Wilfred McClay’s thoughts on the “party of death” and the grasping for life brought to mind a movie trailer I saw recently for Children of Men , due in theaters December 25 .
Those of us who read this unsettling P.D. James novel were struck by the implications of its plot. In a world where no child has been born for thirty years, where the current human generation expects that after their deaths all knowledge, art, and achievement will be lost¯well, population control looks like a cruel joke, and pregnancy is no longer a burden inflicted on women but a longed-for miracle.
I’ve been curious to see how the movie will handle this theme, which might be accused of giving aid and comfort to pro-lifers. Early in the trailer, we see the leading characters on a London street, and behind them there is a poster reading “Avoiding Fertility Tests Is Illegal.” Ah, that’s it¯the evil government is trying to compel women to breed. That was a narrow escape.
(Access contributors’ biographies by clicking here .)
