Chappie (SPOILER ALERT)

WARNING - SPOILER ALERT

So I watched the movie Chappie recently, starring Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame, and Hugh Jackman in the role of the villain.  I thought it was very very good - good mix of action and philosophy.  The premise of the story is that this scientist invents a robot that can actually think and feel and grow ("Chappie").  As with our own experience with parenting, Chappie behaves like a little child, eager to learn and to please, and the scientist is thrilled.

Unfortunately, the scientist gets kidnapped, along with Chappie, by a team of gang robbers who then attempt to train Chappie to help them in a big heist.  The scientist tries to keep Chappie away from the robbers, reminding the robot that he is his maker.  He makes Chappie promise not to commit any crimes, and Chappie agrees.

Frustrated with Chappie's unwillingness to help them with the heist, one of the robbers abandons Chappie to a gang of delinquents, hoping that "real life" will toughen up Chappie.  The gang viciously attack Chappie, who pleads with them to "please stop".  When Chappie finally escapes and returns to the robbers, one of them takes pity on him and helps Chappie like a "Mommy".  When she shares a bedtime story with Chappie, Chappie asks why he looks so different from the humans.  She explains to him that what she loves about Chappie is what is inside him, and that the body is just temporary.  What is of worth is really only what is inside - the soul.  Chappie wonders about this, and realises how precious this "inside" is.

Soon after, Chappie discovers that he has a fixed battery life.  In five days, he will "die" and his "inside" will be no more.  Chappie is distraught, and poignantly rails at his maker "Why did you make me just to die?".  Chappie then gets the idea that he must find a new body and battery.

The robbers use this to turn Chappie against his maker, challenging Chappie as to why he should still obey his maker.  They trick Chappie into helping them with the heist, telling him that if they get enough money, they can buy a new body.  Chappie is convinced and the robbery is a huge success.  But as they race away in the getaway van, the robber apologises to Chappie, explaining that there is no new body - that the money cannot help Chappie after all.

Chappie is bitterly disappointed.  But when the authorities come after the robbers, he still decides to try to save them, and his maker.  The movie ends with Chappie managing to find a robot body for his maker (who is shot) and also transferring Chappie's own consciousness to another robot body, which is a bit of a "happy ending", though the filmmakers seem to have forgotten that their new robot bodies logically also have the same 5 day battery life span, so it's a pretty temporary respite, even as the credits roll!

Like many Hollywood movies, the movie has some anti-Christian elements, because it makes a quite gratuitous effort to ostentatiously paint the villains as hypocritical Christians.  But I'm quite used to that by now, because of the strong influence of liberal thinking in the entertainment industry.

Despite these efforts of the filmmakers, I think the movie manages to draw watchers to consider some crucial issues, and ask some very important \questions, to which God really has all the answers.

Like Chappie, we all have a maker.  And that maker has designed for us to be good.
Like Chappie, our bodies are all temporary, and what really matters is what's inside.
Like Chappie, we live in a world that can be tough and painful.
Like Chappie's 5 day battery, we all have a fixed lifespan.
Like Chappie, we all need to find a new body and battery.
Like Chappie, many of us wonder why would our Maker make us, only to suffer and die.
Like Chappie, many of us run after the things of the world, like money, hoping to find purpose and lasting significance, in the form of the "new body"
Like Chappie, many of us are actually actively tricked by the world to think that running after money will help us to find purpose and significance.

Unlike Chappie, who unfortunately only manages to find (at the end of the movie, after many struggles and tragedies) a new 5 day long extension, we actually have a new body and battery that lasts forever.
Unlike Chappie, we know that our Maker really didn't make us to die.  In fact, the whole point why our Maker made us is for us to enjoy being with Him forever.  We are of great, great worth to Him.  Us being with Him forever was so important that he even sent his own Son to die, so that we could live.
Unlike Chappie, we don't have to fight for our new body, and even rescue our own Maker.  It's the other way round.  Our Maker has fought for our new body, and He has rescued us.  And the fight has already been won.  All that needs to happen is for us to accept it and immediately start living the new life of peace, joyfulness and most importantly, purpose.

So if you're thinking of catching the movie, even after the spoilers here, think about these things.  It's pretty cool.

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