In that
way, art can do everything reality can’t.”
--Hofesh Shechter
Nowadays, there are a lot of demonstrations to protest the injustices of capitalists.
Mostly, the protest emerges because the labors feel adverse with the decision of the
owner of production. The protest is usually followed by anarchy where the labors do it by
destroying property. The anarchy of labor protest is the last choice to succeed their action
while the owners of production do not respect their protest. The anarchy protest usually
happens in reality.
However, the movie “Step up Revolution” is different from what usually happens
in a protest. The protest in this movie is far from anarchy where the demonstrators speak
louder to deliver their aspirations through art protest. The specification of the art protest
is dance. Dance in this movie is used as a media or tool to protest to the owners of
production who treated his labors badly.
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Basically, the movie “Step up Revolution” directed by Scott Speer is a dancing
movie about the struggle of the lower class against the upper class. The lower class in the
movie is the residents who do not have a lot of money and power. In contrast, the upper
class or the rich is Bill Anderson who has a lot of money and power. The war between
both sides appeared because of some problems. First, half of the lower class works for the
upper class and the upper class treats them so badly. The other problem was Anderson, as
the upper class who wanted to buy the lower class residence to expand his hotel area. The
case above is what people usually call as capitalism.
Capitalism, based on Marxist Theories of Imperialism, is the relation between
workers and the owner of production or the problem between two classes (Brewer, 39).
The two classes above mean the bourgeois and proletariat. Based on the definition in the
book of The Thought of Karl Marx, the bourgeois is the owner of production or the
capitalist and the proletariat is the workers who have no production or selling themselves
for getting wages to the bourgeois (McLellan, 178).
In the movie, Anderson is the capitalist or the bourgeois because he is the owner
of production. As the capitalist, Anderson easily gets what he wants because he has a lot
of money. Indeed, money is connected to power. When someone has a lot of money, she
or he can control anyone easily. This case is supported by Karl Marx and Engels‟ theory
of Marxism that is known as economic determinism which is money as the base and
without money, people cannot do anything. It is implied from the statement in Original
Marxism Estranged Offspring book:
“Marx discovered the simple fact (heretofore hidden beneath ideological
overgrowths) that human beings must have food, drink clothing and shelter first
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of all, before they can interest themselves in politics, science, art religion and the
like” (Fulton, 86)
The conclusion from the statement above is human need money to fulfill their
needs. Money is important in our lives, but it can be dangerous when it leads all our
thinking. It will make us like a fish in a tank, which is the ideology of economic
determinism. While the fish trapped in the tank, it makes the fish not know or think that
there is something outside the fish tank.
The contrary of the bourgeois is the proletariat. In the movie, the proletariat is the
Mob and the residents. The proletariat in the movie “Step up Revolution” struggle to get
their rights back. The reason why they were struggling for their rights is because of the
conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariat where the bourgeois treated his labors
badly and he wanted to buy the residence which caused the proletariat to feel oppressed
and revolt against the bourgeois.
In the movie, even though the proletariat did not have a lot of money and power
like Anderson, as the bourgeois, they keep struggling to get their rights back. Being poor
does not mean that they are prohibited to struggle for their rights. Like Lebowitz said,
everyone has the right to their development or wealth (3). Lebowitz‟s statement implied
that caste or class status cannot stop people to struggle to get their rights.
In the movie, the proletariat did art protest against the bourgeois and it succeeded
to beat the capitalist, or the bourgeois, who is Anderson. This is the part that makes me
interested to analyze this movie. This movie shows the contrast of what Marx said about
economic determinism which is money exists as the base because in the end of the movie,
money could not control the situation. The case in the end of the movie is supported by
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Althusser, who claimed in Beginning Theory by Peter Barry that art is separated from
material thing (159).
For instance, from what I learnt in Literature Theory class, Lenin (a Marxist) said
that literature, as art, can be used to protest or against the injustices of capitalism and
class differences. It is supported by Althusser, another Marxist, who said in the term of
relative autonomy that “art has a degree of independence from economic forces” (Barry,
159).
In this study, I attempt to analyze about the problems between two classes,
bourgeoisie and proletariat that is related to the term of capitalism. Then, I attempt to
analyze the social concept using Louis Althusser‟s perspective, which is related to the
capitalism in society that encourages the society to do a movement to fight the injustice.
After that, I will focus to analyze what makes the art protest succeed to change the social
condition in the movie of “Step up Revolution” through the scenes and dialogues in the
movie.
By analyzing this study, based on Louis Althusser‟s theory, I hope this study will
be useful for literary works and after reading this study, I hope the reader will open
his/her mind about the concept of economic determinism that sometimes money means
nothing. As the case in the movie, the capitalist could not use his money to control the
situation.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
CAPITALISM
According to Henrik Schmidt, capitalism is “the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie”
(385). It means that bourgeoisie is the one who have an authority to control. By having an
authority, it is easy for capitalists to control anything and the capitalist become a priority
or dominate in all aspects. As Resch stated, “capitalism became a system of domination,
not exploitation”(3). One thing which makes the capitalist able to control anything is
because of money. Millios stated “in capitalist system, money is an intrinsic and
necessary element in capitalist economic relations” (27). Millios‟ statement is similar like
the term economic determinism which is money as the base. So, it is clear that the basic
capitalist‟s thought is about money. The term of capitalism is connected to the movie “Step up
Revolution” because the background of the problem in the movie is about how the owner or the
rich treated his laborers which made them feel oppressed and attacked to the capitalists.
LOUIS ALTHUSSER and the THEORY
Louis Althusser (1918-1990) is a French Marxist (Barry, 160). According to
www.egs.edu, he is a famous French philosopher, especially influential for his reinvention of Marxism. He is one of other Marxists who reject Marx‟s concept about
economic determinism. Althusser accepted capitalism, but he did not agree with the
concept of a base. As what I said before, the term of the base means that all depend on
money. Althusser has his own concept that art exists separately from the material world.
According to Barry, Althusser‟s concept has “a degree of independence from economic
forces” (160). This term is connected with the problem in the movie “Step up
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Revolution” because the movie tells how the proletariats succeed to change the social
condition using art protest.
Still according to www.egs.edu, Althusser believed that ideology is much better
than the concept of the base. He contributed an idea that contrasted to the concept of the
base or superstructure. As Barry stated, “Ideology as the system of representations at the
heart of a given society to give a concise definition which makes culture (including
literature) a crucial vehicle of the values which underpin the status quo in any society”
(160). Based on Barry‟s definition about ideology, Althusser believed that culture
(including literature) can be a weapon for society to avoid for having a low class status.
Althusser‟s belief is definitely different with the term of base by Karl Marx. In the movie,
ideology is used to fight the capitalist.
SOCIAL CONCEPT
According to Clarke, Althusser argues that there are two kinds of State
apparatuses. They are the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State
Apparatus (ISA) (2). Barry explained that there are institutions that are included in RSA
such as the Government, the Administration, the Army, the Police, the Courts, the Prisons
(160). The institutions included in ISA are groupings as political parties, schools, the
media, churches, the family, and art (including literature) (160). Every institution has
different functions, as Richard L.W Clarke noted:
“The RSAs function is to secure the political conditions of the reproduction of
relations of production, which are relations of exploitation, via media of
repression that range from the most brutal physical force, via mere administrative
commands and interdictions, to open and tacit censorship (2).”
