It was an odd choice.
My spouse and I felt the need to escape the pressures of normal daily living and so we went to a movie last night and chose "The Road". A disturbing post-apocalyptic tale of a father and son trying to find a place where other survivors may be. They are trying to remain "good guys" who have not turned their back on basic human dignity (i.e. turned to cannibalism). As I said: an odd choice.
The story comes from Cormac McCarthy, the same novelist who wrote "No Country for Old Men", which was turned into an amazing Oscar-winning movie.
The Road doesn't tell us what the disaster was. I assumed that the lack of radiation sickness, pointed to a meteor impact or something like that. Regardless, vitually all plant and animal life seems to be gone. It is a world that is dying. It is a world without hope. It reminded me of "Children of Men", another movie where there is no hope for a lasting future. How will people behave when survival is a short-term goal, at best.
On reflection, the "road" refers to having a purpose in life. Life can continue because there is hope that "down the road" something better awaits. Hope is alive as long as we keep moving down the road. For the father it was hard to trust. He had seen so much violence and expereicned so much selfishness, that he had trouble seeing that there were other "good guys" on the road. In a way, his destination was already near, just a bit ahead and behind him, as others (who were similarly uncertain) kept their distance. But the son could see this (always wanting to share food and clothing).
An odd choice, but in there somewhere is Advent, isn't it? The hopeful path and the need to share good company on the journey.
Nah, it was just a movie.
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