Lost Paradise

Paradise Lost is considered to be one of the greatest poems in the English language. Written by John Milton and published in the 17th century, it tells the story of the fall from grace of Adam and Eve and, by extension, all humanity. John Milton is also the name of the character Satan in the film "The Devil's Advocate"; this post is about one scene, one perfect scene of that film...

"Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven." That's arguably the most famous quote from John Milton's epic poem, as well as the opinion of Satan, who also goes by the name John Milton, in the film. Oh, before I continue: there's gonna be some spoilers about that film, and if you haven't seen it yet I strongly suggest you go watch it before reading this. It's a great film with masterful performances, especially by Al Pacino as The Devil. Many poets and critics have applauded John Milton's (the poet) sympathetic characterization of Satan; some even see Satan as the real hero of the poem and applaud his rebellion against the tyranny of Heaven.

"The Devil's Advocate" is about Kevin Lomax, a young ambitious lawyer who wins all of his cases, and his wife Mary. Lomax successfully defends all his clients, no matter how gruesome their crimes; his pride, vanity and addiction to winning overshadow his morals each and every time as he's well aware of his clients' guilt. He knows he squeezes genuine monsters through the narrow opening of reasonable doubt, he knows he sets free child molesters and murderers. His pride and vanity also make him accept an offer from, and work for John Milton's law-firm. Milton offers him a lot of money, which allows him and his wife to enjoy a wealthy lifestyle, a huge house, attend parties and so on. Kevin Lomax is the perfect representation of modern man in my opinion. When we buy the next iPhone or Nike sneakers, we know that these have been produced in sweat-shops. We know our relatively luxury lifestyles come at the cost of abject poverty elsewhere in the world. And when we throw away left over food, we know that somewhere there's a child dying from hunger.

Satan, in the film, knows us very well. Which brings me to that perfect scene I was talking about. It's a monologue by Satan, delivered in a perfect performance by Al Pacino, which I'll quote in full. This monologue is about Eddie Barzoon, another character in the film who's about to be murdered; I just replaced references to Eddie Barzoon with references to "Modern man", to make a point:

"Modern man, modern man. Ha. God's creature, right? God's special creature? Ha. I've warned them. I've warned them every step of the way. Watching them bounce around like a fucking game. Like wind-up toys. Modern man is nothing but self-serving greed on wheels. The next thousand years is right around the corner. Take a good look, because he's the poster child for the next millennium. These people, it's no mystery where they come from. You sharpen the human appetite to the point where it can split atoms with its desire. You build egos the size of cathedrals, fiber-optically connect the world to every eager impulse, grease even the dullest dream with these dollar-green gold-plated fantasies, until every human becomes an aspiring emperor, becomes his own God. Where can you go from there? And as we're scrambling from one deal to the next, who's got his eye on the planet? As the air thickens, the water sours, even the bees' honey takes on the metallic taste of radioactivity, and it just keeps coming, faster and faster. There's no chance to think, to prepare. It's buy futures, sell futures, when there is no future. We got a runaway train, boy. We got a billion of those modern men, all jogging into the future. Every one of them is getting ready to fistfuck God's ex-planet, lick their fingers clean as they reach out to their pristine cybernetic keyboards to tote up their fucking billable hours. And then it hits home. You gotta pay your own way, son. It's a little late in the game to buy out now. Your belly's too full, your dick is sore, your eyes are bloodshot and you're screaming for someone to help. But guess what? There's no one there. You're all alone, son. You're God's special little creature..."

I'm not a believer in God or Satan, but I do believe we've wasted a chance at creating our own paradise. We produce more than enough food and houses to eradicate hunger and homelessness. We're perfectly able to give healthcare to everyone and we can produce without causing misery or destroying the planet. But instead we've decided to live under a system that allows for the existence for billionaires next to abject poverty and misery. We'd rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. That is the true tragedy of modern man... I'll leave you with another great performance from the same film and the same actor. Watch it, or better yet: watch the whole film if you have the chance.

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