My input on Children of Men

In the movie Children of Men, the background to me seemed like the main most consistent element to the film. In the movie, the world is made infertile and with a less than a hundred years to survive it reverts back to a savage uncultured world. However, the only country to survive and still have some since of government is England.. I agree with Zizek`s idea of why England is the only country to remain standing. All other major countries at this time depend on their constitutions to keep them in order, and they must refer to them in almost all decisions that affect the country. Yet, England a country so deep seeded in traditions that it doesn`t require a constitution or any other documents to hold it together. I liked the movie in how it uses the gray and decaying cities to not only symbolize the dying of civilization but mankind as well. Throughout the entire movie, every scene takes place during a battle of some sort, which I thought was the main focus of the film. I also agreed with Zizek very much on the scene with the politician. The man who is supposed be running this country is obviously dwelling in the past and would rather not even think about the present much less the future. This is where I can relate to Zizek in that I believe this character is very symbolic of today`s western cultures.

It seems that countries such as America because we don`t have these deep seeded traditions it seems that America tries to appease everybody and eventually stands for nothing in which the result is its collapse as the citizens realize they have nothing to look forward to in the future. The government has become so involved in the individual lives of the people and is spreading itself so thin that one day it will collapse as the movie Children of Men predicts. All people think about is there own personal comfort and do not mind how the achievement of their comfort affects the other people around them. It seems that these people stand for nothing. The example Zizek gives is the Muslims over in the middle east are willing to sacrifice everything for a unified belief, but all western cultures are interested in is satisfying their own personal comforts and willing to take these insignificant issues before the government when obviously there are more important issues to be taken care of.