What's behind "The Island"?

It is not very often that a movie offers a truly important lesson for people to walk away with. Most movies are for pure entertainment and offer little else. Hollywood, in this day and age, spend SO much time with such garbage in the form of extremely poorly written scripts, an over-reliance upon big name actors and ultra "cool" special effects (which sometimes really are not all that cool) and lots of things blowing up. Not to mention all the sex that's usually involved in the script which may, or may not, have much to do with the story; but, the story is usually so poorly written and directed that at that point, does it really matter?

Well, recently, I've discovered a movie that absolutely bombed at the box office. It didn't even make enough money to break even. Now, the average movie goer would hear this and say to themselves "wow, that movie must really suck!" Well, not so in this case. It's simply that most movie goers in this day and age want to be entertained, they don't stop and think about the message behind the movie. When you miss that message, the movie tends to lose some of its impact. Sure, it's an entertaining movie, but, when you think about it on a deeper level, it can really make you think and open up your mind. Such a movie can be found in "The Island".

The basic premise of the movie is a facility where clones are made for the sole purpose of using them as a "biological garden" so that when the real human counterparts on the outside need a particular part, they have an exact copy of that part available to them in their clone. There will be no chance (theoretically) of rejection of that particular part or organ upon transplanting it from the clone to the real human counter part.

The message in the sci-fi movie is, "is cloning morally acceptable"? You need to look at it on the level of, is the clone a clone, or, is it a living copy of someone else. Well, that's the challenge in the movie. The corporation who is producing the clones didn't see them as being human or living copies. They were a product. An exact copy of a living person, but, they were a product. At one point in the movie, the notion of the corporation tried to just keep the clones secluded and just use them as spare parts; but, the parts tended to fail upon transplanting them (even though they were exact copies) because (so felt the guy in charge) they had no life in them. There was no experiencing of feelings, emotions, essentially, no living. So, it was decided that they should not be secluded from all feeling, all emotions, all forms of living as we would know it. It seemed as though without these things, the parts in the clones didn't seem to have a will to live. Why should they, they're just regarded as parts, they've not lived any time of life or existence other than spare parts.

In the process of exposing the clones to these things, the clones develop a life. Natural human curiosity sets in and they begin to think about things, to question things, to wonder about things. Not all of them of course. Many just did what they were told. They were lied to about why they were there, and, the main goal was to be chosen in a lottery to go to "the island" where it was a living paradise. It gave them a sense of hope, a feeling of something good was coming. Let's face it, if you were a clone (and didn't know it) and were told you would be used for spare parts for someone out in the real world, or that you would be going (chosen by lottery) to some paradise island to live forever, what would you prefer?

The main character, Lincoln Echo 6 (played by McGregor from Star Wars Episode 1, 2, and 3 Obi-Wan fame) begins to question things, to wonder what the point of life was, to wonder what was really out there, he felt there had to be more. He digs and digs and finds the truth out. He realizes that he will die because there is no Island. At one point, he is told that the real life counter part in the real world "owns him".

This is the question then. Are clones real living beings that can develop into something that is just like a human, or, are they non-living, non-feeling things that can be used for spare parts? It's an interesting question, and Michael Bay (director of The Island as well as "the Rock") explores it wonderfully. He tries to show both sides of the issue. The need for organ parts that will save the lives of others, but, the dilemma of clones developing into something more than clones. Do they deserve to have a life or are they truly property that belongs to someone else? It certainly does make you think, and for Hollywood, that's a darn rare thing!