Just saw "The Road"



... and I have to say it was kind of a downer. Beautifully shot and solid performances- but it suffers from a Hobbesian idea that most humans are generally evil in nature. At least that's what I took from it- and honestly, it kind of bummed me the hell out.

I hope the premise is wrong- and that if there was an epic, species threatening global catastrophe- people would band together to help each other instead of turning cannibal.

Dawkins says that altruism is genetically evolved behavior to protect our family, tribe, town- expand that outwards and you'd think it would apply to the entire human race if it was threatened.
campionidelmondo says...

I'm looking forward to this movie, looks very promising.

About people banding together in times of crisis: I don't think that would happen. Don't confuse negativism with realism. If you look at what happens in crisis areas you'll see that extreme conditions and desperation brings out the best in some people and the worst in most people.

dag says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I would reverse that- and say that it brings out the best in most people and the worst in a small minority. Don't confuse realism with unfounded negativism. >> ^campionidelmondo:
I'm looking forward to this movie, looks very promising.
About people banding together in times of crisis: I don't think that would happen. Don't confuse negativism with realism. If you look at what happens in crisis areas you'll see that extreme conditions and desperation brings out the best in some people and the worst in most people.

schmawy says...

Consider that it's viewed through the eyes of Cormac McCarthy, possibly one of the darkest writers I know. One memorable passage in his writing is that of a man throwing puppies in a river and using them as target practice as they bobbed through the rapids. Or Chigurth. Right?

dag says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I got about a quarter of the way through the book and gave up. I had the same philosophical problem with it that I have with the movie. So I guess that means it's a faithful reproduction.>> ^Ornthoron:
I recommend reading the book before watching the movie. It's a short read, but mesmerizing in it's beauty and darkness.

RedSky says...

Movie was great, I need to check out the book. It's a crime that it took 2 months more to come out in Australia than it did in the US, I caved and ended up grabbing a copy of the screener.

Probably the best dystopia film since Children of Men. Not quite as good as that though because it was much more limited in scope, but still very involving and bleakly evocative and great for what it tries to be.

Oh and also the soundtrack is excellent, it's memorable enough than you can pretty much pinpoint every song to the scene.

I tend to subscribe more to the Hobbesian mindset. I mean it goes without saying that countries with a functioning government, civil institutions and municipalities are far more peaceful and stable that those that are lacking. If a disaster were to come along that wiped out all plant life, and presumably a good chunk of the population, then that would throw this a spanner in the works and all into disarray. Without a unifying element, with crippled communications, we would likely divulge back into small tribes for survival.

Without plant life, the majority of livestock would only last so long, especially in suburbia. I think it's only inevitable that some would turn to cannibalism and would begin to dominate others. After all, social norms have changed drastically over human civilization. I think it's only inevitable that if people were to become desperate enough for food their carnal desires would regress their norms and human nature.

enoch says...

i thought the movie rather poignant.
yes it was dark and brooding but the dynamic of the father and son was what i focused on,maybe because that was the core of the story.
we watch as the father goes from a man of hope and faith in humanities basic goodness to one of pure cynicism and mistrust and it is his son who takes up the banner of hopefulness and ends up being the sole proponent who attempts over and over to remind his father of what is "good" and "righteous"in his own childlike fashion..
it was these shiny moments that really came through in an otherwise very bleak look at a planetwide cataclysm.

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