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So, the institution such as the police, the court, the army, the prison and the law which are
included in RSA will secure the victim of the war between the owner of production or
bourgeois and the proletariat or the worker. Comparing to the ISA‟s function according to
Clarke that:
“For the ISAs function is to secure the same goal (that is, the reproduction of the
relations of production, i.e. of capitalist relations of exploitation) behind the shield
provided by the RSAs by inculcating in all members of society and naturalizing
the dominant ideology which is that of the ruling class (2).”
Basically, the function of ISA is the same. However, the differences will be
defined by the subject. For the example, the political ISA will “subject individuals to the
political State ideology” (2); the communications (the press, the radio, and the television)
ISA will doctrine every citizen with daily thoughts of nationalism, chauvinism,
liberalism, moralism, etc.
Still, based on Clarke notes, he stated “the effects of the clashes between the
capitalist and the proletariat are unified by their common function that subtending to the
dominant ideology and the interests of the ruling class” (2). While the clashes happened
between the capitalist and the proletariat, the society will choose the dominant ideology
and support it. In the movie “Step up Revolution” there are some groups which are
included in RSA and ISA. Both have an important role in the case of the proletariat‟s
protest. According to their function that I mentioned before, some of them support the
protest, but some do not.
SUMMARY
There is a dance crew in Miami called The Mob with the leader named Sean. The
Mob consisted of all dancers in the world. Some of them are homeless and jobless. Sean
was unifying them. They were living in the settlement in the middle of the town. Their
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activity is creating daily street dance performances. They even join the youtube
competition to achieve the prize which consists of a lot of money.
Sean and some of The Mob‟s member are working for Bill Anderson, the owner
of the Diamont Hotel. Anderson has a daughter named Emily. She had aspirations to be a
good dancer, but Anderson did not allow her with the reason she could not earn a lot of
money by becoming a dancer. Anderson was treating Emily like a child. Then until the
day Emily met Sean, Emily‟s life is changing. Emily knew about The Mob and makes
Emily interested to join. But Sean is not sure the other members will accept Emily
because of Emily‟ identity as the daughter of rich person. Then Sean and Emily lie to
other members about Emily‟s status.
One day, Anderson wants to expand his inventory by buying the area near his
property that is the residence of lower society. He will destroy the home, café and others
building in that area after he buys it to expand his hotel. Sean and The Mob are the
residents in that area. They knew about what Anderson would do and especially Emily,
she felt guilty about that. Emily tried to talk to his father, but the agreement with the city
council of buying the area is already in process and it makes The Mob and also the
residents in that area have to move to another area.
Emily gives the idea about a protest with art, by dancing, to change the condition
and to prevent their houses, places where they were born and grew up from being
destroyed. The Mob agreed it, doing a performance as a protest in the company where the
agreement is in process. The first art protest is a success. However, after that everything
changes because all members of the Mob know Emily‟s identity that she is the
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Anderson‟s daughter. Emily‟s status as the daughter of Anderson gave a bad impact to
their friend‟s relationship. Eddie, Sean‟s close friend, got angry, kicked out Emily from
the Mob, is hostile with Sean and everything is messed up.
Anderson knew that his daughter, Emily is included in the Mob and they attack
him with their art protest. Emily confesses to her father because of her mistakes.
Anderson could forgive Emily but the agreement with the city council keeps working.
The Mob could not be silent and just watch their place being destroyed. The Mob gathers
all the dancers in Miami and makes a project to protest. The amazing art protest by The
Mob made the city council change their mind. The agreement canceled and The Mob
succeeds to get their rights back.
ANALYSIS
Capitalist system
Based on the summary, some of the members of The Mob such as Sean, Eddie
and others are working for Anderson in Diamont Hotel. The relation between the workers
and the capitalists are not quite good. It is because the capitalist dominate all activities
that are related to the production. In the one hand, I agree that the obligation for the
workers is working for their boss. On the other hand, I disagree if the boss treats the
workers as machines to earn money. The scene below is one of the examples from the
movie of “Step up Revolution”, when the manager reminded Sean about the patrons in
Diamont Hotel.
Manager
Sean
Manager
: “Where are my waiters? I‟ve got a two-top that‟s been waiting for
10 minutes.”
: “two-top? Yeah that‟s mine.”
: “Patrons do not wait at the Dimont.”
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Sean
Manager
: “You must be the new manager. I‟m Sean.”
: “I‟m your boss not your homie. Next time you leave customers
waiting like that. You‟re fired.”
I do support the manager‟s reminder to Sean that a worker should not being late to serve
the food. However, I disagree with how the manager reminded the worker. The manager
reminded Sean with anger. The manager should ask Sean first why Sean made the
patrons wait for the food. It is possible that the mistake is not from Sean, but it is from
the chef who did not finish cooking the food. Besides that, firing the worker means that
the manager does not tolerate the worker. Related to Marx‟s concept of reification that is
according to Barry, “the term used in Marx's major work, Das Kapital” (156). The term of
reification is talk about the important of profit for the owner of production (156). The case
above is also lack of humanity, because the manager forces the worker to work hard
without considering the worker‟s problem. From this case, the relation between the owner
of the production and the workers is not good because they do not cooperate with each
other to reach the same goal that is to give the best for the property. As Keynes argued in
“Classical Theory of Capitalism”, the inequalities of the property rights between the
owners of production and the workers do not only give profit to the one side that is the
owner of production. Keynes also stated that it will give “the unintended negative or
contradictory effects of market coordination” (55). The case above also shows the
domination of the capitalist that according to Resch‟ statement, domination shows the
system of capitalism (3).
Another scene that showed the domination of capitalists is the scene when the
workers are forced to work without being given to relax.
(Scene 00.07.17-00.07.25)
Sean
: “Eddie you see this sign?”
Eddie
: “What sign?”
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In that scene, the sign is written “No employees in beach club”. While the workers
finished their job, it is time for the boss to give them time to rest, so they will not work in
under pressure. The workers are also human, meaning that the boss should give them an
appreciation for them. In this movie, the workers are forced to work hard, but there is no
appreciation for the workers. It is shown from the scene when Sean, Eddie and a friend
finished their job and wanted to relax on the beach.
Sean
Emily
Sean
Emily
Sean
Emily
Sean
: “I said, you must be new here.”
: “Sort of. Yeah.”
: “Well, I work here, too.”
: “Really?”
: “Unfortunately
: “Come on. It can‟t be that bad.”
: “The pay is suck, and there‟s no benefit, and the clientele treats us like
crap.”
From the statement between Sean and Emily, it shows how Sean and the other workers
are working under pressure. The owner, Anderson, treated his workers as a machine to
earn money from the quality in the production, but he gave less attention to the workers.
The analysis above is the problem between capitalist (the bourgeoisie), and the
proletariat. The workers show the domination of the capitalist in the mode of production.
The problems between both of them affected their relation that makes the proletariat
loose respect and hate the bourgeois.
Bill Anderson in this movie believes in economic determinism. He thinks that all
depends on money and nothing can happen without money. The evidence is shown in the
conversation between Anderson and Emily.
Anderson
: “So this is all about Wynwood thing, right?”
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Emily
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
: “They‟re one of the best contemporary dance companies in the world,
Dad.”
: “You know how I feel about this. How many people make it as a dancer?
One out of 1000? One out of 10000?”
: “Yeah”
: “It‟s one thing to dance when you‟re a kid and it‟s another thing to try to
make a career out of it.”
