The Island

We just saw a very thought-provoking movie. It was billed as a "Sci-fi, Thriller, Chase" movie. It was all of that. I chose it. It was my turn. Scarlet Johanson was the reason I chose it. Need I say more? If you plan to see it, stop right here. Don't read any further. I might wreck it for you.

It takes place in the "future" of America. Cloning of humans has been achieved. At first you are not allowed to know that. The two "beautifully perfect humans we are permitted to watch Ewen McGregor and Scarlet are part of an "underground city" that has "survived" the outside "contamination" All the citizens are "perfect" physical specimens and have a programed life that is totally monitored. They have individual diets and holographic exercise competitions. They have "alpha - beta - gamma - echo" names with other regular human names. They are all programed to look forward to a "weekly lottery" to get to go to "The Island" where it is not "contaminated" and they are being "groomed" to then live out their lives there. Women who have babies get to go there after they have their babies.

Of Course, Ewen's character "smells a rat" or literally "catches a moth" from "outside" in the contaminated area. He follows it as it flies upward out of a shaft full of massive machinery and exits into a desert area near a great city. From then on it is a non-stop chase to catch him and Scarlet and bring them back before everyone finds out what they really are..."product" Yes, they are being harvested as "insurance policies" for rich, successful big city dwellers who don't want to die and need replacement parts or babies etc. They were told that the organs were being grown in "donors" who are not conscious. That's the big lie. They are and several of the latest "generations" have developed "personalities" and creative, questioning minds. They are "talking back" and thinking for themselves...wondering about their purpose and future etc.

Ewen's guy keeps having dreams/nightmares of being on a "racing boat" and he is able to draw designs of it. Later he has the uncanny ability to drive fast vehicles without prior training. Remember he was cloned from a few cells. Scarlet's character has similar talents of her donor she finds out as they try to find them in the real world.

Our "take" on the imaginative theory behind this movie's premise is that we do indeed have "cell memory". Every part of our "being" "knows" everything about us. Transplanted organs can retain their previous owners "memories" "experiences" good or bad. We've heard of this happening ie. cravings for certain foods that they never had before the transplant. Memories were "planted" in the "product". They had 12 different scenarios with variations that they all got. They were all reading "Dick and Jane" aloud in one scene. Some of our "institutions" today do the same thing ie. "implant stories and "memories" of better times or for moral/religious education. They were all conditioned to "look forward" to "The Island" ie. the "sweet by-and-by" or say...heaven or a "reward" to "keep them in line" and down in the "non-polluted" community underground. "The Island" is non-existant and is, in fact, euthanasia or as it turns out in the end...mass murder of a whole class of clones - the "Echos" who have gone "tragically wrong". Of course the best scene toward the end for me, is when Scarlet finds out what true "Island" is when she makes love to Ewen for the first time...boy can she kiss...those lips. Sorry, I got carried away there for a minute. Bob