It all started with Apocalyto, you know that Mel Gibson, Naked Pray type movie that showed the prolonged and brutally, graphically violent last days of the storied Mayan Civilization . All in sub titles with heads rolling, hearts being torn out and baby bashing. Not really too far fetched from today’s headlines.
Then onto Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio as a South African wise guy, out to make a buck off the backs of the misfortunate natives. The movie was washed red with scenes of vicious tribal militias that raided villages and kidnaped children to brainwash into little killing machines. A rather lovely picture of human dignity.
Finally, just this last week I caught Children of Men, where the year is 2027 and globally woman have not been able to have children for 18 yrs. The world had fallen into a kind of a Mad Max Movie #1 societal upheaval. We're left to guess that it might be because the wheels of economic growth had fallen off without any future generations to barter with. Great Britain was the only island left of semi-sanity. However, even they are at the point of executing and encamping the "fugies" as they called them, refugees from other countries that struggled to make it there. Now the British become the perpetrators of their own holocaust.
If movies are a reflection of what people are thinking and feeling today then I believe there is not much long term optimism out there after seeing these. Oh well… there is always that movie about the penguins, what’s it called… Happy Feet; exit stage left!





