‘Silo’ Showcases The Power Of History
by Frank Martin
Memory forms the basis of identity. People are able to know who they are because they remember their past. This is the core theme behind films like Momento. But memory can go deeper than the individual. It can also apply to society as a whole — essentially, it’s history. A society can shape its future because it understands how it got to the present. Changing or even erasing history is a powerful form of control. It’s hard to utilize this theme in a story because the notion of history is so ingrained into the fabric of a civilization. But the sci-fi series Silo presents a contrived premise that allows it to explore that very concept.
Starring Rebecca Ferguson, the program is about a community that lives in an underground bunker because they believe the surface world is unlivable. Because of an uprising in the past, all records and historical documents have been lost, or so the public is told. Even items from that time period are considered relics and illegal to possess. This means that the society within the bunker is completely unaware of their origins, who they are, who built the silo, and what implications it has for the outside world.
Some people are curious and want to learn more. But for the most part, there is a layer of fear keeping the general populace in check. The driving force behind the show is the mystery all of these questions present. There is a nefarious force overlooking and watching it all, attempting to control the dissemination of information, thus creating the societal identity that exists in the silo. It is very difficult for a story to have a society whose history is so unknown. But the nature of the silo and how it contains all of the characters and plot within a manipulated area allows for a level of control that otherwise wouldn’t exist. It just goes to show that science fiction is such a versatile genre that allows storytellers to explore themes that would be difficult in other settings.
Silo is now streaming on Apple+.
