Hyper-consumption and the nonhumans in okja and never let me go films

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept of hyper-consumption and neoliberal capitalism as well as their effects on nonhumans in two dystopian films, Okja and Never Let Me Go. These films depict hyper-consumption of non-humans including genetically modified pigs and human clones that are subject to neoliberal capitalist and anthropocentric values. The paper draws upon the critique of neoliberal capitalism by Zygmunt Bauman in the discussion of hyper-consumption and refers to the conceptualization of posthumanism by Cary Wolfe, including an analysis of homocentrism and its effects on nonhumans. The paper reveals how neoliberal capitalism creates hyper-consumption, leading to mass production and consequently nonhuman exploitation as portrayed in the films. The nonhumans become voiceless victims of capitalism and homocentrism to help intensify the exploitation. They are objectified as commodities and physically and mentally suppressed in order to serve the human desire for profit and consumption.

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