Children of Men

I recently escaped from reality for 2 hours by watching the current movie "Children of Men." Set in a future England, consumed by chaos following the unexplainable and sudden mass-infertility of the human race it discusses the themes of love, race, xenophobia, imperialism, freedom, and hope.

The film begins with the protagonist uttering, "I can't really remember that last time I had any hope, and really I can't really remember the last time anyone did." What would life be like in a world with no children, no infants, no babies...in which the youngest person would be an adult? What would life be like without the laughter heard in parks, the crying in the middle of the night, the applause of proud spectators at a children's performance... What hope would we have if we knew that the entire human race would become extinct within our generation's lifespan?

Exciting, fun, thrilling, and thought-provoking the film was well worth the escape time...which brought me back around to our post-9/11, post-colonial reality with a different perspective. The film portrays a world in which a tyrant has taken imperial/totalitarian control of a nation in the name of security and justice, placing the blame for most societal problems on the foreigners in their midst. Arrested and emprisoned in abandoned cities these illegals become the place for the re-birth of hope in the world. As the miracle baby is born, despite the best efforts of the ruling tyrant (resembling Herod, Caesar, or any other number of rulers), the radical terrorists working to throw off the rod of the big-brother-ish government-oppressors by violence and mass proletariat uprising, are upstaged in their belief that only war can liberate. For in the middle of a massive street battle, craddled in rags on the floor surrounded by unamed foreigners imprisoned, forgotten, and walking in darkness, the cries of an infant lead the people - even the terrorists and the governement troops - to a new understanding of peace, justice, and HOPE. What would the cries of a new-born baby sound like in a world that hadn't heard such music for 30something years? What sounds like annoyance to some in public places, or the announcement of another sleepless night, might sound quite different in such a place. I found myself reflecting on the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures, the birth narratives in the Christian Gospels, and on our own world today. What is the hope I'm waiting for? What is the hope that our world is longing, aching, and living for?

Go and see the film (despite my spoiler comments)!
Check out the Official Film Website Here

Enlist in the Human Project Here