You may not remember, but 24 years ago, aliens invaded the Earth. They planned to “consume every natural resource” and then move on to the next hapless world. What they didn’t count on was the bravado of Will Smith, the technical genius of Jeff Goldbloom, or the motivational ability of Bill Pulman! Thanks to these talented actors and many others, the aliens were defeated, and the Earth was saved!
Well, until 2016. (But that’s another movie.)
Thanks to a great suggestion from Ben Avery in our Facebook group, Eve and I break into the vault for a blast from the past movie (no…not the Brendan Frazier one!) this month. While not quite a movie from our childhoods, we chose to review the Will Smith & Jeff Goldbloom 1996 classic, Independence Day. This popcorn-munching blockbuster slipped some pretty serious topics under the alien invasion facade, including a fascinating comparison and contrast of four different families and how they each deal with the arrival of civilization-ending aliens.
Opening Thoughts
Independence Day is one of those movies that holds a special place in our recollections. It is one of the earlier real advertizing-blitz blockbusters in our collective memories. It’s also a movie that is enjoyable enough to watch when just flipping through the channels. It’s also well written enough to provide quotable quotes that find their way into our pop culture.
Over time, Eve and I have both become a bit more aware of rough language in movies. We were both a bit surprised by the amount of foul language there was in 1996’s Independence Day. Neither of us remembered it having quite that much, even though by today’s standards, it is still relatively tame. By today’s standards, it probably would barely warrant a PG rating. It highlights the importance of watching these offerings with a critical ear (does that even make sense?) to pick up the subtle ways that Hollywood normalizes things like taking God’s name in vain.
ID4 is a much more character-driven movie than many—even most—summer blockbusters. Indeed, the character elements are what set this movie apart from the hundreds of alien invasion movies that have come before and after.
The music of ID4 is beautifully composed and scored by David Arnold in one of his earliest big-screen credits.
In this pre-Gravity blockbuster history, not much of an effort is made to stay true to science. ID4 isn’t an exception—in fact, it pretty much says, “Science? We don’t need no stinkin’ science!” Still, it has to maintain some believability. ID4 takes a lot of creative licenses, even with reality, but that doesn’t impact the enjoyment factor at all. It may also improve it, the way an old fisherman’s exaggerations allow you to listen to his tall tales time and time again, enjoying it each time.
It interesting watching a movie from 1996 and noticing how certain subjects were touchier than they are today. In today’s movies, even children’s movies, filmmakers rush to put outspoken homosexual character front and center, like a badge of inclusion honor. In 1996’s ID4 though, the homosexual character was implied and hinted at, but never called out. In today’s movies, healthy monogamous relationships are the rare exception, raising eyebrows and straining belief. In 1996’s ID4, the only out-of-wedlock relationship is not-quite subtle, but also not heralded as a social victory like we might see a decade later.
A Tale of Four Families
As we mentioned already, one of the things that makes ID4 a great movie is how it embraces the idea of having sympathetic characters with real (feeling) wants, desires, and development arcs. In the first part of our discussion on Independence Day, we are going to take a look at the four families of ID4: The Whitmores and their loving marriage, the (soon-to-be) Hillers and their journey to marriage, The Levinsons and the role of father, son, and ex-wife, and the Casses and their survival through rough times that predate any talk of aliens.
The Whitmores
When the movie opens, we are first introduced to President Whitmore as a loving husband and father before we learn he is President of the United States. The family of the Whitmores is the standard—it’s the family to which we all want to belong. We wanted them as our neighbors and our friends. This relationship was in comparison to the scandal dogging the President of the day, the first in my memory to be semi-open about extramarital affairs. Whitmore was also a loving father who made time for his daughter and didn’t shove her off on the nearest available staffer. He was an American hero who took the job of President to continue to serve his country but struggled with the attacks inherent in politics. He took his job seriously and cared for the nation, and we felt even bit of it.
