Bratty Girl: I Am Legend

I Am Legend

January 12, 2008

Life is indeed stranger than fiction. It is fascinating that right now, as the fun Hollywood sci-fi adventure flick I Am Legend wins over global audiences, including me due, thanks to the talent and overpowering reel-life charisma of black American actor Will Smith, in much the same way the eloquence and surprising real-life popularity of 46-year-old Democratic presidentiable Barack Obama has created unprecedented political shock waves in the world’s only remaining superpower.

First, let’s assess the reel-life legend of actor Smith who is virtually a one-man show in I Am Legend, playing the last man on earth after a man-made virulent virus wipes out the human race. This writer enjoyed watching it at theater. The movie is based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel, which has already had two previous movie incarnations, this time directed by Francis Lawrence and scripted by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman.

Actually, the survivors in the post-apocalyptic world of this flick are Smith — as the disciplined virologist Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Robert Neville — and his ever-loyal loyal German Shepherd dog nicknamed Sam. I hereby nominate the dog for Best Supporting Actress. Seriously.

Before I totally forget, doggone it, I’m a dog lover and I wish to vehemently protest (where are America’s noisy animal rights’ activists?) the film-makers’ cruel depiction of dogs in this film. Look at the travails of Sam and also those of her attackers, the zombie dogs. That’s not a civilized way to treat man’s best friend!

Dr. Neville and his dog manage to survive three years after a disaster wipes out New York City, which is eerily and ingeniously depicted via computer-generated graphics. This great city has literally deteriorated into an urban jungle with abandoned buildings and cars, frolicking wild animals such as deer and lions, overgrown weeds along Park Avenue and corn stalks sprouting out of Central Park.

Watch for a memorable scene with our protagonist enthusing over his idol, the late reggae musician Bob Marley, whom Neville cites for believing that love and music can overcome the evils of this world, such as racism and violence. We get to hear the music of Marley as Smith’s character sings the lyrics to Three Little Birds and I Shot The Sheriff throughout this film. Even Marley’s Redemption Song plays over the movie’s closing credits.

Each day at sunset, Dr. Neville and his dog rush to barricade themselves within a steel-shuttered townhouse as legions of virus-afflicted former humans terrorize the world — the cannibalistic and zombie-like “dark-seekers.” In the basement of the townhouse is his medical laboratory, where he keeps the hope for humanity alive and where he experiments nonstop to develop a possible vaccine to reverse the virus which spreads through biting or via airborne contact. Though Dr. Neville is immune to the virus, his dog isn’t, and both of them must hide from a horrifying pack of hideous-looking flesh-eating light-sensitive monsters who violently hunt their prey like rabid vampires.

How does Lt. Colonel Dr. Robert Neville survive the day-to-day drudgery of existence without other fellow normal humans on earth and in a vast, eerily desolate New York City? How will he fend off the gruesome attacks by the hordes of dark-seekers and eventually find a cure to hopefully save these former humans? You have to watch the movie, feel the thrill of the scenes building up to the weaker but still good ending, and appreciate Smith’s acting — possibly his best-ever cinematic performance.

Will Smith okay as reel legend, but Obama becoming a legend in real life

While Smith is the main reason I Am Legend succeeds, why is Obama also deserving of the “legend” title in real life? Not only is he the first African-American to become a serious contender for the US presidency (although I would personally prefer to see the first woman president, Hillary Clinton, win), not only is he young (at 46), not only is he now also the only black in the US Senate — Obama is a legend because he will inspire a lot of people to dare to dream.

Obama’s late father was born to a humble family in strife-torn Kenya, Africa. CNN recently visited his ancestral home to interview his non-English-speaking grandmother while she was harvesting corn. In an America reeling from a weak economy and fighting arduous anti-terrorist wars, Obama is now capturing the hearts and imaginations of so many Americans aching for real change, hope and inspiration.

I believe Obama personifies old-fashioned American moral values and the merit-based American dream which once made the US grow with such vibrancy, and which even lifted up Abe Lincoln from log cabin poverty to greatness in the White House, and allowed the rise of hardscrabble self-made men Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and college dropout Bill Gates to the status of legends.

Whether Barack Obama wins the Democratic Party presidential nomination or not, whether he eventually wins the White House in the November election or not, this driven young guy has come a long way. His stunning success shows us that in life, nothing is impossible; that we can achieve any of our dreams as long as we are willing to pay the price of hard work, discipline, guts and positive thinking.