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Buy term paper Faith and Hope in Alfonso Cuaron’s Movie Children of Men

The movie shows how easily human life can be turned into senseless existence full of pain and destruction. Despite pain and destruction make the main background of the movie, it also gives people small glimpses of hope. From the first sight it is hard to see this hope in pain, chaos and destruction, which are the main characteristics of life described in the movie. Only those who watch the movie attentively can see that despite all negative things, which surround people of the future, there still is a hope even for them. The last child becomes a symbol of this hope. Through the entire movie Kee and her child serve people as a remainder about the hope which still exists for the mankind.
One of the main goals of the authors of the movie was to attract public attention to the heritage which people brought with them to a new millennium. Unfortunately, years of progress and technological advances did not approach people to the very essence of human beings – humanity. The movie becomes a very bright illustration of this fact. Important social issues and ethical degradation depicted in the movie demonstrate the audience the fallacy of the contemporary value system. The movie also gives a sharp criticism of social order (Smith, 2007). The question about the social order is closely connected with the question of faith. The authors try to give an exact distinction between necessity to obey social order and blind faith, which makes people passive and deprives them of control for their own lives. In the movie political figures replace the religious authorities. People believe in government instead of believing in God. Such a change is very dangerous and the authors of the movie underline this dangerous replacement. In order to remind people one more time about the threat of tyranny, the director recreates this situation in his movie. Cuaron believes that such a picture will serve as a perfect reminder that indifferent society will finally become as victim of tyranny. The shift from politics to religion is very symbolic as it perfectly reflects the spirit of our time (Voynar, 2006). There is no division between faith and politics and all this becomes a perfect tool to manipulate the consciousness of people. buy term paper
Political criticism is an important component of the movie, but it gives only narrowed explanations of the roots of the problems. Neglecting human value becomes the biggest problem of the society described in the movie. Human race loses features which distinguish men from all other creatures of the planet. The loss of these features becomes that reason which results in the decline of all human race. Scientists and researchers who try to resolve this problem look for the roots of the problem in the medical factors and try to investigate the problem from the medial point of view. Their attempts become fruitless because they do not catch the very essence of the problem. They study health and ecology but fail to look for deeper reasons. Society without children becomes society without hope and people are ready to recognize guilty everybody but themselves. They look for the roots of the problems everywhere but forget about their ethical and moral norms and standards.
Despite the fact that general mood of the movie is dark and gloomy, the authors give different hints, which help the audience to feel little glimpses of hope. The culmination of the movie is expressed in the moment when people hear crying of the baby and stop fighting. During several seconds they forget about their terrible reality and remember about the times when life was not so empty and vain. At the same time they can imagine the future, which will bring them happiness and hope. This pause lasts for several moments and then people continue fighting again. Despite the fact that this silence lasts only for short period of time, it shows how hope, represented by newborn baby, can give people sense of life and meaning.
The movie can be regarded as a kind of message which our descendants send us from the future. The movie very vividly illustrates what it is like to live in the world in which there is no hope and faith. Cuaron chooses the nearest future in order to underline that we have little time to think over and correct the situation. Female infidelity illustrates the loss of hope and one pregnant woman gives the audience a hint that the hope is not lost yet. However, the authors of the movie do not finish the movie with typical happy end. They leave a possibility for a child to survive but this possibility is very weak. This open ending gives people an opportunity to think over different variants of ending. Each variant will provoke thinking and will expand our vision of the problem. It is evident that different people will think about different ending of the movie. In this way each person will have his or her personal idea about the end of the movie and his or her ability to hope will determine this end.
The movie gives much food for thought. It reminds people about important issues and it also reminds that one perfect morning there will be no time to resolve these problems any more. Despite general atmosphere of degradation and despair distinguishes this movie, the authors still give the audience a hope. Good things in the movie are not evident. Same like good things in life, glimpses of hope in the movie are hidden behind the problems, but they still exist. Only those who can look in the future with hope will be able to see small pieces hope in the movie.
Children of Men eliminates many important issues. The movies reveals many problems of the contemporary society. The authors of the movie not only describe the vices of the modern society, but also show possible consequences of human actions. Dark and threatening pictures of the future helps the audience to understand the seriousness of the threat. The themes of hope and faith become central in this movie. The audience may see how society, where faith is replaced with obedience and hope is almost lost, will look.