Seven Pounds

Braden Pape

Seven Pound Redemption

  Humans sometimes have the opportunity to save, or to take away, the life of another human. This decision is made in accordance to the person’s bravery, sense of duty, moral code, and personal responsibility. Some would say that it is noble to intentionally give your life to save another person.  This sacrifice is sometimes thought to be the ultimate sign of love because you care more about that person than you care about yourself. However, others would say that suicide is the ultimate sin and can be justified by no amount of generosity. These people would usually look at it from a religious side, saying that God alone has the right to decide life and death. Any topic that pulls in morality or religion creates controversy, and the film Seven Pounds addresses one of these topics. Presented in a very sincere and sacrificial way, Ben Thomas kills himself to provide vital organs for those in need. The film is riddled with cinematographic methods used invoke emotion in the viewer. The movie makes a strong point which is contrary to how many people would feel, and presents it in such a way as to make us notice it all at once. Even though Ben Thomas kills 7 people due to not paying attention, he successfully redeems himself and it was morally sound that he sacrificed himself to save lives.
   
  If Ben was capable of having a life devoted to service and deserved to keep his life, then killing himself would not be justified. However, he does not deserve the health and life he is lucky to have because he was mentally in a state which made it impossible for him to contribute. He felt the only thing he can do to make up for the accident he caused was to donate his physical body, because his spirit and his emotions were beyond repair. He emotionally dies the day he kills his wife, and since then he is just a dead man walking around on a mission to redeem himself. We can see this connection through the parallel editing and mise en scene of the car crash and the suicide scene. In the crash scene, there is broken glass all over the ground surrounding Sarah, she is wearing a purple dress, and we can see the frame of the car as it rolls. In Ben’s suicide scene, there is ice around him from the water, his shirt is purple after getting wet from the bath, and the poles from the shower curtain are near him (Seven Pounds). These parallels, and the way the editing makes it look similar, gives the idea that Ben died in that crash in spirit. The deaths are presented in the same way, and tied together with the color of the clothes. He is connected to her through that. The ice is placed out of the water, next to him and looks like pieces of broken safety glass which is the same as the windows of a car. The vehicle for Sarah’s death is recreated as well in Ben’s death. He is enclosed in the bathtub and the pole of the curtain reminds us of the car frame as it rolled. We also see that he can’t move on from her, because he continually dreams about Sarah. These dreams stay with him throughout his mission to save his soul. There is a scene with him driving his car, and then going home to see his wife (Seven Pounds). This is a dream, which we can tell even before he opens his eyes in the real world. We can tell because of the bright exposure, contrasted with the dark lighting before and after this scene. This style of lighting is meant to give a feeling that it is surreal, and is used to indicate a dream. When he wakes up and realizes that he is back in real life, he is visibly depressed about the reality of his situation. His dreams show that he is stuck in the past, and won’t be able to get over being separated from his wife. Right when he wakes up from this dream, we see him in his beach house. He is seen as disappointed and sad that he woke up in his house, alone. Throughout the presentation of the setting, we are provided hints as to how he is feeling. He is seen in various rooms and with various arrangements in the mise en scene. He is shown in his beach house with all the shutters closed and very little light, and he is also shown later on, after meeting Emily, in the motel with just one lamp and all the walls and shelves are bare (Seven Pounds). The first one is important because it tells us that he has little hope of getting better. The darkness signifies that he is in an abyss and cannot reach the surface. He will not get over Sarah. Even with all of the amazing things he has in his life, he will always be stuck in this depression for killing Sarah. The other scene shows that even with an amazing woman like Emily, he is still very sad. The mise en scene of the empty motel room mirrors how empty he feels, and that he has no positive emotions left. Added on to the fact that no material wealth, even the expensive beach house and items inside, will heal his pain, we learn here that no relationship will be able to make him forgive himself. He knows that he will always be depressed, and makes a decision that he thinks will take full advantage of his remaining use. He will never be able to redeem himself otherwise and will not help anyone emotionally.
   
