Tuesday, January 12, 2010

What can The Book of Eli teach us about the future?


I don't know about you, but sometimes post-apocalyptic movies scare me. I know that we will probably never end up like Sarah Connor in Terminator or Robert Neville in I am Legend...but they are always cautionary tales about what "could" happen if the world continues to tilt in the direction of a certain course we are erroneously taking. What is the worst that could happen? What will the last war be fought over - water and resources, or religion? These movies give creative license to one director's vision of the future, and The Book of Eli is no exception.

Since I believe that the world (and I admit, the US in particular) is all too consumptive and dismissive of the treasures we have from the earth - coal, water, minerals, even our air quality - we are headed down the path of no-return. Here is a clip where Denzel talks about us throwing away precious resources that people in this world would kill for. He attracts one follower in Mila Kunis (she has grown into a fine actress from the previews here) and when she sees he knows what happened in the past, and how it can change her future, she simply says, "Teach me". See the clip here -

 http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2010/01/denzel-washington

I haven't seen the movie yet, but like many others out there, I can't wait to see WHY this book is so important, and how it can save what is left of humanity. Denzel plays an unflinchingly strong purveyor of the truth and will not give it away to any hustler or kingpin, and will fight to the death to protect it. And he often does, over and over again.

How far would you go to defend your beliefs? I am grateful that in the US, unlike some other countries, particularly in the Middle East, I am free to believe what I believe, and my faith is not forced upon me, nor taken away from me at gunpoint. I know that Denzel is determined to protect his faith, and fulfill his destiny of being the one shining light on the hill that will not sway to any evil power that wants to take it over.

I also believe that some will misuse "religion" to their own ends or will not portray it in its best light, and wars are fought in the name of religion, as probably here in this movie. It seems the anti-hero has some baggage of his own because of his "religious" yet unloving parents.

So what can we learn from this movie? I have to reserve my final judgment until I see the film on Jan 15, but I think it is safe to say that it will be a fascinating look into the minds of some very creative geniuses, and will give us time to pause and reflect on how we want our future to look. Avatar was fascinating because it gave you both sides of the war, and showed the motivation to attack for gain on one side, and to defend what was sacred to them on the other side. Will we sit back, do nothing and let the world crumble, or will we take an active role in protecting the planet for the sake of our children and future generations?

1 comment:

  1. you can put your mind at ease by seeing that
    the govt is looking into global warming "fraud" and that the earth is actually cooling. The warmest temp was in the 1930's!!
    see: epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm
    research global warming scam and see Canada and UK sires as well. some US media (many mainstream media have invested (their parent co) in "green tech" and would lose much if people don't believe as well as scientists losing funding. http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=8F16552A-802A-23AD-465F-8858BEB85AC2


    you can also search Imhof minority report global warming debunked 3/16/2009 there is an offical pdf see see if you can find it. READ IT! Green power energy sources have much to gain by scaring you! SEARCH IT!! RESEARCH don't just believe what someone tells you or what's in the movies. The earth is always changing-it has been here millions of years and will be!

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