The Whitmores embodied the idea of man and wife becoming as one as presented in the Word:
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. (Ephesians 5:31)
You get the feeling that they do everything, from raising their daughter to governing a country, like an internal team. This is a picture of God’s intent for marriage—to be a reflection of His relationship with His church. Man and woman are—literally—made to work together as a team:
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.” The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. (Genesis 2:18-19)
By making the Whitmores the first family we are introduced to in Independence Day, it sets both the standard and the tone for the rest of the families.
The (Not-Quite) Hillers
The next family we are introduced to is not quite a family—at least not yet. Marine Captain Steven Hiller is in an out-of-wedlock relationship with Jasmine Dubrow, an exotic dancer, and a single mother. Hiller appears to be on the fence about marrying her, too. He’s trying to get accepted into NASA’s astronaut program but is keenly aware that being in a relationship with a stripper could very likely hurt those chances. He loves her, though. When he saw a ring with her favorite porpoises on it, he bought it, thinking he might propose. The movie makes it a point to show how his choices would impact his career.
It is clear that both Steve and Jasmine want to make the arrangement formal, though. Steve buys an exceptional engagement ring, and Jasmine confides to Mrs. Whitmore that she was “sorta hoping that [Steve] wanted the job” of being her son’s dad. There never appears to be an option of not either moving towards or away from marriage, unlike today’s socially encouraged co-habitations. Even in their direction and final decision, the Hillers affirm marriage as the ideal.
Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. (Hebrews 13:4)
The Levinsons
David Levinson is both the core of the movie and the anchor for the most complex of the family relationships. Unwillingly divorced from his wife for nearly four years, David still loves her unreservedly, wearing his wedding ring. We get the sense that they were divorced over irreconcilable differences. She was called to a life of striving to bring change to the world through significant actions, and he content to see his change in small, barely measurable ways. At once point, with what is arguably one of the best lines in the movie, as they are civilly rehashing an argument over which they were divorced, she seeks to justify her pursuit of a career saying, “Haven’t you ever wanted to be part of something special?” Remembering his marriage and love for his wife, he responds, “I was part of something special.”
When we draw a line from Kramer versus Kramer, through the Levinson’s in Independence Day, up to today’s ides of marriage and family, there is an obvious and steady departure from God’s design for them as given through His Word. Yet we are always told by today’s media that this is good.
The story shows us two aspects of David’s relationships. In addition to his love for and divorce from his ex-wife, it also shows how he relates to his widower father, Julius. It skillfully ties the two together through the introduction of the characters: David and his dad are sitting in an NYC area park playing chess, and Julius says, “It’s nice that you see me so much now.” David replies, “Don’t . . . don’t start, dad.” “I’m only saying, it’s be what, four years? You’re still wearing your wedding band?” In this one set of lines, we see David develop as the linchpin tying the concepts of a family together.
David’s relationship with his father is admirable—we should all be so lucky as to share this kind of relationship with our dads. A loving, realistic one based on shared experience and respect.
The Casses
The final family in our discussion of Independence Day is by far the most dysfunctional but also key to saving the earth. Russell Casse is a traumatized Vietnam vet who tells anyone who will listen that he was abducted by aliens. He is responsible for three children, all in their teens, but does not carry the responsibility well. He works as a crop duster but has a drinking problem that very clearly strains his relationship (and even more his credulity) with his kids. As a result, the oldest has to carry most of the parental load. Russell’s instability is contagious—the children are unable to live a stable life as well.
Despite Russell’s problems, Miguel loves his dad. As Russell begins his redemption arch, we see Miguel’s joy in his father’s change light his face up. When Russell sacrifices himself to destroy the alien’s primary weapon, Miguel is equally sad and proud. Though easily the most dysfunctional character in the movie, Russell demonstrates the most important lesson:
This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13)
To Be Continued
The discussion of marriage and family is only half of the fascinating themes that Independence Day brings to the table. In part two of this discussion, Eve and I talk about how the world reacted to the arrival of the aliens. How the world leaders and individuals alike were given a clear warning and saving instructions, but ignored it—or acted too late. We also discuss the importance of defenders like soldiers and police, and we tie ID4 back to our past, and it’s future—September 11th, 2001. Join us for AYJW106 to wrap the discussion on Roland Emmerich’s 1996 classic sci-fi movie, Independence Day!
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