“Emily, most people would kill for an opportunity like the one I am
practically begging you to take. You work hard, you could end up running
the whole company. I just don‟t understand the attitude…”
“Either you‟re a professional dancer by the end of the summer, or you
come home to Cleveland to work for me.”
From the dialogue above, Emily wanted to study in Wynwood, a professional dance
school in Miami, but Anderson insists Emily to continue his business as the owner of
production. He underestimates dance which is an art could not be a formal occupation
and he thinks that being the owner of a production is much better than working as a
dancer. He does not believe that people can earn a lot of money by working as a dancer.
Anderson‟s basic thought is about money. He always thinks how he could earn a lot of money by
developing his business. The way how he develops his production is by asking Emily, her
daughter, to join in his business with one goal that is to earn a lot of money. This case is
strengthened Millios statement, “in capitalist system, money is an intrinsic and necessary
element in capitalist economic relations” (27). Anderson thinks that everything will be easy
when he has a lot of money. I connected his thought to the scene when Anderson wanted
to expand his hotel area.
Emily
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
Emily
: “Are you planning to build in the Spring Gardens District?”
: “Why do you ask?”
: “My friend, Sean. He lives there.”
: “This just keeps getting better. So, you spent the night in a slum?”
: “It‟s not a slum.”
: “Emily…”
: “Daddy, I wish you could see it. The same families have lived
there for decades.”
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Anderson
Emily
Anderson
: “Every time I build, something else get knocked down.
Someone‟s house, someone‟s business, it‟s the price of progress.
Besides this is a done deal. Trip is meeting with the city council
next Thursday. And once they give it okay, we break ground at
the end of the month.”
: “Please, don‟t do this.”
: “Let‟s make a deal. I won‟t tell you how to dance, and you don‟t
tell me how to run my company.”
From the conversation above, it shows that Anderson did not care about people.
His goal is only how he can increase his commodity to earn money. He did not think that
he lacks humanity, but he thinks that his goal is a price of progress which means he
deserves to get that. By looking at Millios‟s statement, the intrinsic element in capitalist
system is about money. The evidence above shows that Anderson is the real capitalist
because he constantly thinks about money.
The bold statement above proved how easy Anderson could get access to the city
council. The agreement between both is already a done deal. Anderson said that the
project would start at the end of the month. So, it means that he can do the project
quickly. How easy Anderson could get access to the city council is shown by the power
of the capitalist as Millios said, “Consequently, it is revealed that the capitalist class
possesses not only the economic, but also the political power (6)”. In this case, Anderson
has an authority to control the city council to be on his side because he has money to pay
the tax to the city council.
In this movie, before Anderson made a decision to destroy the residence to
expand his hotel area, he made an agreement with the city council to give him safety. As
what I said before, Anderson has an authority to control the city council. He used city
council as his shield, so the residents will not get mad when he destroys the residence
later on. As Millios stated:
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“…more especially of the capitalist state (its hierarchical - bureaucratic
organisation, its “classless” function on the basis of the rule of Law etc.)
corresponds to and insures the preservation and reproduction of the entire
capitalist class domination (6).”
Based on Millios‟ statement, the hierarchy is insures or guarantees the capitalist safety
during production development. In the movie, the city council is the hierarchy in Miami.
The city council guaranteed Anderson‟s safety by giving a deed of the residence area
after the agreement between both was deal. The deed is Anderson‟s power. With the
deed, the residents could not do anything. The power of the deed in the movie is shown
from the scene when Ricky, the owner of the café in the residence area, accepted a letter
from the city council which contained a mandate that the residences should move to
another area.
Sean : “What‟s wrong?”
Ricky : “Ever hear Anderson Global Properties?”
Sean : “Yeah, why?”
Ricky : “This Anderson guy, he wants to build some sort of development.
Luxury hotel, designers shop. He‟s buying the whole strip on this side of
the river, this bar, your home, the shop where your sister works, all
gone.”
Sean : “Can you say no, Ricky?”
Ricky : “It‟s not my choice, hijo. I’m like everyone around here. I rent. A lot
of people are making a living on this strip and now everything is gonna
be wiped out. Gone.”
The bold sentence above clearly shows the status of the proletariat. They rent the
place and Anderson bought the place. Anderson won in this case. Another problem that
makes the proletariat not able to do anything is because they got the mount from the city
council. The city council is the higher hierarchy in this movie and Anderson got the title
deed from the city council. As what I explained before, it guarantees Anderson‟s safety.
The case which happened to Anderson as the capitalist is supported the term of base by
Karl Marx according to Barry that money is the basic thing of everything (150).
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Art Protest
The idea to do art protest in the movie emerged from Emily. The art protest that
the Mob did is flashmob dancing.
Eddi
Emily
Penelope
Emily
: “We need to be working on the next mob. We‟ve already got over
4,000,000 hits.”
: “So you got a lot of hits on you tube. That‟s great. Maybe you‟ll
win this thing and you‟ll win some money. But it‟s not gonna
change everything. Believe me.”
: “So what are you proposing?”
: “I‟m saying enough with performance art. It‟s time to protest art.”
From the dialogue above, Emily is in contrast to her father. She does not believe that
money can do anything. It is shown from the conversation between her and Eddie. She
believed that art has a possibility to change the condition. This evidence is supported by
Althusser that art “has a degree of independence from economic forces” (160). It is quite
difficult to imagine how art can fight the capitalists who have the power. In this movie,
The Mob packaged their protest through choreography. Even though they were not
speaking too much in their art protest, implicitly there was a message from their gesture
or choreography of flashmob dance. They demonstrated what the capitalist did through
their choreography with the aim that they wanted to fight the injustice.
When The Mob did art protest in the meeting between Anderson‟s team and the
city council, they wore formal clothes. The Mob clothes represent the capitalist outfits as
the business men. The Mob‟s choreography represent the individualistic of the capitalists
in their daily life which is they do not care about people around them. After that, a lot of
money dropped while The Mob did their performance. It shows how close the capitalist
life is related to money. They ended their performance with creating a kind of human
which is similar to a robot made from tin and it is brought a suitcase. The creature
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represents the capitalist. Then, when the suitcase opened, there is the short sentence said
that “We are not for sale”. The sentence emphasizes the message of the protest to the
capitalist that they are not supporting the capitalist project. Also, the meaning of the
sentence is ironic. The word „sale‟ is related to stuff or things. Implicitly, from the
portrayal of the creature lacks humanity. Anderson treated the proletariat as though he
can buy it anytime he wants as long as he has money.
The degree of art in the Mob‟s protest is not only about the Mob creativity that is
the flashmob dance, but it is also the video. The degree of the video is the same like the
Mob‟s performance that is to gather people‟s interest to support the protest.
Social Concept
Based on the Althusser social concept that is the Repressive State Apparatus
(RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), the institutions included in RSA in the
movie “Step up Revolution” are the government or the city council, the police, and the
prisons. The institutions included in ISA in the movie of “Step up Revolution” are the
media such as youtube and the news, family such as Sean and Ricky family, and art.
The role of media ideology in this movie such as television and youtube, have an
important role to attract or inform the audiences. The more news published, the more
people will support the protest.
The news on television
: “All indications are that video is quickly going
viral turning these local art vigilantes into
something of a cultural phenomenon.”
From the news on the television above, it showed how the protest art by The Mob is
attractive for people. People become curious about what happened. The news is not only
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broadcasted on the television, but also by mouth to mouth. Moreover, when people
already heard the news, they will talk to their friends. Then, friends will talk to another.
