The Guardian: A Humanist Critique

The Guardian: Humanist Critique

In the movie The Guardian there are two main characters, Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) and Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), who believe that everything is all about them.

When Jake first arrives he tells Captain Frank Larson "That guy who holds all them records? I just thought you outta let him know I'm about to knock his name off that board." He believes that everything is about him. Later on in the movie we realize that he feels this way because of an accident that happened a few years earlier. He was in a car accident with his swim team and they were all killed. He had a very hard time walking down the street with everyone looking at him like he was the one that killed their brother. He felt like he needed to be the best when it came to saving lives because he wasn't able to save his friends.

Jake goes to the bar and is talking to his "casual" girlfriend and says that he is so sick of Ben Randall's garbage, and that he isn't that great. Maggie the bartender then tells him a story about how Ben had held onto a man just by the finger tips for over 20 minutes outside of the helicopter. In doing so Ben tore all the ligaments in his hand and shoulder. Maggie then turns to Jake and says "when you beat that record then you can talk."

It's interesting to me that Ben Randall thinks that everything is about him yet he dedicates his life to saving others. He is legendary, the best, but it's still not good enough for him. He can't just let go of what he does. He loses his wife because of his job, he loses his best friend and his crew in a storm and yet he still can't stop saving people because he isn't ready to let go.

Something that I thought was interesting was that all of the times Ben went out to save lives in the movie it was in the dark. Darkness represents hopelessness, or a feeling of being lost and that's exactly what Ben was. He didn't know where he belonged anymore. Out in the water saving people or at a desk job. Then the helicopter would come in and shine a light on Ben and it was as if he was found again. I think that Jake was Ben's helicopter and visa versa. They both helped each other learn and grow and they were able to let go of the past.

Later in the movie Ben is talking to his wife and he says, "I watched a man almost