On the Film called The Island
You may have seen previews for the new movie, The Island, starring Ewan McGregor. I was fortunate to be able to see it last night. Rach and I met up with Josh and Beth Bozeman in Elizabethtown (yes, the same Elizabethtown in the new movie with the same name). They graciousless treated us to this interesting film.
Setting and Plot
The previews already inform us that this movie is set in the near future. A medical company, called Merick, has discovered a way to provide an astonishingly effective organ transplant system. Consumers are told that they can buy a policy guaranteeing them a perfect organ match and speedy delivery. The explanation is that the organs are actually clones from the customers' own organic system. What they are not told, however, is that these clones are not just vegetating organs, but live human beings.
On the flip side, these clones, who live in an isolated underground community, are made to believe they are the last surviving remnant of the human race. The only way out of their preserved community is through a lottery. The lucky winner gets to go to the earth's last remaining paradise, The Island. Of course, the winner actually becomes the next organ donor to his or her death.
Lincoln 6 Echo (Ewan McGregor) unravels the truth behind the Island and the fate his fellow clones. The plot unfolds as he and Jordan 2 Delta try to find a way to foil Merick's evil enterprise.
Themes
Several issues are raised by this film. Although is a mostly action-based movie, such issues as cloning, the sanctity of human life, and Darwinism are brought up. In a very moving way, several scenes point to the preciousness of life. The audience is persuaded to sympathize with the trusting clones, who think they will be sent to a wonderful island, but actually meet a cruel end. I appreciated the emphasis given to this point, because it hits close to home for a generation in which the sanctity of human life is a very real issue. We should be opposed to any medical "advancement" that would cause harm rather than healing. Doctors who swear to the hippocratic oath pledge to always preserve life and never take it. Medical advancement does not truly advance humans if it falls to euthanasia, abortion, or human cloning. I'm glad that the movie gets us thinking along these lines.
The Island does a great job touching our sense of compassion and empathy for fellow human beings. It makes plain the fact that all humans have souls and are more than just organic machines. Humans have emotions and spiritual consciousness. The hero played by McGregor musters up amazing courage and selflessness in order to save those he loves. Courage, self-sacrifice, and love are not the "product" of bio-engineering, but the echoes of God's image in man (Genesis 1:27; 9:6).
In stark irony, another theme pervading this film is Darwinism, specifically the idea that "might makes right" or "survival of the fittest." Lincoln (McGregor) is told by a friend that he shouldn't trust anybody, because "people will do anything to survive." Certainly, Lincoln finds this to be partly true, when those he hopes will help turn against him. And yet, in the midst of doing all he can to live, Lincoln continually puts himself in harms way in order to save those weaker than him. This makes no sense if he and all humans are the product of evolution. Me thinks the filmmakers were trying to satisfy two presuppositions they think the audience holds: 1)evolution and survival of the fittest are scientific facts, and yet 2) there must be a soul in which emotion and compassion come alive in the human being. Two worlds collide in this film and make me wonder how we can accept two totally opposed views of human existence. A lot of people, I'm afraid, are more than willing. So, I guess the flimmakers were right on the money.
Immorality
There is the token illicit sex scene, common to most action flicks, that just makes me want to scream, "Yes, sex is a beautiful thing! Just keep it between husband and wife!" The difference in this film is that it does a little better job than most. The scene is actually a good look into the humanity of the two clones, showing again how precious and wonderful human life is. Yet we cannot clearly see the beauty of sex in this immoral act.
There is a lot of violence and some pretty bloody scenes.
I found one thing very oddly inappropriate. I'm not sure if the filmmakers had a particular person in mind, but the office of the presidency is dishonored with such flippancy that you know they were counting on the popular disrepute that office now holds. This is the sort of thing that shouldn't surprise us since its from the very Leftist idealogy of Hollywood.
References to God in the film weren't absent. But in each case, his name was not given any respect. For example, most of the theater audience I was among laughed curtly at a comment making God out to be the guy who never gives us what we want.
Conclusion
This film is mostly action and not enough drama. It leaves more to be desired in going deeper with the questions it raises. Watch the ending, especially, and see what you think of its closure on the film's messages.
I liked the movie a lot. It shows us what kind of ideas are floating out there in our culture about some huge truths like human life and evolution and more. I'd say watch it, but watch it thoughtfully. Get more out of it than just your typical dose of action and explosions. Remember that the issues in this movie are not far removed from reality, and the way we see them affects the very way we bring light and life to this world in the name of Christ.
