Children of Men, Part 1

You need to see this movie. Note that I am using the word "need." I'm not gonna go, "Oh my God, it was so much fun, I wuv it so much, you MUST see this movie." Because it's not true. "Children of Men" is difficult and painful to watch, and I would be very surprised to see an audience come out of this movie dry-faced. No, you need to see this movie. Hell, everyone in the entire United States should be tied to a chair and forced to watch this movie. Maybe we'd stop fucking things up in the world.

You're wondering, what is this movie about? It's a dystopian movie set in the future, where everyone is infertile. The movie opens with the announcement that the youngest man in the world had just died at age 18. There are no children. The world is a wreck. Britain, where the movie is set, has banned all immigration, is locking illegal immigrants up into camps, and is turning into something of a police state.

Theo, the main character, is this normal guy suddenly pulled off the streets by a militia/terrorist group headed by his ex. They want his help in acquiring papers to help this young woman, Kee, across the country. Why it's so important, well, I'll let you find out for yourself...

But don't get me wrong--this is no "Matrix," with cool rebels sticking it to The Powers That Be. It is so much more than that. I'm not sure how to explain without giving the movie away. But to try to sum it up, I think this movie is not about the future, but about the present.

Listen: When I came out of the movie theater, I was in tears, gasping for breath. The movie climaxed in a refugee camp torn apart and fought over by radical militia groups and the army, neither of which gave a damn about the innnocents around them. Watching Theo and Kee struggle through the camp was very painful to watch. The movie spared no punches. The violence is brutal and frank, not like the torture porn you see in movies like "Saw" or whatever--it seemed very real. At points the camera lens is literally spattered with blood. It was what I imagine a war zone to look like.

So I come out of the movie theater in shock. I'm kinda trembling, kinda weeping, kinda gasping. It happens when you come out of a painful movie. But then I really broke down on the way down the escalator. Literally, I was bent over, sobbing my heart out. Not over the movie. Not that I was afraid that the future would be this. No, I was weeping over Iraq, and this is why I think the movie is about the present, not the future.

Like I said, the parts in the refugee camp looked like what I imagine a war zone to be like. So I was turning this over in my mind, when it occurred to me, there are present-day war zones that must look just like this. For you see, "Children of Men" is no futuristic "Blade Runner"--to a large extent it looks like a modern-day world, so concievably it could be a picture of the present. So I'm think, wow, this shows what war looks like...and of course my mind turns to the most obvious war zone.

So this is why I broke down on the escalator: we brought this hell to Iraq. Sure, it's easy to say that, sure, it's easy to think that, but WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR IRAQ. Watching that movie was like looking in hell, and WE CONDEMNED PEOPLE TO LIVE LIKE THIS?! We so stupidly galloped in there and let everything fall to pieces! Iraq is completely fucked up now, and WE'RE THE CAUSE OF IT!!

(to be continued next post)