"Blindness" Makes Me Go "Hmm" and "Huh?" and "Ugh!"

This weekend I went to the theater and saw Blindness. I went in thinking the movie was going to show some great adaptation of human life after the population is suddenly overcome with blindness, and how many of those in power are determined to hide this development any way they find necessary.

Well, the second part was somewhat accurate. However, it was more about the corruption, panicked, and inhuman behaviors that develop after those that become blind are quarantined and left to care and fend for themselves. One of the first scenes we see a man that becomes blind while driving. People offer their assistance, and one even offers to drive him home. My first thought was that was a bad idea. This man was a complete stranger, and being left with a suddenly blinded man. In fact it does turn out to be a bad idea, as he eventually steals the blind man's car.

This is only the beginning. Throughout the entire movie people are being horribly treated, left vulnerable, killed, starved, and so on. All because of this mysterious, sweeping blindness. It became difficult to watch the screen several times. The only hope is the main character, a wife to a doctor, who pretends to be blind and ends up in quarantine with him and about a hundred others. But even she creates an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, as she cares for all the rest.

There was a lot of unanswered questions, like why they became blind? There's a lot that just left me feeling horrible, even sick at times. But still, there were elements of the story that were touching and compelling.