MagicThought

ok guys this is crazy.

i’m sure a lot of you have already heard about Will Smith’s new movie, “I am Legend”; however, I was just recently told about it and almost fainted as my friend began to describe the plot.  Allow me to quote him, “Ummm yea, its a movie about this infection that affects all these people, this scientist guy that is still alive and is basically trying to save himself, and the bad guys are vampires… i think…”

So, like I said I nearly dropped to the floor but instead went to the closest computer to me, googled the movie, and watched the trailer. You should all watch this trailer–there is so much symbolism involved–everything from viruses, blood, vampires, birds, plagues, infections… not to mention that the main character is a Scientist/part of the educated elite.

Here is a brief summary of the movie:

Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable…and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City…and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by “the Infected” - victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, the Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville’s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

go here to watch the trailer

http://iamlegend.warnerbros.com/

I can not NOT point out the obvious here. Look again at the title of the movie “I am LEGEND”. Legend usually refers to a narrative, a story to be told. The word legend reminds us of the oral story telling of the days of old way before our friend the printing press appeared. Webster helped me out and traced back the word legend to its Latin roots: legenda, “things to be read” sort of like by listening we are reading a BOOK.  Another thing about legend is they ride the fence between fiction and fact, one could say somewhere between the imaginary, the symbolic, and the real. Even more reason for this movie to fit directly in the middle of our class.

–Emily Seybert

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 10:53 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.