The Mist

Tabi and I watched The Mist the other day. She wanted to try out a Stephen King! I will now spoil it all for anyone who has not seen it by giving my thoughts on it all, as there was a lot to think about in it with a very interesting twist at the end!

Basically the military release killing monsters from another world and they wreck havoc hiding in this very thick mist. It is not a traditional horror but more a psychological one, looking at how people react during extreme stress.
There was the religious nutcase who was very Old Testament, wrath and judgment. But she was charismatic and rallied the people. It was amazing how people could go from being so mild mannered to being whipped up into a frenzy that they were able to kill in cold blood. It was interesting too how even though people (the dozen or so good guys) kept telling her to shut up, they did not have enough back up to talk to the people. Their response was very much "shut up and stop scaring people" but nothing for anyone to hold on to. The crowd followed the fanatic because she had something to say.

Our good guys seem to do all the right things until the twist in the end. They fight off the monsters, protect the store, get medical supplies, treat the wounded. But when they believe there is no way out and that the mob may turn on them they decided to get out, to leave everyone to what seems to be an accepting fate. Of course the mob tries to stop them and the monsters eat some of them so it all appears to be very heroic. They then drive until the petrol runs out on his truck.
There they are, 4 adults and his son, in this thick mist with one gun with 4 bullets. He, our hero, heroically shoots his son and the other 3 adults and then gets out of the truck to take his fate with the monsters. All of which seems very courageous and stops the others having this horrid death.
Well as he steps out one sees that the mist is thinning. What has happened is that the military have come along and are torching all the monsters and their nests and now the planet is safe again!! He acted too soon.

In one of the military trucks is a woman who towards the beginning of the film is trapped in the store with all the rest, has totally accepted that there is danger in the mist but was only popping out for 5 mins and had left her 8 year old and 5 year old alone in the house, so she walks into the danger, totally selflessly just to hope that she can get to her children. And she is one of the ones who has been rescued along with her 2 children.

Of course we felt it was a very bum ending but the more I have pondered it, because it is one of those sorts of films, the more I have wondered in what we call heroism. How often do we reward the selfish act? The person who chooses to go it alone, to walk away from a dangerous mob situation? And how often do we reward the person who puts their safety after that of those they are called to care for?
I have been wondering this in the many situations we live in from family to church to work to neighbourhoods. The "good guys" very much were making a run for it, not being able to give anything helpful to the mob, knowing they couldn't take everyone with them so wanting to save those who had a similar mindset to them.
How often too do we not know what to say to the charismatic personality who is off the mark but has the crowd behind them?
All things to carry on pondering!