The Virgin Mary?

Children of Men was a film that dealt with the concept of what would occur if procreation no longer existed among humans.  This concept is practically unbearable for me to process because it seems to present a problem that is the exact opposite of what we’re facing in our world today. The human population is multiplying at a rapid rate and there is much speculation that in the future we will not have enough resources to maintain our species. However, in Children of Men we are faced with the issue of the human race inevitably dying off unless there is a cure found. This brings me to the widely controversial question that movie presents; did they ever find a cure?  

In the last scene of the movie Theo and the new mother are in a small boat awaiting rescue by the Human Project. The movie then abruptly comes to an end as the “rescue” boat appears out of the fog. This scene was sure to leave a lot of people upset and confused because we are still left with several unanswered questions. I wasn’t as concerned with the fact that we never actually found out why humans suddenly became unable to reproduce as I was with not knowing if the Human Project was actually a trustworthy group. Throughout the movie we saw that the people who were resisting the government were undoubtedly just as messed up as the government. So who’s to say that the Human Project wasn’t just as corrupt as the rest of the world?

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, let’s just say that the Human Project was as reliable as the characters in the movie would have liked to believe. If so, a great deal of symbolism takes place in the last scene. As Theo, the new mother, and the infant child emerge from the foggy tunnel, we hear a loud surge of background music which widely resembles religious or holy music. This is the first of many parts in the scene which provide us with religious allusions. Earlier in the film the then-pregnant mother jokes with Theo that there is no father of the baby and that she is actually a virgin. This quote can be well incorporated in the last scene because we can actually visualize the new mother as the Virgin Mary. The three characters in the boat serve as a sort of trinity together. The mother and newborn serve as a beacon of hope for humanity because her baby is the only key the world has left for survival, just as Jesus was a sign of hope to his many followers. Likewise, Theo represents sacrifice as he bleeds to death in the boat after being shot while protecting the mother and child. This alludes to Jesus sacrificing his life on the cross for God. I also think it is important to take into consideration the name of the rescue boat, Tomorrow. If the Human Project rescue boat is actually a legitimate cause, then the boat also serves as a representation of the hope of humanity for tomorrow. Additionally, it is not coincidence that the main character is named Theo. After all, the definition of the word theo is “relating to God or deities”. So in retrospect, I think this film intentionally contained a lot of religious symbolism, but it’s ultimately up to the viewer to decide whether or not to recognize it.