Thursday, April 10, 2014

Carter- Mosquito Coast

In the film Mosquito Coast Harrison Ford (Allie) definitely takes the position of acting against type in terms of the role Harrison Ford usually plays in his movies. Allie ventures into fanaticism an in my opinion destroys his family for many years before he passes away. In the first part of the movie Allie shows signs of fanaticism or widely excessive devotion by dragging his family from the city to Jeronumo. Once he and his family arrives Allie immediately begins to praise this piece of land claiming it was "perfect and everything they needed" the look on his wife and kids face once they make it to the site explains it all. They were surprised and somewhat disappointed with this "paradise" Allie had been promoting. This was a very different setting from which they were use to and drastic change, the land wasn't fit for them to live by the standards they had lived by in the past but Allie loved it. This is the beginning of a rocky road for Allie's family, he didn't realize such feelings because he was so caught up in his own goals which was to start a civilization from scratch free of unnecessary items needed to live. The neglect ion of his family feelings was only the beginning of his downfall.
The second act of the movie shows great progress in Allie's vision to start from scratch and turn the jungle into somewhat of a desirable place as the construction of his civilization came to fruition. This lasted all the way up until Allie decided to construct an air conditioner/ ice maker, once Allie was successful in creating the machine he begin to become even more crazed with the thought that they needed no one else. The ice became somewhat of a business, Allie and his sons were caught in a situation with one of the tribes in which he tried to bargain with the ice he was able to make. This caused huge problems for Allie and his family because the men he thought could be trusted turned out to be the ones who would eventually hold his family hostage. It's ironic that the indians he was trying to exploit with ice, led to him being exploited himself. Allie began to think of himself as a God I believe, neglecting the catholic religion and claiming he came to the jungle to build a civilization stating "that's why I came" one the ice maker was finished. Allie thought he was doing everyone justice and that they should be grateful when in reality he was destroying the jungle, not only did he destroy the jungle but also his family bringing his son in on his attempt to kill the hunters by locking them in the freezer. This is his second step into fanaticism in my opinion.
Act three shows Allie has really lost his mind after blowing up his first site, he drags his family on to another island to rebuild "civilization". At this point he doesn't listen to anybody's concerns and is only out to prove to himself that he can produce what has eluded many nations (substantial civilization. Despite concerns from Mr. Haddy about how close he built their campsite Allie did not listen which led to his demise. After the storm Allie turned towards hatred and jealousy, burning down the church of Mr. Polski which led to his death. His already devastated family from the previous events were now left to fend for them selves in Africa, everything that went wrong was because of Allie's irrational devotion to being a creator of civilization himself. 

1 comment:

  1. I definitely agree that Allie has a severe god complex spurring his decisions throughout the second act, but I think it’s worth noting that though he was naively misled into thinking he was doing virtuous work by interfering with the natives and imposing his ideals, he truly believed he was doing something helpful, not hurtful. Allie’s ethnocentricity led to his believing that ice was the essence of civilization and would lead to greater prosperity, when really it just blows up in his face. His family is pulled along for the ride not just out of blind loyalty, but because both he and they believe it is for the common good.

    Of course, as those he loves begin to drift away from him there’s an inverse effect as he gets even more caught up in his own desires, and loses touch with what is beneficial to the group as a whole, and he is more tyrant than leader, becoming a divinely driven egotistical dictator instead of a protector and benefactor. As he lies on his deathbed, some of his fanaticism drifts away and we get a small window into the inner clarity of his actions, which shows us that deep down, the only thing he really cared about was providing for his family.

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