David Godwin - Seven Pounds - (Topic of Choice #2)

To add to the discussions we’ve had this semester about self-sacrifice, I thought I would blog about the film Seven Pounds. This movie is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. The movie is all about self sacrifice that transcends romantic love. [Spoiler Alert!] Ben, the film’s main character, pretends to be an IRS agent throughout the movie in order to get into people’s lives and find out their needs. He finds a woman in an abusive relationship in need of a home, a woman who needs a heart, a blind man needing sight, etc. Ben watches all of these people from a distance, and observes them to determine if they are “worthy” of the gift he wants to give them. One man whom Ben almost helps, proves to be corrupt. In the rehab center which he runs, he refuses to let a woman bathe until she takes the pills he wants her to take. Once Ben discovers this about the man, he denies him the gift of bone marrow that he had planned on giving him.
Eventually, we find out that the reason why Ben is searching for people in need. Previous to the events of the film, he was the cause of a car accident that killed 7 people. In order to redeem these lives, Ben searches for 7 people to save. At the end of the film he kills himself and appoints a friend to make sure that certain organs (his heart and eyes) go to the people in need of them.
The first time I saw this movie, I was struck by the parallel I saw between Ben and Christ. Many films, such as the Jacket, use a character to represent this sacrificial archetype; however, this movie was very specific in the redemptive uses of the sacrifice. Ben’s death afforded a man a new set of eyes, and a woman a new heart. These body parts are perfect symbols for the things that Christ’s sacrifice redeems. Our spiritual vision is restored by Christ’s death, and our heart is renewed. Even his life on earth, before killing himself, was similar to Christ’s. In a way, he performs “miracles” by saving people in need of a house or bone marrow. He takes the sick and “heals” them, makes the poor rich.
One difference, though, is that Ben looks for those people who are “worthy” of His gift. Christ is very clear in the gospels that his sacrifice is for all men. Paul makes it even clearer that Christ died for those who hated Him before His sacrifice. Yet, that parallel of worthiness still works on some level. Those who receive that gifts of God: his new vision and new heart, are those who have accepted Him. If worthiness of God’s redemption is based on a repentant heart, then those who receive the gifts of Christ’s sacrifice have proven themselves “worthy” in this sense.