Robert Zemeckis Cast Away A Modernized Robinson Crusoe...

Popular culture is a term which describes how people in a society live. As time elapses, popular culture keeps on evolving and a societys values will consistently transform. In 1719 during the post-revolution, famous English novelist Daniel Defoe composed the well-received novel The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Remaining a popular adventure narrative, around three hundred years later, Robert Zemeckis directed the modern mainstream film Cast Away, a popular culture appropriation of Robinson Crusoe which entertains as well as powerfully reflecting the values and attitudes of the twentieth century responders. Although composed more three hundred years apart, both texts aims at mature audiences with†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, at this century, it was a time of slave trades, and Orientalism through the European culture was rather dominant. On the other hand, Cast Away was composed in the modern twentieth century. It was the time people tend to value romantic relationships and emotions more. Also, activities such as slave trade are manifestly politically incorrect, and books with an overly amount of such political incorrectness or racial insensitivity contents may even be banned. Although religions are valued, they were not as earnestly worshiped as three hundred years ago. The film Cast Away is a modern appropriation of Cast Away is and this is evident in so many ways. Both texts have a parallel plot which involves a mans travel of displacing himself out of his society into a different context and returning with a changed life. The lesson of self-interest is imprinted and glorified within both of texts. In Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe chose his own path obstinately in spite of his fathers advice, his courage took him to an unfamiliar location but he persisted to survive for thirty years. Whereas in Cast Away, Chuck Noland was completely alone, he fought against his loneliness by talking to an imagined friend Wilson the volleyball, and survived psychologically and physically. Chuck Noland takes the persona of Robinson Crusoe, in the sense that he is self-motivated, possesses many handy skills and was unfortunate