In this case, the media is like a doctrine to the society. Then from society, it may spread
to another society or media.
Eddie
Sean
: “Sean… Guys! You‟re not gonna believe this. Another million
hits in less than two hours.”
: “We‟re up to 6,000,000 hits.”
From the conversation above, it showed the important role of the media. The news of the
protest art is quickly accepted by people in the world. Many people uploaded their feeling
in youtube and other social media such as twitter after the Mob did the protest. As I
explained before, the news made society curious. While societies try to find information
from any kind of media, indirectly, they will inform to others about the issues or
information they got before and the information will spread quickly, even becoming
popular.
In the scene when Anderson held a gala for city council, some members of The
Mob tried to sabotage Anderson‟s speech and messed up the gala. The Mob did it with
anarchy and it made the condition get bad. Anderson called the police to secure the place.
From that scene, the police and the prison, as the RSA, did the job well by arresting The
Mob members as the criminal and put them into the jail. Anderson hides behind the
police secure. In this case, Anderson is a victim by The Mob action. As what I explained
before in the literature review, the RSA‟s job is to secure the one who becomes a victim
toward the anarchy. The Mob was also disqualified from the youtube competition
because they did anarchy. In here, youtube as the media did the job well. Youtube
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communicates to the society and announces that The Mob who did this is a criminal. The
society noticed The Mob action and it is spread quickly which makes their interest down.
From my explanation before, a protest using anarchy in this movie failed to attract
the society‟s attention. It means that to make the art protest succeed, anarchy should be
avoided. In the end of the movie, the Mob did it. The Mob did a huge art protest that was
flashmob dance. The art protest avoided from anarchy and it attracted a lot of attention
from the residents. It made the city council cancel the agreement between city council
and Anderson. A crucial point in this case is because of unification. The residents from
any kind of ideology such as family ideology, labor ideology, etc, are unifying to become
a unity with the same goal that is to fight against the capitalist. As Clarke noted, “the
effects of the clashes between the capitalist and the proletariat are unified by their
common function that subtending to the dominant ideology and the interests of the ruling
class” (2). So, when all ideology is decided to be one voice, it makes their argument win.
As Schmidt stated in “A Marxist Theory of Class Struggle”, “the greatest event in the
history of the worker‟s movement was the fusion (386)” From Schmidt‟s statement, it is
implied that fusion or unity is the effective way to beat the capitalist. He also added that
“workers movement is a process in which the hegemony of scientific socialism has been
victorious (387)”. Schmidt‟s statement is demonstrated through the movie. While all
ideologies have the same voice, it makes the city council have no choice but to follow
their society. The comparison is 1:1000, one for government and 1000 for the society. So
the society wins in this case.
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CONCLUSION
The protest art by The Mob happened because of the problem between the
proletariat and the bourgeois or the capitalist that is dominated by the bourgeois. The
capitalist domination makes The Mob dislike and even hate the capitalists. While the
protest art emerged against the capitalist, it was attractive to the society to support them.
All ideologies such as family ideology, labor ideology, media ideology unify become one
voice. The unification of all ideologies to support the proletariat showed the evidence of
Althusser‟s social concept according to Clarke:
“the effects of the clashes between the capitalist class struggle and the proletarian class
struggle, are unified by their common function: subtending the dominant ideology and,
thus, the interests of the ruling class (2).”
So, The Mob is the dominant ideology and the rest follows the dominant ideology. The
protest art succeeded to change the condition because the protest art attracted all the
ideology and made them to be unified or fused against the capitalists.
For future research, I suggest to analyze the movie “Step up Revolution” using the
theory of Marxism by Karl Marx. The problem in the movie tends to show the problem
between the owner of production and the worker. In the movie, it showed how cruel the
capitalist controls the workers. In that case, the movie can be analyzed with the theory of
Marxism by Karl Marx which can be focused on the term base, reification, etc. Beside
that, this movie can be analyzed using theory of popular culture or mass culture. The
analysis of this movie using popular culture theory will be useful for literary work.
Nowadays, flashmob dance becomes popular in this world as the tool to protest the
injustices. According to news.sky.com, a case in Turkey, protesters did flashmob dance
to deliver their message to the prime minister. They rejected the development of shopping
19
centre at the Gezi Park. The same case in the movie “Step up Revolution”, the protest art
used to against the capitalist.
The movie “Step up Revolution” also can be an inspiration for people to struggle
for the rights with positive action that people should not do the anarchy protest. By doing
this research I hope people, especially the reader, will have a broader perspective about
the concept of economic determinism which means money exists as the base. Because
sometimes money cannot control anything what we want. As what happened in the
movie, Anderson succeeded to control the city council because he has a lot of money.
However, at the end, art made Anderson lose his power and money meant nothing then.
20
ACKNOWLEGMENT
Finishing my thesis, I would like to thank to my Lord, Allah S.W.T for the blessing
and strength to finish my thesis. Without the blessing and strength, I cannot finish this study.
My supervisor, Danielle, thanks for your guide and suggestion in the process of
finishing my thesis. Before you leave Indonesia, finally I finished my thesis. I also thank to
my examiner, Ms. Suzana Maria, thanks for asking my thesis progress every time we met.
My family, especially my parents, thanks for forcing me to graduate soon and
supporting me financially. My sisters, Lintang and Pupe, thanks for supporting me. Finally, I
can finish my study.
My friends, Vici, Tika, Maya, Tya, my dance crew Eternity Official and all of you
that I cannot say the name one by one, thanks for supporting me and thanks for all the stories
you share to strengthen me.
For my beloved faculty, English Department, thanks a lot for all experiences.
For Niners, I am proud to be part of you. Thanks for sweet memories in Makrab,
EDLT, EDO, Loved and Talent Night. We are niners, born to be the winner! Shikaka!
For the last, thanks to my lovely rainbow, Dwi Kukuh, who always remind me to do
my thesis while I prefer to play Hay Day game rather than to do my thesis. Thank you for the
love and care you gave to me.
21
Work Cited
Barry, Peter. “Beginning Theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory”. 2nd ed,
2002.
Bell, Petter and Harry Cleaver. “Marx’s Theory of Crisis as a Theory of Class Struggle”.
2002.
Clark, Richard. “Louis Althusser Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus”. 1969
Fulton, Robert Brank. Original Marxism Estranged Offspring. Boston: The Christopher
Publishing House, 1960. Print.
Kolawoski, Leszek. Main Current of Marxism: It’s Rise, Growth and Dissolution. Trans. P.S
Falla. Walton Street: Oxford University Press, 1978. Print.
Lebowitz, Michael. “The Unifying Element in All Struggles against Capital is the Right
Human of Everyone to Full Human Development”. 2009
McLellan, David. The Thought of Karl Marx. 2nd ed. London and Basingstoke: The
Macmillan Press LTD, 1980. Print.
Resch, Robert. “Althusser and the Renewal of Marxist Social Theory”. 1992
Schmidt, Lars-Henrik. “A Marxist Theory of Class Struggle”. 1977. Vol.20, 4
“The Basic Element of Capitalism.”
www.egs.edu
www.news.sky.com
22
This paper analyzes the movie Step up Revolution using Louis Althusser‟s theory. The
problem that is become the background of this study is capitalism. The capitalist treated
his labors badly and it makes the proletariat fight against the capitalist by doing a protest.
