Our Own Worst Enemy

Ahh, bless cross-country plane rides. I love catching up on recent releases I might not otherwise see.

One such movie? The Last Mimzy. It's a bit of a slow burn, but I have to give the film credit for its refusal to pander. This is pretty sophisticated for family fare, and I found the ending really satisfying.

What interested me most, though, was the reminder that not all films need to have a villian. In this case, the "alien" life form of Mimzy is benign... though misunderstood. As the news of Mimzy's powers spreads, so does the fear, eventually leading to Mimzy and the whole family being quarantined by -- you guessed it -- the FBI. Does this sound familiar at all?

There's a certain kind of family story in which the antagonism comes from us -- human beings, going about our jobs. You might even go so far as to say the human beings in these stories -- the FBI, CIA, whatever -- represent the adults of the world, who are simply not able to see the truth -- fantastical thought it might be -- through our fear of the unknown.

Personally, I kind of like that these stories call me out on my grown-up fears. And I really like the absence of a "bad guy". How refreshing!