GLMX #158: The Way to the Real 'Elysium'

The new science fiction movie, Elysium, depicts a futuristic dystopian society where Earth is overpopulated by the diseased and impoverished masses, while the wealthy and well-to-do live on an expansive space colony known as Elysium. The government of Elysium prevents those who live on Earth from immigrating and becoming citizens of Elysium. Those who try to do so are killed by the government of Elysium.

The word "elysium" is a reference to the Greek idea of Paradise. The Greek philosophers and writers believed that Elysium, or the mythical Elysian Fields, was a beautiful, peaceful eternal destination reserved for the righteous and those favored by the gods. It was a place of peace -- a lush, green paradise where those who had lived well could enjoy the afterlife.

In the film Elysium, Max is an ex-convict trying to survive in a dilapidated, run-down Los Angeles. He is friends with a woman who has a daughter named Matilda. Matilda is dying from Leukemia. At the factory where Max works, he is exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and is informed that he has only five days to live. Knowing that he can be cured in one of the advanced medical treatment centers on Elysium, he determines to find a way to get to the space colony to find healing for himself and Matilda. He connects with a smuggler named Spider, and they both begin to plot a way for all of those on Earth to become citizens of Elysium.

Max's desperate attempt to gain healing on Elysium is reminiscent of man's search for escape from the desperate, down-trodden conditions of Earth. Like the Earth depicted in the film, our world is broken, filled with masses of people who are sick, physically and spiritually. We are people who long for Heaven.

+ Plus, listen to Jeremy Camp singing "Better is One Day in Your Courts"