tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post2172002037499808271..comments2023-12-31T04:10:49.722-08:00Comments on Antinatalism- The Greatest Taboo: Children of Men (warning...couple of spoilers included)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-34302245116493149142008-02-20T21:51:00.000-08:002008-02-20T21:51:00.000-08:00My first thought was that the immigration angle wa...My first thought was that the immigration angle was a politically motivated non-sequitur, too, but the wife called me on it. Throughout the film there are peripheral indications that total war - and total collapse - has left Britain pretty much alone in the world scene. Reflecting on the urgency of the crisis, it seems plausible (probable, really) that a Camp of the Saints scenario would play out much the way it's depicted, with the infertility crisis only fueling the urgency. <BR/><BR/>Declensionist conservative Kevin Michael Grace's reading of Cloverfield as a portent of "The Long Emergency" might apply more generally here as well, especially wrt the pessimistic (and covertly antinatalist?) currents in the cinema of apocalypse that Jim suggests.<BR/><BR/>And Jim, since we're on the subject of movies, you really must see -- and write about -- Michael Haneke's The Seventh Continent.Chiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03411363107558366631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-27198111330930185682008-02-20T07:30:00.000-08:002008-02-20T07:30:00.000-08:00Ah, plot devices! We could argue them all day...he...Ah, plot devices! We could argue them all day...hehehe!<BR/><BR/>Addressing your second argument: I think you have a point; at least, in the beginning. And sometimes human behavior is about as easy to predict as the weather. Still, at some point I think a nation would be forced to deal with this 'leaky boat syndrome' by shifting the emphasis from number of bailers, to sum total of weight, no? By the time of the film, it seems like the infrastructure is pretty much shot to hell. On top of which, of course, all the nasty xenophobic tendencies of mankind are going to rise up under the stress, exacerbating the problems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-28828627923729675152008-02-20T06:29:00.000-08:002008-02-20T06:29:00.000-08:00I thought illegal immigration was a big part of th...I thought illegal immigration was a big part of the plot; most of the conflict wouldn't have existed if not for the fact that the pregnant woman was an immigrant.<BR/><BR/>I understand the infertility => instability => immigration chain of reasoning, I just don't buy it. Wouldn't Britain be glad to plunder all the productive young workers it could in such a situation? Who else is going to pay for the retirees?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-83042785704149788502008-02-19T22:16:00.000-08:002008-02-19T22:16:00.000-08:00Illegal immigration actually seemed fairly ancilla...Illegal immigration actually seemed fairly ancillary to the main thrust of the plot, which was the typical escaped-extinction-by-the-hair-of-our-chins scenario. Still, I thought they pulled it off rather well, and the immigration angle certainly didn't seem unfeasible, what with people fleeing more unstable countries for less unstable countries. Happens quite frequently, seems to me. <BR/><BR/>Of course, after all's said and done, we're talking about a piece of speculative fiction, and I don't resent some leeway in the artistic vision, at least until it gets ridiculous, which this movie didn't strike me...as? hehehe!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-34404841271335742912008-02-19T21:59:00.000-08:002008-02-19T21:59:00.000-08:00So, the main problem of universal infertility is i...So, the main problem of universal infertility is <I>immigration</I>? How ridiculous! The filmmakers were so eager to make a banal political point that they sacrificed the meaning of the story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-39940207558598478452008-02-19T21:21:00.000-08:002008-02-19T21:21:00.000-08:00I think the immigration problem had to do with the...I think the immigration problem had to do with the fact that Britain was, relatively, one of the more stable powers left in the world. Sort of like how Mexico has problems controlling its own southern border at times.<BR/><BR/>I would argue that reality is both pre-apocalyptic/apocalyptic at all times, depending on where you're sitting at any given time. Post-apocalypse is by and large an imaginary field; a time of rebound after a rather artificially bounded 'apocalypse' has occurred. Existence is constantly falling into apocalypse when considered as a whole...we all suffer our 'end times', both as individuals, and as species. It would be different if apocalypse meant actual, total extinction, but...it never does.<BR/><BR/>Glad you're on the mend, by the way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354069516366024003.post-86521458805815741632008-02-19T20:53:00.000-08:002008-02-19T20:53:00.000-08:00I didn't like the movie. I certainly wouldn't put ...I didn't like the movie. I certainly wouldn't put my hopes in the species on the. The "Fishes" were unbelievable terrorists. Why would there be such immigration problems as a result of infertility? I think I started retching when I tried watching the DVD extra feature with Slavoj Zizek.<BR/><BR/>Reality isn't post-apocalyptic. Then it would seem normal. The entire point is to be out of the ordinary. If I wanted to watch normal I'd look out my window.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.com