  It is very unfortunate that Ben is incapable of moving past his mistake, but before he leaves the world he gives the priceless gift of life to many. He is aware that there are good people and bad people, and has enough feeling left to be able to sense if a person is generally good or not. He gives his flesh and bone to deserving people in need, and makes sure they will help improve society more than he ever could. Ezra was a man of great patience and depth, but also blind. Ben surveys his character on multiple occasions, and we don’t know why until the unveiling of Ben’s plan. From the phone call scene until the diner, Ben was rude and horrible to Ezra, to test him. In the diner, it is a low-lit room, there is a couple making out next to him in the dark who are both wearing dark clothes, and Ezra is brightly lit with a spotlight from above and he is dressed nicely with warm colors (Seven Pounds). This reflects Ben’s growing image of Ezra. With the bright lighting all on Ezra, we think that he is a good person, despite all the bad around him. The couple shown before is meant to contrast with him and magnify the fact that although he is visibly uncomfortable, seen by his facial expressions, he keeps his composure and remains pleasant. Later on when we find Ezra again in the same colors as he is helping children by playing piano for their choir and it is verified that Ezra is doing well and is deserving of the gift he receives. Another one of Ben’s gifts is given to a hockey coach for a team of underprivileged kids. The coach provides a safe haven for these kids that have otherwise tumultuous and unstable lives. What impresses Ben the most about the coach, George, is that George does good things when he thinks no one is watching. One scene shows an ice rink with a team and a George on it, and there is practice. After the coach talks to the players about it being a sanctuary, it shows Ben looking at the rink while it appears very white with grand chandeliers (Seven Pounds). The first part of the scene is what everyone else sees, which is a hockey team practicing. Then it shows how Ben sees the events. He notices that the coach is giving up his money and time to selflessly provide a refuge for these kids; a sanctuary. Ben then sees him as an angel. The hockey rink is like heaven for the boys, which is shown by the mise en scene, including the big crystal chandeliers. Everything is white, like the great halls as they must be in heaven. In Ben’s quest for qualified and deserving recipients for his organs, this coach fits perfectly because he can help these kids have a better life. In contrast to the light he sees in the coach, he knows that his own body is useless to him because he doesn't have the emotional fortitude to keep helping others. Ben connects with George and Ezra in order to determine that they deserve the parts of his body he can give and they need. However, these gifts both lead up to his ultimate gift in the end which is bestowed upon Emily. Emily clearly has much to give and much to do in her life. Even though she ends up falling in love with Ben, he still can’t fully get over what he did and it would always affect their relationship. In the scene where Ben first comes to Emily’s home, it shows her house and all the decorations inside. The shelves and counters are full of food, flowers, and spices. Emily also is wearing a bright shirt with butterflies (Seven Pounds). Emily is shown is this scene to be full of life and love. The décor of her house, being full of food and other things, shows that she is still very full of life despite her illness. She lives with it and always makes the best of bad situations. The costumes also reflect this idea. The butterflies are a sign of spring and life, but also represent the life cycle of a butterfly. It is a symbol of coming out of trials in life and transforming into a stronger and better person. This gives us hope for Emily that she will survive her illness. After what Ben did, he is just a dead man walking and he knows that he owes a debt to society. We know his soul left his body that day of the crash. However, mindless suicide would not repay the debt, and through giving his body to these good people in need he receives redemption in a way that is justified morally.

  Life and death seem to be present in many situations. Because both are inevitable to every person, it is impossible to go on without both of them being present in some form. Ben often represents death and despair, while Emily is the human representation of life. As Ben and Emily grow closer together, it becomes obvious that only one of them can live. We see the deterioration of Emily’s health, and Ben remains a shell of a man. While walking Duke, they come across a large field, with long green pieces of grass that flow naturally with the wind. Ben and Emily come into the frame wearing dark clothes (Seven Pounds). The setting of the field shows that there is life all around, and it surrounds both of their lives. Also, Duke’s lively attitude and energy add to the fact that life can flourish. In contrast, the sad attire of Ben and Emily represent that even amongst all that is alive, death makes its presence known. Both of them have an ailment, and death will claim one. In addition to the overarching presence of life and death, specific symbols in the movie can hold the responsibility of being both. Ever since Ben was a boy, he loved the jelly fish. The beauty and mindless serenity which the creatures possess astounds him. While it can live for years with no motive other than to survive, it can take life away so easily with absolutely no remorse. Ben keeps the jelly fish in a tank and eventually pours it into his bathtub to kill him (Seven Pounds). Throughout the movie it shows the jelly fish lit up in the tank, which can show that the jellyfish was Ben’s way of dying and therefore saving his soul. While Ben was in shadows and darkness, the jellyfish presented his path to redemption. The jellyfish can easily kill, but can survive easily on its own as well. The key thing for Ben was that the jellyfish will have no remorse while killing. This is added as a contrast to Ben because a great deal of the movie is showing how much grief he is in because of the people he killed. He can’t move past it, while the jellyfish kills and eats without ever knowing what it does. He chooses an animal that will be incapable of harboring the deep-set depression that he feels. This is an important closure to his life. Another recurring symbol in the film is water, and it has connotations of birth and death. At the opening scene, Ben swims through the water with the undershot and the light shining down, and then he emerges from the water and onto the beach (Seven Pounds). The shot from beneath symbolizes a sort of hell or abyss, which is what Ben is in. He suffers from the depression of killing seven people, and this first scene shows that this is how he’ll feel during the whole movie and until his death. When he comes out of the water, it is a birth or purification. It shows that water will be the only way to purify Ben’s soul after his mistake, and we realize later on that it is in water that Ben dies. His death is also his liberation from the pain and anguish he feels so wholeheartedly. Although seemingly just a lifetime apart, life and death coexist in many situations and the blending of these symbols in the movie shows that death is always present in Ben’s life.

  The answer to “who can decide life or death” is largely a moral, legal, and religious question. There are also many different ways that a life can be saved or taken. Few question the morality or goodness of a solider giving his life to protect those he loves. Although many disagree with war and violence, the selfless act of leaving loved ones behind to fight for one’s country shows a great deal of character no matter what. In contrast to a soldier sacrificing his life for his country, no one will ever think that a mentally ill person killing people is noble. These are polar opposites, and each has a fairly clear moral categorization. The decision a person has to make to decide life and death, however, is not always so clearly good or bad. For example, a person defending his property by force when armed people threaten his safety. They don’t necessarily know if they are in real danger, or whether the intruders are simply looking to intimidate. There are civil laws in place to determine the legality of every type of situation like this, but many disagree on the basis of moral and religious laws. Families have been torn apart by people who receive minimal punishment, but of course it is wrong. Determining the difference between what wrongdoings should be punished according to laws, and which should be punished according to religious beliefs has been the cause of countless wars. One instance where the law plays no role is suicide, because a dead man cannot be tried. Out of all the things that must be considered, the most important is if the person killing themselves will leave the world a better place, or with more grief and turmoil than it had before their death. This balance is what ultimately determines the morality of a suicide, and if ones moral code permits it, then actions will follow accordingly.