The proletariat used art which is flashmob dance to protest the capitalist. The analysis in
this study is focused on the struggle of the proletariat; that is what makes flashmob dance
as the art protest succeed to protest against the capitalist through the scene and the
dialogue in the movie. This paper suggests that art can be used to protest against the
capitalist.
Keywords; capitalism, economic determinism, art, ideology
INTRODUCTION
“Art is a keyhole through which you can see the ocean of human potential. In that
way, art can do everything reality can’t.”
--Hofesh Shechter
Nowadays, there are a lot of demonstrations to protest the injustices of capitalists.
Mostly, the protest emerges because the labors feel adverse with the decision of the
owner of production. The protest is usually followed by anarchy where the labors do it by
destroying property. The anarchy of labor protest is the last choice to succeed their action
while the owners of production do not respect their protest. The anarchy protest usually
happens in reality.
However, the movie “Step up Revolution” is different from what usually happens
in a protest. The protest in this movie is far from anarchy where the demonstrators speak
louder to deliver their aspirations through art protest. The specification of the art protest
is dance. Dance in this movie is used as a media or tool to protest to the owners of
production who treated his labors badly.
1
Basically, the movie “Step up Revolution” directed by Scott Speer is a dancing
movie about the struggle of the lower class against the upper class. The lower class in the
movie is the residents who do not have a lot of money and power. In contrast, the upper
class or the rich is Bill Anderson who has a lot of money and power. The war between
both sides appeared because of some problems. First, half of the lower class works for the
upper class and the upper class treats them so badly. The other problem was Anderson, as
the upper class who wanted to buy the lower class residence to expand his hotel area. The
case above is what people usually call as capitalism.
Capitalism, based on Marxist Theories of Imperialism, is the relation between
workers and the owner of production or the problem between two classes (Brewer, 39).
The two classes above mean the bourgeois and proletariat. Based on the definition in the
book of The Thought of Karl Marx, the bourgeois is the owner of production or the
capitalist and the proletariat is the workers who have no production or selling themselves
for getting wages to the bourgeois (McLellan, 178).
In the movie, Anderson is the capitalist or the bourgeois because he is the owner
of production. As the capitalist, Anderson easily gets what he wants because he has a lot
of money. Indeed, money is connected to power. When someone has a lot of money, she
or he can control anyone easily. This case is supported by Karl Marx and Engels‟ theory
of Marxism that is known as economic determinism which is money as the base and
without money, people cannot do anything. It is implied from the statement in Original
Marxism Estranged Offspring book:
“Marx discovered the simple fact (heretofore hidden beneath ideological
overgrowths) that human beings must have food, drink clothing and shelter first
2
of all, before they can interest themselves in politics, science, art religion and the
like” (Fulton, 86)
The conclusion from the statement above is human need money to fulfill their
needs. Money is important in our lives, but it can be dangerous when it leads all our
thinking. It will make us like a fish in a tank, which is the ideology of economic
determinism. While the fish trapped in the tank, it makes the fish not know or think that
there is something outside the fish tank.
The contrary of the bourgeois is the proletariat. In the movie, the proletariat is the
Mob and the residents. The proletariat in the movie “Step up Revolution” struggle to get
their rights back. The reason why they were struggling for their rights is because of the
conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariat where the bourgeois treated his labors
badly and he wanted to buy the residence which caused the proletariat to feel oppressed
and revolt against the bourgeois.
In the movie, even though the proletariat did not have a lot of money and power
like Anderson, as the bourgeois, they keep struggling to get their rights back. Being poor
does not mean that they are prohibited to struggle for their rights. Like Lebowitz said,
everyone has the right to their development or wealth (3). Lebowitz‟s statement implied
that caste or class status cannot stop people to struggle to get their rights.
In the movie, the proletariat did art protest against the bourgeois and it succeeded
to beat the capitalist, or the bourgeois, who is Anderson. This is the part that makes me
interested to analyze this movie. This movie shows the contrast of what Marx said about
economic determinism which is money exists as the base because in the end of the movie,
money could not control the situation. The case in the end of the movie is supported by
3
Althusser, who claimed in Beginning Theory by Peter Barry that art is separated from
material thing (159).
For instance, from what I learnt in Literature Theory class, Lenin (a Marxist) said
that literature, as art, can be used to protest or against the injustices of capitalism and
class differences. It is supported by Althusser, another Marxist, who said in the term of
relative autonomy that “art has a degree of independence from economic forces” (Barry,
159).
In this study, I attempt to analyze about the problems between two classes,
bourgeoisie and proletariat that is related to the term of capitalism. Then, I attempt to
analyze the social concept using Louis Althusser‟s perspective, which is related to the
capitalism in society that encourages the society to do a movement to fight the injustice.
After that, I will focus to analyze what makes the art protest succeed to change the social
condition in the movie of “Step up Revolution” through the scenes and dialogues in the
movie.
By analyzing this study, based on Louis Althusser‟s theory, I hope this study will
be useful for literary works and after reading this study, I hope the reader will open
his/her mind about the concept of economic determinism that sometimes money means
nothing. As the case in the movie, the capitalist could not use his money to control the
situation.
4
LITERATURE REVIEW
CAPITALISM
According to Henrik Schmidt, capitalism is “the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie”
(385). It means that bourgeoisie is the one who have an authority to control. By having an
authority, it is easy for capitalists to control anything and the capitalist become a priority
or dominate in all aspects. As Resch stated, “capitalism became a system of domination,
not exploitation”(3). One thing which makes the capitalist able to control anything is
because of money. Millios stated “in capitalist system, money is an intrinsic and
necessary element in capitalist economic relations” (27). Millios‟ statement is similar like
the term economic determinism which is money as the base. So, it is clear that the basic
capitalist‟s thought is about money. The term of capitalism is connected to the movie “Step up
Revolution” because the background of the problem in the movie is about how the owner or the
rich treated his laborers which made them feel oppressed and attacked to the capitalists.
LOUIS ALTHUSSER and the THEORY
Louis Althusser (1918-1990) is a French Marxist (Barry, 160). According to
www.egs.edu, he is a famous French philosopher, especially influential for his reinvention of Marxism. He is one of other Marxists who reject Marx‟s concept about
economic determinism. Althusser accepted capitalism, but he did not agree with the
concept of a base. As what I said before, the term of the base means that all depend on
money. Althusser has his own concept that art exists separately from the material world.
According to Barry, Althusser‟s concept has “a degree of independence from economic
forces” (160). This term is connected with the problem in the movie “Step up
5
Revolution” because the movie tells how the proletariats succeed to change the social
condition using art protest.
Still according to www.egs.edu, Althusser believed that ideology is much better
than the concept of the base. He contributed an idea that contrasted to the concept of the
base or superstructure. As Barry stated, “Ideology as the system of representations at the
heart of a given society to give a concise definition which makes culture (including
literature) a crucial vehicle of the values which underpin the status quo in any society”
(160). Based on Barry‟s definition about ideology, Althusser believed that culture
(including literature) can be a weapon for society to avoid for having a low class status.
Althusser‟s belief is definitely different with the term of base by Karl Marx. In the movie,
ideology is used to fight the capitalist.
SOCIAL CONCEPT
According to Clarke, Althusser argues that there are two kinds of State
apparatuses. They are the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State
Apparatus (ISA) (2). Barry explained that there are institutions that are included in RSA
such as the Government, the Administration, the Army, the Police, the Courts, the Prisons
(160). The institutions included in ISA are groupings as political parties, schools, the
media, churches, the family, and art (including literature) (160). Every institution has
different functions, as Richard L.W Clarke noted:
“The RSAs function is to secure the political conditions of the reproduction of
relations of production, which are relations of exploitation, via media of
repression that range from the most brutal physical force, via mere administrative
commands and interdictions, to open and tacit censorship (2).”
