Plato allegory of the cave movie#
Plato allegory of the cave full#
Plato allegory of the cave free#

Emmet discovers they were just being played with by a boy and his dad. While there are a lot of zany hijinks throughout the film, we learn at the climax that none of this was happening from the Lego figures’ own accords. It's a somewhat pessimistic view of the cave allegory, but what about a story that looked on it more positively.Įnter The Lego Movie. The tethered hold hands in the sun, leaving destruction in their wake. In Us, knowledge is ultimately society’s downfall. PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE MEANING Use the allegory to inspire hope Peele took an ancient concept and applied it to real world scenarios, proving there is still much society can learn from Plato’s cave.

Plato allegory of the cave full#

It’s an intriguing concept in the context of a film about people who literally live underground and are prevented from living a rich, full life. Plato suggests that since the prisoners would likely react violently to someone coming back and telling them of the outside world that it wouldn’t be in one’s best interest to descend back into the cave. There’s an interesting passage within Plato’s cave allegory about descending back down into the cave that we wouldn’t be surprised if it directly influenced Peele's film. This thought experiment plays nicely into the film’s themes of income inequality and how once the lower classes realize how they have been kept down, they will revolt. They saw other people living normal lives, making them angry. Namely, what if the prisoner returned to the cave and all of the other prisoners wanted to follow him out? Us could almost be viewed as an alternative version of the allegory. They have not been “real” for so long, but now, they have come to take their place in the sun. Specifically, how they are the shadows to the regular family. Red also makes several references to shadows. This is a direct reference to the fire in the cave, casting shadows for the prisoners to view. The scene holds many direct correlations with the 'Allegory of the Cave.' For starters, the tethered family stands in front of a fire, casting shadows on the room. Watch this terrifying scene and see what similarities you can find between it and Plato's cave. That’s the question Jordan Peele poses in his film Us, which is one of the most blatant Plato’s 'Allegory of the Cave' examples in film history. What if when they finally recognize the lie, they resort to violent revolution?

A person has to recognize everything up until this point in their life has been a lie. There’s something inherently haunting about Plato’s allegory. PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE SUMMARY Use the allegory to emphasize theme You can see how universal it is and how it can be applied to your own film. Let’s examine some very different films and how they all utilize this allegory.

You can likely think of plenty of films where a character believes one reality and then becomes exposed to another, greater reality and is never the same. Numerous movies utilize this concept in their plots and themes. But digging deeper, they present unique ideas and themes that we can take with us into the real world.

Plato allegory of the cave movie#

In a literal sense, a movie is just a series of images. The chained prisoners would see this blindness and believe they will be harmed if they try to leave the cave. Upon his return, he is blinded because his eyes are not accustomed to actual sunlight.

Plato allegory of the cave free#

He would try to return to free the other prisoners. This prisoner would believe the outside world is so much more real than that in the cave. This prisoner could escape from the cave and discover there is a whole new world outside they were previously unaware of. He finally sees the fire and realizes the shadows are fake. Plato posits that one prisoner could become free. The prisoners watch these shadows, believing this to be their reality as they've known nothing else. Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners are people carrying puppets or other objects. The allegory begins with prisoners who have lived their entire lives chained inside a cave. Plato’s 'Allegory of the Cave' is a concept devised by the philosopher to ruminate on the nature of belief versus knowledge. Allegory of the Cave Meaning What is the Allegory of the Cave?