No man is an island...
Cast Away Cert. 12 Starring: Tom Hanks
Robinson Crusoe... the theme has fascinated us for centuries. Cast Away on a tropical isle, stripped of all the comfort and 'diversion' that familiar society provides, face to face with the very essence of what life's about, how can a person survive? Especially, in this most recent Tom Hanks blockbuster, a person whose every second in the 'real world' is driven and controlled by the precise ticking of a corporate clock.
Unlike the original Robinson Crusoe who was able to strip his ship of provisions, arms and tools enough to create a self-sufficient island fortress, Hanks is left with nothing but a few pointless dregs of Western society; as much use as ice skates on a sandy beach. Unlike Crusoe who was sustained by faith and a healthy stock of Bibles, Hanks's material world has left him with nothing more substantial to draw on when faced with death than a bleak 'That's it'. And, unlike the supremely fortunate Crusoe who is comforted by a whole array of companions ranging from his household of animals and chatty parrot to his trusty servant Friday, Hanks is devastatingly alone - almost.
The most poignant moments for me were less those which depicted his attempts to stay physically alive in an unknown and inhospitable world but rather his enduring need for companionship in order to sustain life. Indeed, the whole film seemed to me a subtle challenge to the stark assertion of its own publicity material: no-one can save him but himself!
After years of living literally on the edge of existence, the vital point at which Hanks finally gives up his will to live is the moment of losing his companion. He surrenders the only means of steering his own course, and therefore any hope of survival, at exactly the point when he becomes ultimately (though contrary to what many on the outside would judge the point to be) alone. Alone there is no reason to live. Alone there is no life. Alone he cannot exist. It's a brave moment which reflects that biblical truth of such significance: 'it is not good for man to be alone.' Only with 'another' can he be saved.
Cast Away is an unsatisfying film in some respects and I liked it the better for that. Untidy and ragged around the edges it surely does more justice to the complexity of isolation and the deeper realities of life than something, perhaps more 'Hollywood', with certain 'happy ever after' loose ends all tied up.
There are a whole array of TV contexts of late where the themes of group/community dynamics and isolation from the 'real world' are being explored. I wonder why and I'm glad for the questions they force us all to ask. Is it that the individualism and superficiality of Western society is being questioned yet again by people seeking more than the mere 'illusion' of life?
How essential it is to being a human person in the image of God that we have someone with whom to walk through life. Yet, how contrary that is to the selfish, get-ahead world we inhabit. It seems to me that no matter how much we search for simplicity and meaning, unless we put God in his rightful place as most intimate companion and Master, and without the Spirit-enabled desire to be other-centred rather than self-centred, how can the true humanity we were designed for ever be really achieved? I watch with interest as the experiments continue.
