Some of you may know that I’m a bit of a sci-fi/fantasy geek so I’m very surprised that the 2005 Michael Bay movie The Island starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, and Sean Bean escaped my notice until now.
This fascinating movie is a cross between The Matrix and Logan’s Run. It is a gripping action movie while also a deeply thought-provoking exploration into the nature of humanity. It was, of all people, a hermit who told me I had to watch this movie for what it says about parts. The hermit was right!
A brainwashed, underground compound
The main character, Lincoln Six Echo, played by Ewan McGregor, lives in a dystopian underground compound that is designed to cultivate “health.” Everyone in this community wears the same white outfit, exercises daily, and has their emotions, behavior, and relationships monitored and manicured.
They believe that they have survived some kind of world contamination and that their current environment protects them from the outside. They are also programmed to believe that if they are lucky, they can win a lottery and be sent to land of paradise called “the Island.”
Lincoln befriends Jordan Two Delta, played by Scarlett Johansson, who is friendly and idealistic but learns how to turn on the charm to get what she wants in the system.
Lincoln also meets someone from the “Contamination Area” who introduces him to new thoughts. It is in this area that Lincoln finds and captures a moth, something that shouldn’t exist in their sterile environment, especially after a holocaust. He keeps the moth in a jar until he decides to release it and follow where it leads. Eventually the moth leads him to the outside world and to the realization that the people managing his environment have ulterior motives.
Managers in charge
From a parts perspective I was thinking that all the people managing the compound are managers. Occasionally someone gets frustrated or emotionally upset, and workers shows up to check on them and “address” the issue.
This compound represents a self-system with very strong managers. Any firefighters that show up are immediately suppressed. Only positive emotions are allowed. The moth, however, acts as an IFS trailhead that leads to, if not an exile, a missing truth.
Beginning to discover truth
The movie begins with Lincoln Six Echo having nightmares. His dream involves being on a boat and being pulled underwater. This is a clear sign we are accessing repressed material in his unconscious mind.
The boat has the Latin words “Renovatio” inscribed on it, which turns out to have a significance later in the film. In the dream he is headed for the Island, the promised paradise, but he is dragged underwater by other forces.
The Greek philosopher Plato famously described an experience of enlightenment which is known as “Plato’s Cave Analogy.” Plato describes a man who is chained up inside a cave, facing a wall, and can only observe the real world based on shadows that he sees against the wall.
When his chains are unlocked, he has trouble adjusting to the fact that his muscles have atrophied. His eyes also have to adjust to sunlight. But once he does, he can see the beauty and truth of the real world.
This same dynamic happens in films such as The Matrix (see my review of that film here) or The Truman Show. Lincoln Six Echo discovers the inhabitants of the compound have been lied to, that there is no Island and, worse yet, that the lottery “winners” are being used for nefarious purposes and killed. He sets out to uncover the plot and save the enslaved people of the compound.
Spoiler Alert!
I see this as depicting the emergence of the inmost self. The environment has carefully programmed managers constantly available to ensure that everyone is pleasant, peaceful, and polite. They are taught that a “healthy person is a happy person.” Negative emotions as well as close intimate relationships are suppressed.
As things progress, Lincoln unblends from his parts that behave in concert with the lies they have been told. When his friend Jordan Two Delta “wins” the lottery, he realizes that this means she will be killed, and he sets out to save her. The two manage to escape and go on the run. At this point in the movie, I’m feeling the old, excited Logan’s Run vibe from my childhood.
Major spoilers ahead
Lincoln and Jordan learn that they are in fact clones who are being harvested for their organs. The compound is in fact a business run by a Dr. Merrick who creates clones to then harvest organs for when the wealthy clients need them. In the eyes of the Merrick Institute, they are products, not persons at all. They are “created” in these plastic commercial uteruses and “born” fully grown.
Lincoln and Jordan go on the run and through a series of Hollywood style car chases and suspense-filled heart pounding — if unrealistic action scenes — they manage to escape.
