Never Let Me Go

I saw a movie last night called “Never Let Me Go”, a sci-fi romance. Although it isn’t presented as such, it was definitely one of the most disturbing films I have seen in a long time and I have been unable to think about anything else. I must add that it is beyond my comprehension why the people (clones) in the film wouldn't try to get away. In thinking it through I have come to the conclusion it is because they didn’t have anything to go towards and aren't clear about what they are running from.

The most disturbing thing for me about the film is that the clones are people who learn, laugh, love and cry. And, some question the terms of their existence. In order for a society to collectively feel okay about creating these beings and then taking their organs in order to prolong life, there was a determination that they did not have souls. They were merely vessels housing life-giving organs to the “real” people.

This made me think about our society as a whole and the measures that people go to in order to distance themselves emotionally and intellectually so that the belief of human inequality may exist and flourish. If we dehumanize or decrease the value of a race, it makes it easier to believe that your position is warranted when you breach the lines of ethical responsibility. And for me, more horrifically, is the subliminal and integral belief that this is true and all parties play into it.

No matter how we come into being, we are all equal, and for one race to expend energy or time trying to convince others that this is truth, is ludicrous and speaks volumes about conditioned learning and belief systems.

I would suggest that everyone look at this film because while it is sad and at times horrifying to the emotional sense, it is thought-provoking and perhaps will serve as an eye opener for some and will allow for a serious self-evaluation of their conditioned learning and belief systems.

Synopsis
At the beginning of the film captions explain that a medical breakthrough has permitted the human lifespan to be extended beyond 100 years. The film is narrated by main character Kathy H. who at 28 years old takes us through her childhood at an English boarding school and her adult life.

The movie starts at a seemingly idyllic boarding school.  Kathy has two friends Tommy and Ruth. It is here that you start to realize that everything is not as it seems. At one of the major points in the film, one of the teachers is fired after she tells the students that they are in fact clones and their only purpose, their entire existence is to provide donor organs for transplants. After they become adults they will be available for “selection”. After their third “selection”, they will “complete”. Some “complete” after their first or second “selection” and most don’t make it past the third “selection”.

There is one scene at the school that started the emotional landslide for me; there is a day when a delivery of boxes that hold a “bumper crop” of items arrives that may be traded for tokens collected by the children. Everything is laid out on long tables and the children, who are overcome with excitement, carefully examine everything and take their treasures back to their rooms to enjoy. The reality is that the items are all junk, toss-away things that no one would want.

Kathy falls in love with Tommy but Ruth seeing this takes Tommy for her boyfriend, thwarting any opportunity for a relationship.

There is a woman, “Madame”, who comes to the school and wants to see the artwork the children have done in order to determine if they have souls. Later in the movie she tells Tommy and Kathy that clones do not have souls.

It was somewhere in here that you realize they wear wrist bands that monitor their coming and going and will wear them their entire lives.

When they become teenagers, they are sent to a farm to live in cottages. They meet other teens who have come from similar schools. While no one at the farm seems to question the ethics of their situation, the three friends do want to find the people they were “modeled on”. A rumor has surfaced that if the clones can prove that they are in live they can “defer” their selection for a couple of years.

Tommy and Ruth are still in a relationship and Kathy who is very lonely and sad applies to become a “carer”, a clone who is trained to give post-operative care to others and receive a temporary reprieve from selection. By the time she has become a “carer” Tommy and Ruth have split up.

We fast forward and Kathy has been a “carer” for some years and is now 28 years old. She reunites with Ruth, who has made two “donations” and is very weak. She has been keeping track of both Tommy and Kathy and helps to arrange a reunion.

Ruth confesses that she did not love Tommy and seduced him because she was jealous and didn’t want to be alone. She believes that since Kathy and Tommy are in love they can get a “deferral” and has the address of “Madame”, convincing the couple to go to see her to make the request.

Ruth "completes" on the operating table shortly afterward.

Tommy and Kathy drive to visit “Madame”. There is no such thing as deferral after all and the couple is devastated.

Tommy is selected again to make another donation and "completes." Kathy is left alone. Two weeks after losing Tommy, Kathy is notified that her first "selection" will take place in one month. Contemplating their childhood, she speculates whether their fate is really all so different from the people who receive their organs; "We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through or feel we've had enough time."