Analysis of Film “Children of Men” Free Essay Example

There are numerous stories relating to mankind needing to re-clean itself written within Biblical texts. Whether it is because there has been too much sin in the world that it needs a fresh start, or it just seems that the people have lost their faith in God and are straying far away. Stories that are fairly recognizable would be Jesus coming down from Heaven to be crucified and to unburden humanity of its sins and one quite popular story in biblical children’s books, Noah’s Ark.

Since immorality and evil had basically taken over, and humans were bathing in it, without shame, God decided to purify the earth by flooding it, saving the animals instead of his children because in his eyes, humanity had forsaken him. In “Children of Men” (2006), directed by Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuaron, humankind is in dire need and requires salvation, as society has been taken over by totalitarian regimes and the procreation of people has been halted for eighteen years since women have become infertile.

In this film, “Children of Men” uses religious references to highlight the spiritual endeavor needed to save earth’s mankind from obliteration.

In the film, there are many animals/pets that are seen as important companions, or even as children, due to the fact that the entire world is basically infertile and there are no children anymore. This alone relates to Noah’s Ark and the great flood. Since Noah was told by God to only save himself, his family and every male and female animal, it shed light on how creatures were then seen as equals to humans or even superior to them, since they were saved from the cleansing flood.

According to one of the Old Testaments, it states that “the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same: as one dies, so dies the other, for all is vanity”. Since humans and animals share the same earth, they all coincide with each other and if humans were to face annihilation it would affect animals as well and they would follow shortly after if not before. This perspective and relativity demonstrate that there isn’t much of a distinction between man and beast.

Somewhere written in the Old Testament, humankind is renowned as “sons of men”. With this film’s title being “Children of Men” and its correlation of men to their humanity and its future creations, giving clue that men and their rulings hold responsibility for the desolate wasteland that is Earth 2027. As Ecclesiastes 9:3 states, “the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” What this means is that, since humans can’t reproduce anymore and their offspring’s have been cut off for eighteen years now, when each person dies in Children of Men, they are one step closer to extinction. Since this, the outcome in society has become very unstable and chaotic, with no direction for prosperity and then arises a religious cult, called the Renouncers. They believe that the curse of infertility has come from God’s wrath, which resembles the kind of fury he bestowed before in the Old Testaments.

In Children of Men, the main character, who we follow through to the end, was a previous civic advocate named Theo. His reputation in the beginning was sort of a depressed slum who just followed a set routine in life with no care about the world around him. Even though his name stems from the Greek translation, “relating to God or deities”, he wasn’t a courageous man with domination worthy characteristics, but instead was timid and pathetic, just cowering away from brutality. However, throughout the film, little by little, we see Theo being forced to evolve into a fearless, strong man with a sense of duty for the preservation of humanity since he was thrown into a task to guide a young, pregnant woman named Kee to safety. Metaphorically, her name refers to the reality that she could be the key to humankind’s existence. This scenario created by Curaon, which refers to Jesus’s earthly father figure, portrays Theo protecting Kee, like Joseph and Mary. With the unborn child reminiscent of Jesus and being cast the redeemer of the human race.

Through out there journey together, Theo begins to see Kee’s condition as a phenomenon and an emblem for faith in civilizations future. After seeing through that Kee has safely reached her destination ship, Theo reaches a zenith of Christ-like theology when he sacrifices himself to ensure that Kee and her child arrive safely on the boat. Since the film has embellished itself with copious religious allusions, Theo ends up converting to be the son of man, ensuring that the world will go on to prosper every generation and so forth.

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