6
So, the institution such as the police, the court, the army, the prison and the law which are
included in RSA will secure the victim of the war between the owner of production or
bourgeois and the proletariat or the worker. Comparing to the ISA‟s function according to
Clarke that:
“For the ISAs function is to secure the same goal (that is, the reproduction of the
relations of production, i.e. of capitalist relations of exploitation) behind the shield
provided by the RSAs by inculcating in all members of society and naturalizing
the dominant ideology which is that of the ruling class (2).”
Basically, the function of ISA is the same. However, the differences will be
defined by the subject. For the example, the political ISA will “subject individuals to the
political State ideology” (2); the communications (the press, the radio, and the television)
ISA will doctrine every citizen with daily thoughts of nationalism, chauvinism,
liberalism, moralism, etc.
Still, based on Clarke notes, he stated “the effects of the clashes between the
capitalist and the proletariat are unified by their common function that subtending to the
dominant ideology and the interests of the ruling class” (2). While the clashes happened
between the capitalist and the proletariat, the society will choose the dominant ideology
and support it. In the movie “Step up Revolution” there are some groups which are
included in RSA and ISA. Both have an important role in the case of the proletariat‟s
protest. According to their function that I mentioned before, some of them support the
protest, but some do not.
SUMMARY
There is a dance crew in Miami called The Mob with the leader named Sean. The
Mob consisted of all dancers in the world. Some of them are homeless and jobless. Sean
was unifying them. They were living in the settlement in the middle of the town. Their
7
activity is creating daily street dance performances. They even join the youtube
competition to achieve the prize which consists of a lot of money.
Sean and some of The Mob‟s member are working for Bill Anderson, the owner
of the Diamont Hotel. Anderson has a daughter named Emily. She had aspirations to be a
good dancer, but Anderson did not allow her with the reason she could not earn a lot of
money by becoming a dancer. Anderson was treating Emily like a child. Then until the
day Emily met Sean, Emily‟s life is changing. Emily knew about The Mob and makes
Emily interested to join. But Sean is not sure the other members will accept Emily
because of Emily‟ identity as the daughter of rich person. Then Sean and Emily lie to
other members about Emily‟s status.
One day, Anderson wants to expand his inventory by buying the area near his
property that is the residence of lower society. He will destroy the home, café and others
building in that area after he buys it to expand his hotel. Sean and The Mob are the
residents in that area. They knew about what Anderson would do and especially Emily,
she felt guilty about that. Emily tried to talk to his father, but the agreement with the city
council of buying the area is already in process and it makes The Mob and also the
residents in that area have to move to another area.
Emily gives the idea about a protest with art, by dancing, to change the condition
and to prevent their houses, places where they were born and grew up from being
destroyed. The Mob agreed it, doing a performance as a protest in the company where the
agreement is in process. The first art protest is a success. However, after that everything
changes because all members of the Mob know Emily‟s identity that she is the
8
Anderson‟s daughter. Emily‟s status as the daughter of Anderson gave a bad impact to
their friend‟s relationship. Eddie, Sean‟s close friend, got angry, kicked out Emily from
the Mob, is hostile with Sean and everything is messed up.
Anderson knew that his daughter, Emily is included in the Mob and they attack
him with their art protest. Emily confesses to her father because of her mistakes.
Anderson could forgive Emily but the agreement with the city council keeps working.
The Mob could not be silent and just watch their place being destroyed. The Mob gathers
all the dancers in Miami and makes a project to protest. The amazing art protest by The
Mob made the city council change their mind. The agreement canceled and The Mob
succeeds to get their rights back.
ANALYSIS
Capitalist system
Based on the summary, some of the members of The Mob such as Sean, Eddie
and others are working for Anderson in Diamont Hotel. The relation between the workers
and the capitalists are not quite good. It is because the capitalist dominate all activities
that are related to the production. In the one hand, I agree that the obligation for the
workers is working for their boss. On the other hand, I disagree if the boss treats the
workers as machines to earn money. The scene below is one of the examples from the
movie of “Step up Revolution”, when the manager reminded Sean about the patrons in
Diamont Hotel.
Manager
Sean
Manager
: “Where are my waiters? I‟ve got a two-top that‟s been waiting for
10 minutes.”
: “two-top? Yeah that‟s mine.”
: “Patrons do not wait at the Dimont.”
9
Sean
Manager
: “You must be the new manager. I‟m Sean.”
: “I‟m your boss not your homie. Next time you leave customers
waiting like that. You‟re fired.”
I do support the manager‟s reminder to Sean that a worker should not being late to serve
the food. However, I disagree with how the manager reminded the worker. The manager
reminded Sean with anger. The manager should ask Sean first why Sean made the
patrons wait for the food. It is possible that the mistake is not from Sean, but it is from
the chef who did not finish cooking the food. Besides that, firing the worker means that
the manager does not tolerate the worker. Related to Marx‟s concept of reification that is
according to Barry, “the term used in Marx's major work, Das Kapital” (156). The term of
reification is talk about the important of profit for the owner of production (156). The case
above is also lack of humanity, because the manager forces the worker to work hard
without considering the worker‟s problem. From this case, the relation between the owner
of the production and the workers is not good because they do not cooperate with each
other to reach the same goal that is to give the best for the property. As Keynes argued in
“Classical Theory of Capitalism”, the inequalities of the property rights between the
owners of production and the workers do not only give profit to the one side that is the
owner of production. Keynes also stated that it will give “the unintended negative or
contradictory effects of market coordination” (55). The case above also shows the
domination of the capitalist that according to Resch‟ statement, domination shows the
system of capitalism (3).
Another scene that showed the domination of capitalists is the scene when the
workers are forced to work without being given to relax.
(Scene 00.07.17-00.07.25)
Sean
: “Eddie you see this sign?”
Eddie
: “What sign?”
10
In that scene, the sign is written “No employees in beach club”. While the workers
finished their job, it is time for the boss to give them time to rest, so they will not work in
under pressure. The workers are also human, meaning that the boss should give them an
appreciation for them. In this movie, the workers are forced to work hard, but there is no
appreciation for the workers. It is shown from the scene when Sean, Eddie and a friend
finished their job and wanted to relax on the beach.
Sean
Emily
Sean
Emily
Sean
Emily
Sean
: “I said, you must be new here.”
: “Sort of. Yeah.”
: “Well, I work here, too.”
: “Really?”
: “Unfortunately
: “Come on. It can‟t be that bad.”
: “The pay is suck, and there‟s no benefit, and the clientele treats us like
crap.”
From the statement between Sean and Emily, it shows how Sean and the other workers
are working under pressure. The owner, Anderson, treated his workers as a machine to
earn money from the quality in the production, but he gave less attention to the workers.
The analysis above is the problem between capitalist (the bourgeoisie), and the
proletariat. The workers show the domination of the capitalist in the mode of production.
The problems between both of them affected their relation that makes the proletariat
loose respect and hate the bourgeois.
Bill Anderson in this movie believes in economic determinism. He thinks that all
depends on money and nothing can happen without money. The evidence is shown in the
conversation between Anderson and Emily.
Anderson
: “So this is all about Wynwood thing, right?”
11
Emily
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
: “They‟re one of the best contemporary dance companies in the world,
Dad.”
