Seven is the 1995 psychological thriller about a madman in a world gone mad. Some might even boil it down to a simple Good vs Evil story. Some might see it as a serial killer psycho movie. Yet, it is so much more than that. I see the movie as the story of one man with three points of view. Who are the three?
John Doe is our mysterious villain who we only know by the results of his labor where he leaves death in the form of the seven deadly sins. We don’t see him clearly until late into the movie when he decides to voluntarily reveal himself. He steps out of the shadows and the torrential rain and into the light of day. Still, he is ignored and has to yell to be noticed. He cries out for recognition.
Detective William Somerset is the grizzled police veteran who has seen too much. He’s cool, aloof, and detached because the world in which he lives has worn his spirit down to a nub. Each day he rolls a rock up a mountain only to return the next day and find the same rock waiting to be rolled up again. He’s at the end of his days and looks back and sees a waste land.
Detective David Mills is the enthusiastic, optimist full of emotions young detective. He wears these emotions on his sleeve. He’s wound tighter than a watch and is a modern day knight. He seeks dragons to slay and John Doe is a big one.
Our three main characters represent three reactions and points of view of the same world. John Doe, the villain, sees a world gone wrong and wants to bring “righteousness” back by calling attention to Man’s depravity through his murders. Somerset, to a lesser degree, feels the same about the world. He sees the world’s depravity as a losing battle and sympathizes with Man’s apathy as he calls it. He says it’s easier to give up than to fight. Yet, he fights on to keep some level of balance in the world. He fights the rising tide.
Detective Mills sees the world very differently. He believes in the fight. He believes the fight can be won. What makes him different? Hope. Of the three he is the only one who has someone else in his life. He loves his wife and his love gives him hope. He believes in a better world. He doesn’t want to just stop the rising tide he wants to push it back. Even John Doe envies him for his spirit and his hope.
John Doe and Somerset are loners. Not like me who likes to be alone, but loners because they don’t like Man any longer. Think of the story Somerset reads from John Doe’s diary of the time he was on the subway and a stranger strikes up a conversation. What is John Doe’s reaction? He pukes on the guy and laughs. The very thought of other humans makes him sick.
John Doe and Somerset are the extremes of what happens when Hope is lost. We slip from not caring about ourselves to not caring about others to doing insane acts to be heard. I think that might be one point of the movie. Or at least it could be. Think about it. What happened to Mills when his hope was taken away at the end of the movie?
Clever. I like your thinking. I don't agree with the "trinity" idea, but what you say makes sense.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very interesting way to look at it. I hadn't seen this as a spectrum of viewing the world in the same way you have. But it is a really cool take on it.
ReplyDeleteGreat insight. Never thought to look at the story with the thought that all three were facets of the same character. I like where you went with it. It does break down three different looks. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI would say it is more about all three of them aren't facets of the a character, but an overall theme of the story. But otherwise, you made some good points.
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