Naively, Lincoln and Jordan go in search of their “real selves” believing that the real Tom Lincoln and Sarah Jordan will help them. The “real” Lincoln, Tom Lincoln, is a wealthy self-centered individual who initially acts sympathetically but is ultimately willing to turn them in. After all, he will need a new liver at some point. He calls the Merrick Institute and wants to know how his “insurance policy” escaped. Lincoln realizes he can’t trust his OG self and turns the tables on him and assumes his identity.
When Dr. Merrick realizes that the Echo clone lines are problematic, he orders them all terminated. Lincoln and Jordan heroically decide to save the clones and infiltrate the compound. In a series of high stress action scenes, and one somewhat unrealistic conversion of a former enemy, they succeed in their goal and prevent the deaths of many. And, as always, the character played by Sean Bean meets an untimely demise.
A twisted creation story
There were several themes that struck me as especially important from a Christian parts psychology perspective.
Dr. Merrick creates the compound so that all the clones would not be aggressive. He suppresses their sex drive and reinforces polite social behavior. He sees them, from a developmental standpoint, as children.
In many ways Lincoln and Jordan are like Adam and Eve in the garden, innocent and naïve. He is technically only 3 years old, and she is only 4 years old despite being fully grown adults.
When they discover the truth, that there is no Island and that they will eventually be killed for their body parts, it is as if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They learn that there is real evil in the world and that their entire worldview is a lie, and in this discovery, they enter a new world with real world threats. They accept the truth that the compound is designed to eventually take their lives.
Curiosity undermines the enemy
Dr. Merrick admits at one point that what he wanted to create in the compound is a predictable world. What he cannot account for is curiosity, which of course is one of the eight C’s of the Self in IFS.
It turns out that questioning is the thing that undermines Dr. Merrick’s world of lies. When people begin to ask questions about the purpose of life, when they want more than empty promises and a manicured existence, they become a threat to his program. One character asks, “What if the Lottery is rigged?” and another character is immediately killed when he admits that he wonders if there really is a global contamination.
What people want and need of course is true freedom, self-determination, and real human intimacy. The Enemy wants us to settle for the illusion of safety and a pampered existence which ultimately leads to an unfulfilling and meaningless death.
Surprising philosophical and psychological depth
When the Merrick Institute realizes that a whole block of their clones is “infected” with the undesirable trait of curiosity, Dr. Merrick decides to have all the clones who are “in utero,” disposed of. In other words, hundreds of these inconvenient clones, cultivated in plastic bag uteruses, will be slaughtered. I can’t say whether this was intended by the film’s creators or not, but I can’t imagine a more powerful anti-abortion image.
In my view this film powerfully speaks to the sanctity of human life. We are not meant to be used as products. Humans, whether cloned or not, are not meant to be harvested and killed to provide organs for others. Ironically, Lincoln and Jordan, despite being clones, are more human, more connected to their inmost selves, than their real-life counterparts.
Tom Lincoln, for example, has hepatitis because of his sexual promiscuity. Lincoln the clone was meant to provide Tom with a liver when needed. Lincoln meanwhile is a virgin who finds a true and innocent love with Jordan.
Which version of Lincoln is the truer self? Who is the more human? Who ends up expressing love and intimacy in a more honest and meaningful way? It is Lincoln the clone. And not only that, but Lincoln also risks his own newfound freedom to save the other clones. He turns out to be the courageous (another C in IFS) Moses figure leading all the clones to freedom. He is truly Christ-like in his child-like innocence and his willingness to die for his noble purpose.
This movie has surprising philosophical and psychological depth plus a great deal of Hollywood style action and suspense – a rare treat. The next time I see him, I’ll thank my hermit friend for this delightful recommendation.
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Dr. Gerry Crete is the author of Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts which is published by Sophia Institute Press. He is the founder of Transfiguration Counseling and Coaching, Transfiguration Life, and co-founder of Souls and Hearts.
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