You may have seen previews for the new movie, The Island, starring Ewan McGregor. I was fortunate to be able to see it last night. Rach and I met up with Josh and Beth Bozeman in Elizabethtown (yes, the same Elizabethtown in the new movie with the same name). They graciousless treated us to this interesting film.
Setting and Plot
The previews already inform us that this movie is set in the near future. A medical company, called Merick, has discovered a way to provide an astonishingly effective organ transplant system. Consumers are told that they can buy a policy guaranteeing them a perfect organ match and speedy delivery. The explanation is that the organs are actually clones from the customers' own organic system. What they are not told, however, is that these clones are not just vegetating organs, but live human beings.
On the flip side, these clones, who live in an isolated underground community, are made to believe they are the last surviving remnant of the human race. The only way out of their preserved community is through a lottery. The lucky winner gets to go to the earth's last remaining paradise, The Island. Of course, the winner actually becomes the next organ donor to his or her death.
Lincoln 6 Echo (Ewan McGregor) unravels the truth behind the Island and the fate his fellow clones. The plot unfolds as he and Jordan 2 Delta try to find a way to foil Merick's evil enterprise.
Themes
Several issues are raised by this film. Although is a mostly action-based movie, such issues as cloning, the sanctity of human life, and Darwinism are brought up. In a very moving way, several scenes point to the preciousness of life. The audience is persuaded to sympathize with the trusting clones, who think they will be sent to a wonderful island, but actually meet a cruel end. I appreciated the emphasis given to this point, because it hits close to home for a generation in which the sanctity of human life is a very real issue. We should be opposed to any medical "advancement" that would cause harm rather than healing. Doctors who swear to the hippocratic oath pledge to always preserve life and never take it. Medical advancement does not truly advance humans if it falls to euthanasia, abortion, or human cloning. I'm glad that the movie gets us thinking along these lines.
The Island does a great job touching our sense of compassion and empathy for fellow human beings. It makes plain the fact that all humans have souls and are more than just organic machines. Humans have emotions and spiritual consciousness. The hero played by McGregor musters up amazing courage and selflessness in order to save those he loves. Courage, self-sacrifice, and love are not the "product" of bio-engineering, but the echoes of God's image in man (Genesis 1:27; 9:6).
In stark irony, another theme pervading this film is Darwinism, specifically the idea that "might makes right" or "survival of the fittest." Lincoln (McGregor) is told by a friend that he shouldn't trust anybody, because "people will do anything to survive." Certainly, Lincoln finds this to be partly true, when those he hopes will help turn against him. And yet, in the midst of doing all he can to live, Lincoln continually puts himself in harms way in order to save those weaker than him. This makes no sense if he and all humans are the product of evolution. Me thinks the filmmakers were trying to satisfy two presuppositions they think the audience holds: 1)evolution and survival of the fittest are scientific facts, and yet 2) there must be a soul in which emotion and compassion come alive in the human being. Two worlds collide in this film and make me wonder how we can accept two totally opposed views of human existence. A lot of people, I'm afraid, are more than willing. So, I guess the flimmakers were right on the money.
Immorality
There is the token illicit sex scene, common to most action flicks, that just makes me want to scream, "Yes, sex is a beautiful thing! Just keep it between husband and wife!" The difference in this film is that it does a little better job than most. The scene is actually a good look into the humanity of the two clones, showing again how precious and wonderful human life is. Yet we cannot clearly see the beauty of sex in this immoral act.
There is a lot of violence and some pretty bloody scenes.
I found one thing very oddly inappropriate. I'm not sure if the filmmakers had a particular person in mind, but the office of the presidency is dishonored with such flippancy that you know they were counting on the popular disrepute that office now holds. This is the sort of thing that shouldn't surprise us since its from the very Leftist idealogy of Hollywood.
References to God in the film weren't absent. But in each case, his name was not given any respect. For example, most of the theater audience I was among laughed curtly at a comment making God out to be the guy who never gives us what we want.
Conclusion
This film is mostly action and not enough drama. It leaves more to be desired in going deeper with the questions it raises. Watch the ending, especially, and see what you think of its closure on the film's messages.
I liked the movie a lot. It shows us what kind of ideas are floating out there in our culture about some huge truths like human life and evolution and more. I'd say watch it, but watch it thoughtfully. Get more out of it than just your typical dose of action and explosions. Remember that the issues in this movie are not far removed from reality, and the way we see them affects the very way we bring light and life to this world in the name of Christ.
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