In Children of Men, P.D. James illuminates the entanglements of Machiavellian and Christian ideologies when both vie to procure ultimate salvation to humanity in the year 2021- the first baby to be born in 27 years. The protagonist, Theo Faran begins as a retired counselor of Britain’s oppressing dictatorship led by his cousin, Xan. He is compelled to join with a group of rebels once he learns they are protecting a pregnant woman from a compulsory human reproductive project run by the state. The story becomes an engaging progression of drama which explodes in the end chalked with irony. The story’s mounting excitement lies with the characters affected by the prospect of the ultimate prize – credit for bringing salvation to the world and the expected power which would instantly ensue. James would seemingly have the reader believe there is absolutely no hope for sobriety, integrity and trust to prevail among people when real power hangs in the balance. The movie was in a lot of ways different in that Theo never had the slightest taste for power. Clive Owen’s Theo was comparatively likable and played the part of apathetic sacrifical lamb, undisturbed by the prospects of power, since his cousin is not the dictator and plays a much smaller part. There was never a question in his head about not submitting to the state reproductive program. The movie was hard on the rebels. They were cast more as brutal terrorists with hardly an inkling of Christian pacifism- they were dreadlocked hippie murderers like the reggae gangstas in Predator 2… Despite this great moral paradigm shift, James endorsed and accepted the movie. How much of this was due to her appreciations for interpretative art versus her week kneed submission to the powers that be? As Johnny Rotten once said, “God save the queen…”

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