Transformers 4: Not what it seems to be

After enjoying the movie with friends, my brain began to spin up.

1. What are the morals of the story?
2. Are there any hidden subplots? If so, what are they?
3. Are there any agendas?

2 & 3 are pretty much related.

Family

I believe that at its heart, Transformers is about dysfunctional families, coming together and experiencing what "family" is like. "Family", as in a military sense, like a "Band of Brothers", with all the emotional bonds.

Family is the elephant in the room.
Family...
is what almost all the characters do not have. Both the girlfriend and boyfriend don't have complete families, or good parents.
is what the AutoBots provide (however, comedic they seem.)
is what makes people strong.

The movie is not directly advocating for whole families. Instead, it's more about the connection. When people are connected, they can do anything.

Men

Basically, Men drive the show. Women help out, but it's really about the men. The tech entrepreneur, the male-sounding robots, the male villains, the agents, the soldiers, the police. And it's not even sexist.

When you put it together, I think it's about the impact the choices men make have on the world. When they choose to be evil, they are really committing IoFs against other males first. They'll be IoFs against females as blackmail, or if they get in the way. There is a kind of biological instinct to eliminate male competition first, and to get the females on your side..

There's a lot of truth to this.

Government

Governments are so inept in the world of Transformers it's hilarious. Whether it's Chicago, somewhere in Texas or in Quarry Bay, government agencies are always one step behind...except when they are committing an IoF or doing something illegal. And when US agents try operating in HK, they get their a** kicked by a random Chinese guy in the lift!

Or what about the dealings with space aliens. The US try to play them off against each other, but suffer blowback when the "allies" have had it with government inefficiencies. At the cosmic scale, government is like a helpless playground bully flailing, trying to get a grip on its people.

Of course, it's still a very dangerous game. The main characters spend most of their time and energy running away from the state and hoping to prove their innocence, besides simultaneously trying to save the world.

Heroes

How many anime/comics enthusiasts wouldn't want a real life action hero to fly out of the blue and rescue them? It's like the best fantasy ever!

Movies like TF4 feed on this. That's partly why people watch them.

Out of suspended disbelief, we know there are no such superheroes in reality. Indulging in fantasies and worshiping non-existent beings makes one weak and oblivious to what it really takes to win.

Transformium

At first, I thought transformium was one way to show off the SFX. Which it does brilliantly.
But deeper, it seems to be about how information rules the physical world.

When you take away the AutoBot heroes, you realize how helpless the little man is, in a world where technology and information supersedes the biological beings, even the creators. An obvious example of this is the quirky entrepreneur is really being controlled by Galvetron.

Robots

In the movie, robots are insanely powerful. Amazingly, the most destructive militaries on the planet cannot deal with them. Now, movies are about suspended disbelief, but this is just downright ridiculous.

Why this? Whether it's true or not, Hollywood believes that technology works for those who are most innovative AND resourceful. Technology can be used as a weapon, passively and actively.

Combine it with...

Might makes Right

The most common of Hollywood themes. The good guys somehow overcome overwhelming odds and save the day, sometimes with tech, sometimes without tech. When it's without tech, more disbelief needs to be suspended and people are supposed to go "That's so cool, as in military cool, like how blowing stuff up is cool". When it's with tech, people are supposed to go WOW at the gadgets and become inspired by it. Either way, the movies are trying to sell stuff. And the idea that might makes right. How animalistic, for a movie selling high-tech consumer products/military hardware.

You know the good guys are always going to win

You knew that, didn't you?

Yeah, what's the deal here?

Trivia

Did you know one of the AutoBots is voiced by John DiMaggio, the Voice of Bender (Futurama)?

Conclusion

Transformers is a lie!

I'm not sure if you picked up on these consciously. If you did, good for you. Now you can go deprogram yourself. If not, you can always choose to ignore everything you read here.

To be continued...