INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

FOUR STARS - Powerful

 

 

       Deep within the soul of every person are universal fears which haunt our lives.   Such fears dwell within the recurring images of our dreams, nightmares and artistic creations.

       Although all great art and literature revel in these shadowy archetypes, the film created by Dean Devlin, “Independence Day,” is a masterpiece of such explorations.

       Taken not as a literal story about aliens, but rather as an allegorical exploration of our deepest fears, the film is a powerful opportunity for us to confront those fears.

       Those fears can be expressed in the following questions:     Are we alone in the universe, or is there someone more powerful than we?   If there is someone out there, is that someone good or bad?    And is there coming a day in which we must face that someone, and will we survive the encounter or be annihilated?

       The fear of death, either as an individual or as a race, is a primal fear.  It exemplifies itself here in the symbol of an apocalyptic invasion of an overwhelmingly powerful alien force.  A ship one fourth the size of the moon appears one day as people rise to begin a normal day.  Using impressive special effects, the film allows us to visually and emotionally be overwhelmed with the size and power of the threat.  In the first round of attacks major cities of the world and their millions of inhabitants are abruptly destroyed.

       This fear that there is an overwhelming evil waiting for us down the road is a common dread.  To accentuate that fear of evil, the film gives the aliens a demon-like appearance with ensnaring tentacles.  Even their attacks are described as being similar to locusts devouring a harvest.

       This use of Biblical imagery is powerful.   Calling upon our deeply spiritual repulsion of Satan and his cold indifference to human life, we immediately have no sympathy toward the creatures which threaten us.  Their deaths leave us with no feeling of remorse.  They are wholly evil and must be destroyed for our survival.

       To reinforce the theme that this is a universal experience, the film focuses not on one central character, but rather on many.  There is the U.S. President (Bill Pullman), the Scientist (Jeff Goldblum), the Warrior (Will Smith), the Lover (Vivica Fox), the Hero (Randy Quaid) and the Father (Judd Hirsch).  Although their lives are all ultimately intertwined in their confrontation of the threat, it is not their lives as individuals which are the primary concern of the film.  They simply stand for any of us in our concerted effort to survive.

       But how do we survive against forces that are far greater than we?  This question has been the driving force behind religious, scientific and political action.  Banding together into political unions, trying to control nature by scientific knowledge, and confronting demons and soliciting God with our religious worship and prayers are universal human responses.

       In the film, when the obvious superiority of the aliens is apparent and defeat is imminent, there is an encounter between the father and his son, the scientist, which speaks of asking for God’s help.  This is followed immediately by the son using his scientific insight to devise a plan which can defeat the evil.

       This is a powerful answer to our questions.  No, we are not alone in the universe.  There is evil which threatens our very existence, but there is also Good which will help us be victorious over evil if we seek His help.  

       This victory, though, as the film clearly symbolizes, must be both a combination of God’s inspiration and mankind’s cooperatiion as we join together with all other human beings to defeat the evil.

       Though we won’t describe the way in which that is accomplished, the fact that the answer God gives the scientist is effective only as the entire world of humankind  joins together in a united strike, is a truth we often experience in our spiritual struggle against evil.

       “Independence Day” is an example of science fiction at its best. Though it gives glimpses of the loves and sorrows of the individual characters, the real story is the exploration of universal fears and struggles.  Though it only hints at the God who is there, the hint allows the victory to be possible, both on film and, if we will accept it, in our lives as well.