: “You know how I feel about this. How many people make it as a dancer?
One out of 1000? One out of 10000?”
: “Yeah”
: “It‟s one thing to dance when you‟re a kid and it‟s another thing to try to
make a career out of it.”
“Emily, most people would kill for an opportunity like the one I am
practically begging you to take. You work hard, you could end up running
the whole company. I just don‟t understand the attitude…”
“Either you‟re a professional dancer by the end of the summer, or you
come home to Cleveland to work for me.”
From the dialogue above, Emily wanted to study in Wynwood, a professional dance
school in Miami, but Anderson insists Emily to continue his business as the owner of
production. He underestimates dance which is an art could not be a formal occupation
and he thinks that being the owner of a production is much better than working as a
dancer. He does not believe that people can earn a lot of money by working as a dancer.
Anderson‟s basic thought is about money. He always thinks how he could earn a lot of money by
developing his business. The way how he develops his production is by asking Emily, her
daughter, to join in his business with one goal that is to earn a lot of money. This case is
strengthened Millios statement, “in capitalist system, money is an intrinsic and necessary
element in capitalist economic relations” (27). Anderson thinks that everything will be easy
when he has a lot of money. I connected his thought to the scene when Anderson wanted
to expand his hotel area.
Emily
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
Emily
: “Are you planning to build in the Spring Gardens District?”
: “Why do you ask?”
: “My friend, Sean. He lives there.”
: “This just keeps getting better. So, you spent the night in a slum?”
: “It‟s not a slum.”
: “Emily…”
: “Daddy, I wish you could see it. The same families have lived
there for decades.”
12
Anderson
Emily
Anderson
: “Every time I build, something else get knocked down.
Someone‟s house, someone‟s business, it‟s the price of progress.
Besides this is a done deal. Trip is meeting with the city council
next Thursday. And once they give it okay, we break ground at
the end of the month.”
: “Please, don‟t do this.”
: “Let‟s make a deal. I won‟t tell you how to dance, and you don‟t
tell me how to run my company.”
From the conversation above, it shows that Anderson did not care about people.
His goal is only how he can increase his commodity to earn money. He did not think that
he lacks humanity, but he thinks that his goal is a price of progress which means he
deserves to get that. By looking at Millios‟s statement, the intrinsic element in capitalist
system is about money. The evidence above shows that Anderson is the real capitalist
because he constantly thinks about money.
The bold statement above proved how easy Anderson could get access to the city
council. The agreement between both is already a done deal. Anderson said that the
project would start at the end of the month. So, it means that he can do the project
quickly. How easy Anderson could get access to the city council is shown by the power
of the capitalist as Millios said, “Consequently, it is revealed that the capitalist class
possesses not only the economic, but also the political power (6)”. In this case, Anderson
has an authority to control the city council to be on his side because he has money to pay
the tax to the city council.
In this movie, before Anderson made a decision to destroy the residence to
expand his hotel area, he made an agreement with the city council to give him safety. As
what I said before, Anderson has an authority to control the city council. He used city
council as his shield, so the residents will not get mad when he destroys the residence
later on. As Millios stated:
13
“…more especially of the capitalist state (its hierarchical - bureaucratic
organisation, its “classless” function on the basis of the rule of Law etc.)
corresponds to and insures the preservation and reproduction of the entire
capitalist class domination (6).”
Based on Millios‟ statement, the hierarchy is insures or guarantees the capitalist safety
during production development. In the movie, the city council is the hierarchy in Miami.
The city council guaranteed Anderson‟s safety by giving a deed of the residence area
after the agreement between both was deal. The deed is Anderson‟s power. With the
deed, the residents could not do anything. The power of the deed in the movie is shown
from the scene when Ricky, the owner of the café in the residence area, accepted a letter
from the city council which contained a mandate that the residences should move to
another area.
Sean : “What‟s wrong?”
Ricky : “Ever hear Anderson Global Properties?”
Sean : “Yeah, why?”
Ricky : “This Anderson guy, he wants to build some sort of development.
Luxury hotel, designers shop. He‟s buying the whole strip on this side of
the river, this bar, your home, the shop where your sister works, all
gone.”
Sean : “Can you say no, Ricky?”
Ricky : “It‟s not my choice, hijo. I’m like everyone around here. I rent. A lot
of people are making a living on this strip and now everything is gonna
be wiped out. Gone.”
The bold sentence above clearly shows the status of the proletariat. They rent the
place and Anderson bought the place. Anderson won in this case. Another problem that
makes the proletariat not able to do anything is because they got the mount from the city
council. The city council is the higher hierarchy in this movie and Anderson got the title
deed from the city council. As what I explained before, it guarantees Anderson‟s safety.
The case which happened to Anderson as the capitalist is supported the term of base by
Karl Marx according to Barry that money is the basic thing of everything (150).
14
Art Protest
The idea to do art protest in the movie emerged from Emily. The art protest that
the Mob did is flashmob dancing.
Eddi
Emily
Penelope
Emily
: “We need to be working on the next mob. We‟ve already got over
4,000,000 hits.”
: “So you got a lot of hits on you tube. That‟s great. Maybe you‟ll
win this thing and you‟ll win some money. But it‟s not gonna
change everything. Believe me.”
: “So what are you proposing?”
: “I‟m saying enough with performance art. It‟s time to protest art.”
From the dialogue above, Emily is in contrast to her father. She does not believe that
money can do anything. It is shown from the conversation between her and Eddie. She
believed that art has a possibility to change the condition. This evidence is supported by
Althusser that art “has a degree of independence from economic forces” (160). It is quite
difficult to imagine how art can fight the capitalists who have the power. In this movie,
The Mob packaged their protest through choreography. Even though they were not
speaking too much in their art protest, implicitly there was a message from their gesture
or choreography of flashmob dance. They demonstrated what the capitalist did through
their choreography with the aim that they wanted to fight the injustice.
When The Mob did art protest in the meeting between Anderson‟s team and the
city council, they wore formal clothes. The Mob clothes represent the capitalist outfits as
the business men. The Mob‟s choreography represent the individualistic of the capitalists
in their daily life which is they do not care about people around them. After that, a lot of
money dropped while The Mob did their performance. It shows how close the capitalist
life is related to money. They ended their performance with creating a kind of human
which is similar to a robot made from tin and it is brought a suitcase. The creature
15
represents the capitalist. Then, when the suitcase opened, there is the short sentence said
that “We are not for sale”. The sentence emphasizes the message of the protest to the
capitalist that they are not supporting the capitalist project. Also, the meaning of the
sentence is ironic. The word „sale‟ is related to stuff or things. Implicitly, from the
portrayal of the creature lacks humanity. Anderson treated the proletariat as though he
can buy it anytime he wants as long as he has money.
The degree of art in the Mob‟s protest is not only about the Mob creativity that is
the flashmob dance, but it is also the video. The degree of the video is the same like the
Mob‟s performance that is to gather people‟s interest to support the protest.
Social Concept
Based on the Althusser social concept that is the Repressive State Apparatus
(RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), the institutions included in RSA in the
movie “Step up Revolution” are the government or the city council, the police, and the
prisons. The institutions included in ISA in the movie of “Step up Revolution” are the
media such as youtube and the news, family such as Sean and Ricky family, and art.
The role of media ideology in this movie such as television and youtube, have an
important role to attract or inform the audiences. The more news published, the more
people will support the protest.
