I’ve been thinking about being taken over by an alien lately. It would take some of the responsibility of life off my shoulders, you know? The “horror” film The Invasion, starring Kidman and Craig, is more horrific for its plotting and acting than for anything depicted onscreen. However, there is one incredible thing about this film, making it worth the 99 minutes you’ll wish you had back. The “invaders” in this umpteenth remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), overtake their human hosts and turn them into…wait for it…good people.
Now, don’t misunderstand…Kidman will never be as good as Dr. Claire Lewicki, who nursed Cole Trickle back to health in Days of Thunder. But human nature in its truest sense is on display in The Invasion. The body-snatched are respectful, calm, and incredulous as to why the rest of the populace isn’t embracing this revolution. They say things like, “This is what you always said you wanted.” But we, the uninfected, know something is not right with everyone acting so nicely all the time.
An hour and a half of unintentionally hilarious dialogue later, we learn that humanity is winning the war against the invasion because people are starting to loot, rob, and steal again. The final line, delivered by a slumming Jeffrey Wright, is “For better or worse, we’re human again.” Amen, Jeffrey. Now use your acting talent for good, instead of evil.
We’re quick to say, “Hey, I’m only human” (Human League) when we make mistakes. No one says, “Well, I am human” when congratulated. The Invasion, of all things, correctly diagnoses the human condition, and suggests, correctly, that an invasion from an outside force is required to make us good. Luckily for us, the change comes by way of Jesus Christ, and not by some cosmic (and from the looks of it) terrible kiss.
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10 responses to “We’re Only Human…or ARE We?”
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Great post! I would love for you to grace (subject?) us to more of your movie/theological knowledge.
I agree with Browder! Nick, your movie knowledge is nearly unparalleled:)
I completely hear you about the responsibility of life thing. I am desperate to be reminded all the time that it is not up to me. If it were all that would happen is the looting and robbing and stealing, never any of the things that I want to happen (Romans 7).
Why don’t we say it more often that life is not up to us? I can’t handle the responsibility, can you, can anyone? I am desperate to be taken over. It is truly horrific though that most of the time I fight against the alien invasion. Like a dog I return to my vomity ways (I made up a new word:)).
Nick –
Awesome to have you on the blog.
Also reminds me of the Joss Whedon (Buffy guy) film “Serenity”, where the objective of the ruling class is to create a world “without sin” (the movie actually uses those words!) with disastrous consequences. The hero of “Serenity” is someone who doesn’t believe people can be made better…
Nick- fantastic post! i love it.
i can’t help but think of that new Killers song, where the all-important question is posed, “Are we human or are we dancer?” Maybe you can tackle it in your next installment.
Nick, I love you, man.
Seriously, I can hear you reading this and it’s even better.
Nick this is great, I watched this movie just before becoming a contributor to this blog and actually emailed PZ about it because I really liked how they handled it.
And RJ, you are right on about Serenity, I am actually going to write a post about that now.
Serenity is a classic! So much material in there… As there is in pretty much everything Joss Whedon does. Just finished watching the whole Firefly series and it really holds up, especially the later episodes (they’re all free on hulu.com).
I’ve never been able to accomplish the Zahlian feat of enjoying content obscured by bad acting/writing. I know it’s heresy to call Joss Whedon’s writing bad, but I don’t like David Mamet either (except, of course, for the seminal Glengarry Glen Ross).
there’s always hope, Nick–just watch “Joe Somebody” again and try not to cry:)
“My ex wife left a hole in my heart, and when the wind blows I can still feel the pain”. . . from “Joe Somebody”—AKA Tim Allen