Children of Men

[kid cue]

yeah, but this is true for most sci-fi films isn't it? they all have a basis in the world today, that's the point. if anything, i thought the immigration and terrorism themes in the film were almost TOO timely to be taken seriously.

[GreenPea]

Originally Posted by dubman

i thought they correctly identified the kind of racism that the government wouldnt make policy but would enact through its agents. the two cops that disproportionately freak out at the mere sight of luke, the belief that they wouldnt believe that a new child could come from a "fugee" aka predominantly minority sector, and i'd believe that with the policy of "immigrants banned" that the government instructed to carry that out would add people that LOOK foreign into that pile and carry out their own bigotry under the guise of the law.

Yeah but I did not see that in the movie there plenty of people in the movie and in today's UK that "look" foreign. But they seem to have no problem at all in the film. In the film it is depicted as if racial minorities do no have a problem at all as long as they are "citizens".

[Aaron Contreras]

Originally Posted by kid cue

yeah, but this is true for most sci-fi films isn't it? they all have a basis in the world today, that's the point. if anything, i thought the immigration and terrorism themes in the film were almost TOO timely to be taken seriously.

Most sci-fi films tend to have the 'what if...' in bold and the 'meaning' be implied. The Matrix is a good example of this - it's about a world where machines have taken over and humans fight back by jacking into virtual reality world where hackers have super powers. It has layers of meaning about man's relationship with technology, conforming vs. rebelling against authority, faith vs. reason, humanity as virus and so on and so on. The movie is *about* Neo jumping between buildings and doing cool kung fu shit - the 'meaning' just makes the punches and kicks more interesting.

Children of Men, on the other hand is all about the 'meaning' and doesn't even completely resolve the 'what if'. The core story of a sterile world confronted with the first pregnancy in 18 years is kind've irrelevant compared to everything else going on. This movie uses the 'what if' to slip past our preconceptions of fact and fiction - it wants to unsettle you with the realization that everything bad happening in this movie is happening right now in the world - some of it doubtless outside your window.

I mean, shit, look at it as pure sci-fi if you want...but I think it is pretty clear the creators had more going on than the surface story.

[GreenPea]

Originally Posted by Aaron Contreras

Huh? John is right:

And at what point in time have those injustices not being happening? The themes vary slightly through the times. I feel like kid cue, it was too timely, more than prophetic it feels exploitative.

[GreenPea]

Originally Posted by Aaron Contreras

Children of Men, on the other hand is all about the 'meaning' and doesn't even completely resolve the 'what if'. The core store of a sterile world confronted with the first pregnancy in 18 years is kind've irrelevant compared to everything else going on. This movie uses the 'what if' to slip past our preconceptions of fact and fiction - it wants to unsettle you with the realization that everything bad happening in this movie is happening right now in the world - some of it doubtless outside your window.

Sure, I guess I did not need a movie to tell me what is happening in the news. The movie just try to take a snapshot of today's world and exaggerated it to its extreme. But the thing is it felt too 'current', I feel in a few years when the issues have changed then the movie is going to lose a lot of relevance.

[kid cue]

Originally Posted by Aaron Contreras

Children of Men, on the other hand is all about the 'meaning' and doesn't even completely resolve the 'what if'. The core store of a sterile world confronted with the first pregnancy in 18 years is kind've irrelevant compared to everything else going on. This movie uses the 'what if' to slip past our preconceptions of fact and fiction - it wants to unsettle you with the realization that everything bad happening in this movie is happening right now in the world - some of it doubtless outside your window

i mean, i agree that it isn't just sci-fi, but i guess i don't buy into the duality between fiction/speculation/narrative vs. truth/issues/NOW. i'd be more into the concept of Children Of Men as an unsettling movie about the times posing as a sci-fi film if it weren't 95% about "THE TIMES" (with bonus futuristic premise) and didn't come across as being--slightly--heavy-handed as a result. i'd have hoped for it to be a little cleverer, for a truly subversive and unsettling story.

[mkb]

Originally Posted by GreenPea

WTF There is nothing racist about it. In fact i though the movie erred in being a bit too pollitically correct. Basically the fascist government depicted seems to not have race issues wathsoever but just discriminate along the lines of nationality. I thought that was more than a bit unrealistic as racism is a very real issue and it is hard for me to believe that a goverment that is so discriminatory against immigrants from eastern europe would have no issues wathsoever with black people or indian people as long as they have a british citizenship. That was silly.

Well, specifically I guess the problem was that the fact the lone bearer of children left in the world was black, and that fact was colonialist and racist. I just got into a big argument about it because I'm white and therefore cannot have an opinion on whether this film or Jar Jar Binks is a racist stereotype.

[GreenPea]

Originally Posted by mkb

Well, specifically I guess the problem was that the fact the lone bearer of children left in the world was black, and that fact was colonialist and racist. I just got into a big argument about it because I'm white and therefore cannot have an opinion on whether this film or Jar Jar Binks is a racist stereotype.

How is this racist? If anything it was another heavy handed political statement.

[mkb]

Originally Posted by GreenPea

How is this racist? If anything it was another heavy handed political statement.

Well, I'm white, so apparently I can't have an opinion

(sorry, it got nasty. nasty enough that I expect those involved to try and find this thread)

[kid cue]

it might've been racist if the only fertile woman on the planet had been white. the subtext was Christian. in the film they treated Kee's pregnancy as if it were a miracle, not a stereotype.