Being One for Human Life:
Galder Gaztelu Urrutia’s The Platform (2020) and Solidarity
By Selin Kardaşlar, Cansu Kaymak, and Gizem Şeşen

Solidarity is what keeps a society alive; ideas that hold a society together—love, respect, justice and protection—constitute the essence of solidarity. When solidarity is able to eliminate greed, selfishness and egotism, there will be no external force or system to break the bond among people. In The Platform, we see the character Goreng resolute on the idea of sharing on his first day: he tries to convince those downstairs and upstairs not to eat more than their share. The person who spends a month on a lower platform has a miserable time because of hunger, but when he goes on a higher platform, he becomes egotistical with the power of being on top.
Admittedly, there are times when a tremendous greed, egotism and selfishness take over our mind and begin to shape us: we end up desiring more and more because we cannot be satisfied with what we have. When we cannot control our desires, we become more selfish and greedy which makes it harder to achieve any sense of unity or communality with others. Selfishness might polarize us, dividing us into hierarchies where some are above while others are below. The Platform presents a poignant hypothetical scenario where people only think about their own benefit and their selfishness turns into savage greed. Despite its seeming implausibility, it succeeds in presenting the desire for power in a realistic way. Humans may begin to act very selfishly when they are captured by an unfair system or when they are under obligation to serve the whims of a terrible tyranny over which they have no control.
The Platform inspires us to overcome selfishness and greed, and to strive to establish solidarity with others even in extreme conditions. Being at the top of the system should not give anyone any exclusive privileges. As we see in the movie, the worst thing that can happen to a person is still another person, but it is also human beings who will help and lift him up from where he fell. The movie inspires us to put aside our unreasonable ambitions and selfishness, reminding us that there is enough room for all of us in this world. All we need to do is to respect everyone’s life and realize the importance of solidarity. Reminded by The Platform, we come to the realization that we do not want to live in a society where there are those who harm the lives of others for their own benefit. It doesn’t matter if we are at the top or at the bottom, front or rear; the important thing is to be able to continue our lives without humiliating another and violating their rights.