Hancock: There's power in numbers

We just got back from seeing Hancock so I'd like to talk about it a bit. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I'm gonna try not to really give too much away, but but consider this an official spoiler alert.

There are many things we can get from Hancock and I'll try to keep this kinda brief so I don't start sounding too much like a shrink... cause I'm definitely not.

But the xtians would have you believe that there's no real way to have any morals w/o god and oddly enough Hancock kinda hints at that. Will plays a superhero who's a real asshole (just don't call him that). He's the only one of his kind and he doesn't even really remember anything about himself or even his name. So he just stops caring about people and about himself. And it isn't until he's shown some kindness from someone that he starts to turn around. So what could be said is that Hancock doesn't have any real morals because he doesn't believe in god or belong to any kind of religion. That's the way the xtians would have us believe it though. And to a degree they're right, just not in the way they think. See, it's not believing in god that gives you morals and purpose, it's belonging to a group. Whichever group you belong to is where you get your morals. Groups of criminals hang out together in prison and become better criminals. Groups of assholes hang out together and become xtians. It's all the same, right? Ok, that was a bit of a joke, but the point is, it's more belonging to a group; having someone to answer to, or just want to please that defines your moral code. People get together and define moral codes all the time. And it never has anything to do with religion. If it did, they why isn't every athiest in the world out causing everyone they meet tons of damage? If you go by the xtian standpoint, the seconde I decided I was an athiest I should've started molesting my kids, beating up my neighbor's dog, and shooting drugs; all this because I no longer have the moral compass religion provided me. Whatever dude.

Now, one thing that this movie does to help us work this out is the cons in the prison. They're going to group therapy and baring their soles to each other trying to become better people. There's no religion, no god, no mention of anything like that... just a group of guys trying to overcome their pain. And that's what it's really all about. Being able to belong to something bigger than you so you can become better. And knowing you're not the only one with your problem really helps. You can get ideas on how to cope with things and get support when the times get tough. That's why support groups are so incredibly popular. I think they do an excellent job also of showing these guys to be plain people trying their best to work with what life's given them. They're trying one step at a time just like the rest of us. They don't always succeed, and their failures are generally worse for the public than ours, but nonetheless, they're still just people trying to make themselves better. It's a human side of prison you don't see very often in movies. And don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those bleeding hearts who thinks all cons are basically good, misguided people. Just this group of cons in his support group.

Go to a leukemia support group and tell each one of those parents that their child is dying because god wants it. Or try telling them that they're just not praying hard enough. They'll most surely tell you that it's even simpler than that and that medicine is the answer. Tell a parent at that group meeting that you're happy god finally came through and put their child's leukemia into remission and turn around in the same breath that god doesn't care for the other couple's child who is about to die because their treatment didn't work. It's bullshit people. And that "god's plan" shit doesn't cut it anymore. People want REAL answers. People want REAL results. People want something that's repeatable. Their tired of being told that god has a plan for their infant.

And I know what you're going to say... most of these people turn to religion and are highly religious. They actively pray for their child's condition to improve. Well, I don't know about 'most', but you're right, many of them do turn to god. But what do you expect them to do? They feel helpless and powerless and they are. They have to feel like they're doing something to make things better and the xtians are always telling them prayer is the answer. So they turn to god in a last ditch effort to save their poor suffering kid. I get it man, I really do. But if a group of athiest doctors developed a cure for leukemia and would only give it to the kids if the parents denounced god what do you think they'd do? Would they save their child, or would they chalk it up to religious martyrdome and let their kid die rather than turn their back on their lord who has never physically done anything for them? My guess is that they'd save their child at all costs. At that point they're so desperate, they're willing to turn to religion because they promise them hope. But I guarantee you that if this group of doctors HAD the cure, they'd turn their backs on god faster than you could say a hail mary. They want results. The different between a group of athiests with a cure and a group of xtians with a cure is an athiest would save your child no matter what you believe in. They wouldn't require you to pledge allegience for or against anything. Xtians would hold the cure in front of your head like a carrot until you swore that you would always be THEIR kind of xtian.

I've got some more stuff to say on this general topic, but I promised I'd try to keep this short so I'm stopping now.

However, I'll leave you with one parting thought on the movie. I think the saddest part of the whole movie is that Will got to fuck the shit out of Charleze Theron for like 3 thousand years and he doesn't even get to remember it. And you say there's a god... whatever.


Oh, and one more thing... see if you can find one special actor in there. He's the guy who played Ogre in the Revenge of the Nerds movies. I'm not gonna tell you who he is in the movie, but look for him. Start with his voice and work from there.