Choi Mars Attacks

Tim Burton humorously satirizes the government and capitalism through Mars Attacks. Jack Nicholson’s dual role as the president and Art Land creates a strong sense of irony, and allows Burton to wittily criticize the role of government and capitalism in our society.

The scene where the president dies satirizes the role of government particularly well. This scene is even more shocking and ironic yet comical as the president’s death occurred right after he gave a very emotional and motivating speech. The alien king not only cheerfully killed the president of United States, but also went a step further by erecting a flag or victory over his dead body, as if everything was a joke to him. Through this scene, Burton tried to undermine the authority and capability of a government, suggesting that we should not look up to a government to take care of us, but instead, that we should look after ourselves as a government can be useless and be of no help in many situations. Burton’s cynical view on central leadership directly contradicts the notion of a powerful government shown in the movie Independence Day. Independence Day depicts the president of United States as a brave, heroic leader figure who unrelentingly sacrifices himself for the better of humanity, creating strong respect and awe towards the government. Burton’s idea of the government is quite different, as the leaders in Mars Attacks are neither powerful nor respectable.

Besides questioning the role of a government, Burton also criticizes capitalism through the character Art Land. In Mars Attacks, Art Land is depicted as a greedy businessman who cares about absolutely nothing except money. The extent of his extreme materialism is clearly revealed in the conference scene, where he gathers other businessmen to propose his new idea of creating hotel service for aliens. While the fate of humanity and his own life is clearly at stake, Art Land is blinded by his desire to make money, and is completely oblivious to the fact that humanity is going to be destroyed any moment. Although Art Land’s extreme materialism is clearly exaggerated, this scene is a perfect criticism of American materialism and capitalism, as a lot of people are blinded to things that are truly important because of their desire for money.