Zach Wilson-Pink Floyd

The Wall by Pink Floyd is a rock opera which presents a wild atheistic take on society, which religion is intermingled with institution.  Religion is not portrayed as free, but rather as a constraining factor.  Pointless endless war is a major theme, and the imagery used is brutal and explicitly gory.  People are turned into commodities for a war machine, and individuals are glossed over in favor of the mass.  The scene at the school illustrates this concept quite clearly, as children are taken, made into a stereotype, then ground into meat.  The children finally overthrow the school, and declare themselves free.  Society is portrayed as against the individual, and that individuals are killed and forced to conform into a greater image.  It depicts man as a slave to his surroundings, and that men are forced to interact with the environment, which will inevitably kill them.  It is a film that can describe pointless struggle between groups that consumes the individual.  The image that most clearly resonates with me is the blood of soldiers flowing into a sewer drain.  Blood is something that is expensive and painful, and is usually taken in drops, however in the film, it flows as a stream, taking from every individual soldier killed into the drain, a pointless waste of life.  It also portrays sexuality as a selling point or marketing tool, and in that way distorts it into the ugly thing that it is.  It is first shown as a beautiful nude, then it morphs into a monster that eats, kills, and destroys.  Sexuality is yet another part of life which is distorted and perverted by the institution.  Overall, the cumulative image is one of nihilism, individuality, and mourning of the individual.