The New World

Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, and Christopher Plummer.

We watched this movie last night. I enjoyed it. Darrin liked it, too, though he said it was too long, and I would have to agree. There was a good 15-30 mins they could have cut out without effecting the storyline much.

It's the story of Pocahontas and John Smith. It seems that it does follow the true story for the most part. Though, in 1607, when the two met, Smith described her as "a child of tenne yeares old". There is some speculation as to whether there was an actual romance between the two or if it was invented by Smith in his personal writings.

The one thing the movie illustrated well, I thought, was how the "naturals" lived at one with the land, and how unnatural the "civilized" humans where. The indians appeared far cleaner and healthier, while the English men seemed sickly and filthy. The English were, of course, out of their element, so you do have to take that into consideration. Still...

It was a bit sad to realize just how far we have come away from the "earth". I wondered what it would be like to live like that and then quickly realized that most of us wouldn't survive 6 months. We are a pampered, sedentary society. Our "needs" have changed so much since our ancestors settled here.

And we call it "progress". Is it really, do you think?