Alfonso cuaron's film children of men: the god and bad impact of death

Blinded by Death

Losses of loved ones are always painful and make people feel lost and lonely. For some time, they stray away from everything and everyone they have in their lives. Thoe, the main character from the film Children of Men, is a great example for this because he was stuck in melancholia for the loss of his baby Dylan and did not care for anyone. In the film, Theo ends his melancholia for his son when he takes a job from his ex-wife Julian to escort a pregnant women to safety. Although Theo was suffering through melancholia, the deaths of Julian, Jasper, and Janice caused his political transformation which created his concern for the safety of Kee and the baby and led Theo to protect them. His political transformation changed for the better because the deaths of his loved ones were sacrifices made for the chance of finding hope; therefore, it helped him understand his purpose in this journey.

Theo has lost a total of four people who he really loved and cared for who changed him in a negative or positive way. The loss of his son, Dylan, affected him negatively which created a deep sadness inside of him that made him lose hope in life. In the chapter “ Violence, Mourning, Politics,” author Judith Butler states “ Many people think that grief is privatizing, that it returns us to a solitary situation and is, in that sense, depoliticizing” (22). In other words, people have experienced loss and have gone through solitary existence because they feel as if they should grieve or mourn in private. As a result, it makes them lose themselves or any hope they had left inside of them and disconnect themselves from the outside world. Theo experienced this when he lost his son Dylan and detached himself from the world. He did not care for anyone or anything anymore but when he accepted the job from his ex-wife Julian, things started to change for him in both a bad and good way. When he loses Julian, Theo finds himself in a predicament and he is left with no choice but to help Kee. Julian died protecting Kee and Theo knew he was not going to let Julian die without him finishing the job she wanted him to do. Not long after he loses Julian, he loses Jasper and Janice who sacrificed themselves to protect the baby. The death of Jasper and Janice impacted him in a hard way but it helped him understand that his purpose on this journey was to get Kee and the baby to safety.

Theo is well aware of all the sacrifices that were made for Kee and accepted that they all had hope and faith in Kee’s baby because he was the key to bringing back life into a meaningless world. Even though he lost so many people along this journey, it helped him realize he was the only one who was going to successfully take Kee and Dylan to safety. In the passage “ Beyond Borders: What It Means to Be a Global Citizen,” author Drew Noble Alexander discusses that “…we do have the choice of being contributing global citizens…and seek solutions to the challenges facing our planet or being passive ones who allow others to provide answers for us.” In essence, people have the choice to either find the solutions to the problems in their world or to let others find the solutions for them. Theo can relate to this in many ways. He was not able to find the solution to the problem they had in the film because he was suffering through melancholia. Julian, on the other hand, was searching for the answer and found it. She told Theo about it and he helped because he was offered money. Julian passed down this information and Theo was able to successfully achieve his purpose because of her and all the other sacrifices. Each sacrifice paved his path to protecting Kee and understanding that he served a big purpose in taking them to safety. He knew that Dylan was going to be the key to bringing back life and hope to their world which was filled with chaos, rage, and death. He was able to do this because of the bond Kee and him formed along this journey.

Kee, Dylan, and Theo were successful in their journey because they had built trust and care along the path to seeking safety. Kee and Theo experienced many obstacles through this journey but would not have succeeded if they did not have each other. They both lost people they had grown to care for but Theo and Kee were there for one another. Along this journey, Theo started to care for Kee and started to protect her more and more because they were building that trust between each other. Butler assesses, “…by staying with the thought of corporeal vulnerability itself, a situation in which we can be vanquished or lose others” (29). That is to say, people with the exposure of bodily vulnerability can either conquer or lose those who are close to them. Theo and Kee were able to conquer this corporeal vulnerability they experienced on their journey together because they trusted each other. Unfortunately, they lost people they cared for along their journey but they were all sacrifices made for them to succeed on their journey. If it were not for the care Theo and Kee had between Julian, Jasper, and Janice, sacrifices would not have been made and both Theo and Kee would not have been able to escape from all of the obstacles they encountered. Theo politically transformed for the better and started caring for those who were helping Julian and Kee. He was forced to help Kee after Julian died but soon enough, he was voluntarily protecting her because he was able to end his melancholia for his son and his grief for Julian.

When Theo, Kee, and the baby boarded the rootless boat, Theo knew they had finally gotten to safety which secured the baby’s life who was the key to hope. Theo and Kee were on the boat but Theo was hurt really bad and Kee let him know that she decided to name the baby Dylan. This gave Theo a sense of peace and hope. Butler explains, “ Freud’s early hope that an attachment…given anew implied a certain interchangeability of objects as a sign of hopefulness,…” (21). In other words, a form of attachment to an object or person can help people move on because of the hope it gave them. Theo experience this when Kee had told him that name of the baby. He was given hope like never before and the feeling of peace within him. He was rewarded with a replacement of his lost son and for him it was something so precious and amazing because of the infertility in their world. for protecting Kee and Dylan He succeeded on his journey and was able to die peacefully knowing that all the sacrifices made for the baby Dylan were given meaning and importance.

Theo was suffering through melancholia that made him into a bitter man who was addicted to drinking and smoking but when he lost Julian, Jasper, and Janice, it caused him to politically transform into someone who had a purpose in life which was to protect Kee and her baby from any danger and get them to safety. The death of his baby Dylan had a huge impact on his life that made him miserable and fall into melancholia. However, Julian, Jasper, and Janice had a different effect on him which was the cause of his political transformation. The death of these loved ones helped him open his mind to helping the one person who was holding the key to hope and life which was Kee and her baby. At first, Theo was forced to help Kee but he realized that all of the deaths of his loved ones were sacrifices they made to protect Theo and Kee to keep moving forward with their journey of finding safety. The sacrifices were not the only reason they were able to succeed on their journey but it was also the bond Kee and Theo had created from all of the obstacles they encountered. In numerous scenes, it showed how they protected each other and cared for one another which strengthened their care and love between them. When Kee and Theo succeed on their journey, Theo was injured but was able to die peacefully because Kee announced the name of the baby to be Dylan. Theo died knowing that Kee and Dylan were safe and they were the ones who were going to achieve on bringing back hope to the cruel and ruthless world that lost its way in life.