The news on television
: “All indications are that video is quickly going
viral turning these local art vigilantes into
something of a cultural phenomenon.”
From the news on the television above, it showed how the protest art by The Mob is
attractive for people. People become curious about what happened. The news is not only
16
broadcasted on the television, but also by mouth to mouth. Moreover, when people
already heard the news, they will talk to their friends. Then, friends will talk to another.
In this case, the media is like a doctrine to the society. Then from society, it may spread
to another society or media.
Eddie
Sean
: “Sean… Guys! You‟re not gonna believe this. Another million
hits in less than two hours.”
: “We‟re up to 6,000,000 hits.”
From the conversation above, it showed the important role of the media. The news of the
protest art is quickly accepted by people in the world. Many people uploaded their feeling
in youtube and other social media such as twitter after the Mob did the protest. As I
explained before, the news made society curious. While societies try to find information
from any kind of media, indirectly, they will inform to others about the issues or
information they got before and the information will spread quickly, even becoming
popular.
In the scene when Anderson held a gala for city council, some members of The
Mob tried to sabotage Anderson‟s speech and messed up the gala. The Mob did it with
anarchy and it made the condition get bad. Anderson called the police to secure the place.
From that scene, the police and the prison, as the RSA, did the job well by arresting The
Mob members as the criminal and put them into the jail. Anderson hides behind the
police secure. In this case, Anderson is a victim by The Mob action. As what I explained
before in the literature review, the RSA‟s job is to secure the one who becomes a victim
toward the anarchy. The Mob was also disqualified from the youtube competition
because they did anarchy. In here, youtube as the media did the job well. Youtube
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communicates to the society and announces that The Mob who did this is a criminal. The
society noticed The Mob action and it is spread quickly which makes their interest down.
From my explanation before, a protest using anarchy in this movie failed to attract
the society‟s attention. It means that to make the art protest succeed, anarchy should be
avoided. In the end of the movie, the Mob did it. The Mob did a huge art protest that was
flashmob dance. The art protest avoided from anarchy and it attracted a lot of attention
from the residents. It made the city council cancel the agreement between city council
and Anderson. A crucial point in this case is because of unification. The residents from
any kind of ideology such as family ideology, labor ideology, etc, are unifying to become
a unity with the same goal that is to fight against the capitalist. As Clarke noted, “the
effects of the clashes between the capitalist and the proletariat are unified by their
common function that subtending to the dominant ideology and the interests of the ruling
class” (2). So, when all ideology is decided to be one voice, it makes their argument win.
As Schmidt stated in “A Marxist Theory of Class Struggle”, “the greatest event in the
history of the worker‟s movement was the fusion (386)” From Schmidt‟s statement, it is
implied that fusion or unity is the effective way to beat the capitalist. He also added that
“workers movement is a process in which the hegemony of scientific socialism has been
victorious (387)”. Schmidt‟s statement is demonstrated through the movie. While all
ideologies have the same voice, it makes the city council have no choice but to follow
their society. The comparison is 1:1000, one for government and 1000 for the society. So
the society wins in this case.
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CONCLUSION
The protest art by The Mob happened because of the problem between the
proletariat and the bourgeois or the capitalist that is dominated by the bourgeois. The
capitalist domination makes The Mob dislike and even hate the capitalists. While the
protest art emerged against the capitalist, it was attractive to the society to support them.
All ideologies such as family ideology, labor ideology, media ideology unify become one
voice. The unification of all ideologies to support the proletariat showed the evidence of
Althusser‟s social concept according to Clarke:
“the effects of the clashes between the capitalist class struggle and the proletarian class
struggle, are unified by their common function: subtending the dominant ideology and,
thus, the interests of the ruling class (2).”
So, The Mob is the dominant ideology and the rest follows the dominant ideology. The
protest art succeeded to change the condition because the protest art attracted all the
ideology and made them to be unified or fused against the capitalists.
For future research, I suggest to analyze the movie “Step up Revolution” using the
theory of Marxism by Karl Marx. The problem in the movie tends to show the problem
between the owner of production and the worker. In the movie, it showed how cruel the
capitalist controls the workers. In that case, the movie can be analyzed with the theory of
Marxism by Karl Marx which can be focused on the term base, reification, etc. Beside
that, this movie can be analyzed using theory of popular culture or mass culture. The
analysis of this movie using popular culture theory will be useful for literary work.
Nowadays, flashmob dance becomes popular in this world as the tool to protest the
injustices. According to news.sky.com, a case in Turkey, protesters did flashmob dance
to deliver their message to the prime minister. They rejected the development of shopping
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centre at the Gezi Park. The same case in the movie “Step up Revolution”, the protest art
used to against the capitalist.
The movie “Step up Revolution” also can be an inspiration for people to struggle
for the rights with positive action that people should not do the anarchy protest. By doing
this research I hope people, especially the reader, will have a broader perspective about
the concept of economic determinism which means money exists as the base. Because
sometimes money cannot control anything what we want. As what happened in the
movie, Anderson succeeded to control the city council because he has a lot of money.
However, at the end, art made Anderson lose his power and money meant nothing then.
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ACKNOWLEGMENT
Finishing my thesis, I would like to thank to my Lord, Allah S.W.T for the blessing
and strength to finish my thesis. Without the blessing and strength, I cannot finish this study.
My supervisor, Danielle, thanks for your guide and suggestion in the process of
finishing my thesis. Before you leave Indonesia, finally I finished my thesis. I also thank to
my examiner, Ms. Suzana Maria, thanks for asking my thesis progress every time we met.
My family, especially my parents, thanks for forcing me to graduate soon and
supporting me financially. My sisters, Lintang and Pupe, thanks for supporting me. Finally, I
can finish my study.
My friends, Vici, Tika, Maya, Tya, my dance crew Eternity Official and all of you
that I cannot say the name one by one, thanks for supporting me and thanks for all the stories
you share to strengthen me.
For my beloved faculty, English Department, thanks a lot for all experiences.
For Niners, I am proud to be part of you. Thanks for sweet memories in Makrab,
EDLT, EDO, Loved and Talent Night. We are niners, born to be the winner! Shikaka!
For the last, thanks to my lovely rainbow, Dwi Kukuh, who always remind me to do
my thesis while I prefer to play Hay Day game rather than to do my thesis. Thank you for the
love and care you gave to me.
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Work Cited
Barry, Peter. “Beginning Theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory”. 2nd ed,
2002.
Bell, Petter and Harry Cleaver. “Marx’s Theory of Crisis as a Theory of Class Struggle”.
2002.
Clark, Richard. “Louis Althusser Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus”. 1969
Fulton, Robert Brank. Original Marxism Estranged Offspring. Boston: The Christopher
Publishing House, 1960. Print.
Kolawoski, Leszek. Main Current of Marxism: It’s Rise, Growth and Dissolution. Trans. P.S
Falla. Walton Street: Oxford University Press, 1978. Print.
Lebowitz, Michael. “The Unifying Element in All Struggles against Capital is the Right
Human of Everyone to Full Human Development”. 2009
McLellan, David. The Thought of Karl Marx. 2nd ed. London and Basingstoke: The
Macmillan Press LTD, 1980. Print.
Resch, Robert. “Althusser and the Renewal of Marxist Social Theory”. 1992
Schmidt, Lars-Henrik. “A Marxist Theory of Class Struggle”. 1977. Vol.20, 4
“The Basic Element of Capitalism.”
www.egs.edu
www.news.sky.com
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