People begin to go blind with no explanation and as panic spreads it also spreads starting with a well to do Chinese man who just goes blind driving his car down a crowded street. The places are unimportant and the man doesn’t have a name, as an audience we don’t understand the point of removing familiar cinematic story “truths” as where, how, and why play an important part in our decisions to feel the content on screen. The blindness spreads fear and naturally as our government panics the infected are moved to a type of concentration camp where they may be “contained”. Morality plays a huge part in this tale, because we are meant to believe that family and togetherness equates itself to happiness. If everyone were blind wouldn’t we work together to help one another? Theoretically that would be true, but many people use fear as a weapon to undermine the abilities in others and justify actions that normally would be cruel. In life, especially when it feels so bleak there is a general thought that light will always manage to separate the dark. In this movie it’s not true because the blindness doesn’t throw you into a pit of darkness, but rather engulfs you in bright light as if “swimming in milk”. Its the harsh burning of a florescent light against a white wall. There is nothing there yet we fill that white void with thoughts and panic ensues. What are these thoughts? People are not born dark they are lead to this place in their heart because the world around us is thought to be dangerous and unforgiving. Murder, rape, suffering, sadness, hunger, filth, greed… all these things evoke a sense of doom and hatred, but when these “things” become common due to the onslaught of crowd induced terror you begin to question your heart and the truth in all matters. When our characters are brought to this camp they are made to live in very crowded wards with little food or clean facilities. It doesn’t take long for a bright white room to be filled with filth. The blindness affliction does not discriminate against color, sex, or status because it just “is” – the story asks of us to suspend any belief as whether it is a religious parable or dieses or chemical warfare. Its not important.
When a man gets a gun he then has the power. You can control people when you have fear. The man can not see as the others can not see, but that is unimportant because he is able to form a militia against others in his own camp. People listen to fear, those who choose to fight it are then seeking the fear as their weapon. Women must give there bodies in order to receive food and in return are treated immorally. This is a morality tale after all and the choices people make really do justify the means or so they feel. We know as we sit back and watch the debauchery that human suffering always leads to a numbness. Are these people so numb because the blindness has affected them so greatly in numbers or are they so panicked that all reason is thrown out the window in order for survival to happen. It is survival of the fittest and the saddest part of all is that no one understands that it never mattered to begin with. Is it our true nature to panic and blame when a catastrophe occurs? Are we merely pawns in a greater picture or does the now justify the survival of people who can just “make it”? Blindness is our own ability to not see what is clearly in front of our very eyes.
“Did the Blindness spread the panic or Did the panic spread the Blindness?”
