HispanicVista Columnists
Movie with Purpose: I Am Legend
By Manuel Hernandez-Carmona
January 25, 2008
There is no other way to describe I Am
Legend but to depict it as a movie with purpose. The superman, batman
and spiderman save the world syndrome is not new but what really places this
picture in a league of its own is the willingness of its creators to
examine, explore and extract the idea that we are all created for a
purpose which may be greater than our own man-made self-served purposes.
Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a supernatural scientist, but even
his self developed and hard earned skills and knowledge could not eliminate
or contain the human killer virus. He lives in a daily war zone against the
same humanly infected and devastated creatures that he is driven to cure. As
the last survivor in The City That Never Sleeps, Neville is
inexplicably determined to prove that he alone can become the savior of
mankind.
After losing his family in the evacuation of the city and for three
years (this is a Biblical allusion to the Divine Trinity), Neville has
spent his days hunting and searching for food and supplies, sending out
radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors. In the nick of time,
a young woman and a boy come to Neville's rescue just as soon as he was
ready to surrender to his growing pains and frustration. Smith's portrayal
of Neville's changing emotions are superb and remind all of us of what may
become of us when we focus frantically on our own driving ambitions.
The young woman's entrance in the movie is sudden and unexpected. She
tries too hard to convince Neville of his selection as the chosen one
to find the cure. She also shares new hope and meaning to Neville's daily
nightmare. The movie may seem enclosed yet it reveals its theme through the
words of the young woman. She insists that God sent her to help him and that
there was a Divine plan for everything that had happened. Neville freaks out
and lashes out at this unpractical declaration yet when faced with death and
life, he chooses life and decides as he stated to listen to the young
woman's plea to walk within the Higher Purpose.
This is a must see movie. It is a movie that takes you deep inside your
emotions and tickles you in your souls. There are many questions being posed
here: Why were we created? Why are we here? Where we predestined to do what
we have done? The fact is that the directors allow the viewers to reach
their own conclusion. Enjoy I Am Legend and look beyond and into The
Spirit and seek your Purpose. This is what the movie is all about.
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About the author: Hernandez-Carmona lives in Naguabo, Puerto Rico and enjoys spending his free time with his beautiful wife, Maria and his seventeen-year old son, Jose Manuel and his newborn son, Josue Esteban. He is a disciple at Abundant Life Church in Fajardo. Also visit: http://www.puertoricans.com/
(Editor's note: Manuel Hernandez-Carmona created a Yahoogroup for the discussion of literature and education. HispanicVista highly recommends this effort and urges its readers to join and participate. Write to Manuel at: mannyh32@yahoo.com or visit and join at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/latinoliterature