Posted by: Blacktop
Fight to the death or hide out and stay alive? - 07/31/11 10:43 PM
CAUTION MOVIE SPOILER AHEAD!
I got to thinking the other morning after one of my it's-the-middle-of-the-night-and-I-can't-sleep moments. I got up and watched the movie "Skyline" that came out in 2010. Very good movie by the way, I highly recommend it!
The basic premise of the movie is how a group of young hipsters struggles for survival after aliens attack the Los Angeles area. It becomes evident that winning the war is not likely especially after the military nukes one of the mother ships with no lingering after-effects.
As I was watching the final credits, I started to wonder about the generational differences in dealing with that pivotal moment when it's obvious that you're all going to die and your choices have boiled down to either fighting to the end or hunkering down to stay alive as long as possible.
The "greatest generation" had such an event to deal with in terms of World War II. We all know how that turned out. Everybody made the necessary sacrifices to support the war effort both at home and on the front lines. We will win, no matter what it takes. Fight to the last man!
The baby-boomers, generations X, Y, and Z (are we to Z yet?) never have had to face anything remotely similar, as life has been good, great even, since the mid-40's. Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars and 9-11 have been mere speed bumps in relation to WWII. (I'm not trying to minimize, however, the sacrifices made in those events by those who served and those who gave up their lives to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today.)
In the movie, the action closes with the aliens continuing to rampage across the countryside while the surviving young hipsters continue against the odds to fight to the end. When that pivotal moment comes for us (God forbid that it happens in our lifetimes) whether it's war, alien attack, worldwide pandemic, supervolcano, or whatever, what will we do?
I got to thinking the other morning after one of my it's-the-middle-of-the-night-and-I-can't-sleep moments. I got up and watched the movie "Skyline" that came out in 2010. Very good movie by the way, I highly recommend it!
The basic premise of the movie is how a group of young hipsters struggles for survival after aliens attack the Los Angeles area. It becomes evident that winning the war is not likely especially after the military nukes one of the mother ships with no lingering after-effects.
As I was watching the final credits, I started to wonder about the generational differences in dealing with that pivotal moment when it's obvious that you're all going to die and your choices have boiled down to either fighting to the end or hunkering down to stay alive as long as possible.
The "greatest generation" had such an event to deal with in terms of World War II. We all know how that turned out. Everybody made the necessary sacrifices to support the war effort both at home and on the front lines. We will win, no matter what it takes. Fight to the last man!
The baby-boomers, generations X, Y, and Z (are we to Z yet?) never have had to face anything remotely similar, as life has been good, great even, since the mid-40's. Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars and 9-11 have been mere speed bumps in relation to WWII. (I'm not trying to minimize, however, the sacrifices made in those events by those who served and those who gave up their lives to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today.)
In the movie, the action closes with the aliens continuing to rampage across the countryside while the surviving young hipsters continue against the odds to fight to the end. When that pivotal moment comes for us (God forbid that it happens in our lifetimes) whether it's war, alien attack, worldwide pandemic, supervolcano, or whatever, what will we do?