Rant

Well, I slept a sound sleep for the first time in three days last night, and I woke up after 9 1/2 hours of sleep feeling relieved somewhere deep inside. My mood improved with this rest. But I've continued to think on the movie I Am Legend, trying to figure out why it bothered me so much. I've come up with some theories which might be total crap, but you all get to hear them anyway. :) (spoiler alert, I'm giving away lots of details should you actually want to see the movie)

1. The enemy in the film evokes no pity or sympathy.
A genetically engineered virus that was created to cure cancer goes bad and kills off over 90% of the human race. A small minority are immune. A small minority turn into "dark seekers" which are ULTRA aggressive and then basically eat just about every left surviving human. Will Smith, amazing stud that he is, has managed to outwit these creatures--though as far as he knows he's the only human who is still standing.
The thing is, LOTS of these monstrous former humans are killed, shot, run over, blown up, etc. in the course of the movie, but the movie is designed to make you NOT care. They are like orcs, but without the history that at least gives orcs a shade of depth. One would have much more sympathy for a killed animal than one of these bad creatures. They are pure fear, and fear that we can feel good about obliterating. So the violence seems necessary, righteous even.

2. Will Smith--I can't even remember his character's name--is a flawless hero. It's one of those annoying American movies where even his "weak" moments just make you think, "aaahh, he has a sensitive side." Okay, maybe he's a little compulsive, but it all pays off in the end. And damn is he clever! After all, he managed to be the last human standing on the island of Manhattan.

3. Women and children are used in just the right way to make the men look so very sexy in their protector role. The hero has the obligatory wife and child, and they die in a tragic way, which of course propels him into his work. Until a new woman and child show up. And then he has to give his own life protecting them. And they can look innocent eyed and believe in God, even when the flawless hero has doubts.

And so all together, you get three mythologies which are common in American blockbuster movies, but which annoy me and disturb me deeply:
-absolute good facing off against absolute bad
-men acting tough and manly by killing
-women loving and needing in just the right dose to justify the killing and the tough and manly behavior

I don't like that these are the stories that my society most wants to tell itself.