I had a chance to see the movie Blindness this past weekend. A film adapted from “1995 novel, of the same name, by José Saramago.”1 “… [A]bout a society suffering an epidemic of blindness.”2 A truly remarkable premise.
Frankly, it’s a dilemma which I don’t have a hard time envisioning really happening. Granted that exact “epidemic” may never happen. But I can very much see humankind having to deal with an affliction, (1) we have no idea what causes it, and/or (2) we can’t stop. And, as a result, act with total disdain and callousness toward each other.
Not at all my point, but chances are all but certain, when it comes to “fruition,” it will be a result of our own doing, too. Take Swine and Avian flu’s as perfect examples. Sure we know what causes them, they are a result of our intense farming (read: animal confinement) operations, or, more to my side note, they are, indeed, a direct result of our doing. I digress.
But what was so interesting about the movie, to me at least, was the aftermath. And, not at all, surprising was the “social breakdown” occurring soon after the “sickness” went rampant. Personal problems with the films story aside — and, of course, the fact that blindness was portrayed as a “sickness” –Â it was quite a compelling 115 minutes. The feature was 121 minutes in length, but the last 6 minutes, say, were a rather large let down…
