A Bugs Life Summary A Bugs life is a movie showed in the year 1998, produced by the Americans, and it is a movie

which is computer-animated. The movie goes like this, there was an island which is an ant colony; every year, there are lots of grasshoppers that are going to that so called ant island in order to get foods or crops that are gathered by the ants, the ants consider these crops as an offering to the grasshoppers since they are threatened by the latter. One time, when the season came that the grasshoppers have to get these foods from the ant island, Flick, an ant who at first considered by the other ants as weird, had accidentally threw all of these offerings out to a river, the grasshoppers, particularly, Hopper got mad and gave the ants an ultimatum until the rainy season to gather crops again. And so, all of the ants got mad to Flick until he looked for a way on how can the colony make the grasshoppers leave their island alone, so, Flick sought for a help from the other island, looking for warriors, and then he found out these circus performers who are willing to help, together, they flee to the ant island, and prepared for the return of the grasshoppers. Suddenly, the Queen, Princess Atta and all the ants knew that these said warriors are not really warriors as what they thought they ought to be, and then the warriors and Flick was cast away by the Queen since they lied to them. When the grasshoppers arrived at the ant island, they became more angry and furious, and so, Flick and the warriors went back to the Island to help, and they became successful in stopping the grasshoppers form exploiting them. Manifestation of Political Economy in the film First manifestation of political economy in the film is presented by the character of the Grasshoppers, the Queen, and Princess Atta. I think, the grasshoppers are the international actors, while the Queen and the Princess symbolizes the government of a certain country. As seen in the movie, the government is doing nothing for their country to improve and develop, they have no capacity to compete with other international actors like the grasshoppers, and they cannot even defend themselves from the exploitation of the international actors given that they have rich resources in the island. The reason is that, the government is just letting the other actors to be superior from them even if the fact is that they can also compete with these actors if they will just utilize wisely the resources that they possess. In short, the government is contented being just a subject to other actors. Another manifestation that is seen in the movies is the scene wherein the ants are commanded to gather crops and foods as much as they can, and offer these to the grasshoppers without them benefiting from the hard work they have made just to harvest the crops. It is said that in political economy, the teachings of Karl Marx is important, and so, I think, the movie is much related to the thoughts of Karl Marx when it comes to economy. As manifested in the film, this time, the grasshoppers serves as the capitalists while the ants are the workers. The thought of Marx that is exactly related to the scene is alienation of man to its product, since the ants are just working, gathering and harvesting the crops without actually having benefit from it and they could not have any control from these products that they have produced and they do not get any payment form the hard work they have made. Evident in the

movie, there is no such thing as laws which everyone should conform when it comes to production, consumption and everything that is related to economics. Last manifestation is about the relationship of politics and economy. As presented in the movie, when the ant island was ready to fought and was successful in stopping the grasshoppers from exploiting their resources, that was the time that the ants or as may be considered as workers and labourers, have already enjoyed the benefits of harvesting and gathering the resources that they have. Theyre economy was more stable since the government was already the one who is managing the economy, and they have already improved and developed their economy on their own. Like for example the tool for harvesting that Flick has invented, when the Queen have approved using that instrument, it was easier for the workers or the ants to harvest crops. Personal Reflection When I was a child, I thought this movie is a worth one since I can get a lesson from it, but now, when I saw the film again, it was different for me, it is not just a simple movie for children which every kid would enjoy, the movie does not want the audience just to get a simple lesson, but it was something that is really worth to reflect on. Looking at a bigger picture, the film has manifestations in relation to politics and economics. If I am going to comprehend about this film, I can say that the events that are presented in the movie can be seen in the contemporary era, or even in the period of capitalism. The ants can be considered as the labourers and the grasshoppers as the capitalist. Much of my reflections are evident in the three paragraphs above which explained the manifestation of Political Economy in the film since those ideas are my reflections also.