In the Court of the Crimson King (Martin Essay)

Chapple Chandler Martin
Dr. Lisa Propst
English 1101-130
28 February 2011
In the Court of the Crimson King
Welcome to a world where murder is overlooked,
innocent humans are publicly jailed and beaten, and
humanity is coming to a definite end by way of
infertility and war. The envisioned world takes place
in 2027, in Alfonso Cuarón’s film Children of Men
(2006). One particular scene, entitled “The Court of
the Crimson King,” exemplifies a major premise of the
film. The scene opens with a view of the castle-like
structure that leads to the entrance of the “Ark of
Arts.” Theo, the anti-hero, enters to visit his cousin
who lives in a massive government-controlled vault of
classic art. Nigel, his slightly unkempt cousin, greets
Theo in front of Michelangelo’s David, which is
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housed on the top story of the incredibly secure
government high-rise. The pair sit for lunch at a long
dining table adjacent to Picasso’s Guernica. In mid
conversation, Nigel shouts at his son, who is sitting at
the end of the table, urging him to take his pills,
which is a noteworthy trend seen throughout the film.
As the conversation ends, Theo walks to the great
window overlooking the city of London and asks his
cousin, “A hundred years from now, there won’t be
one sad [person] to look at any of this. What keeps you
going?” Nigel’s reply encompasses the film’s theme in
one short statement, “You know what it is, Theo? I just
don’t think about it.” Using popular culture
references, Children of Men is a political protest
which challenges the unnoticed rise of ego-centric
passivity in postmodern society and further predicts
that the consequences will be a complete disregard for
human rights.
During the “Court of the Crimson King” scene,
Children of Men spotlights the result of ego-centric

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passivity, using symbolic artwork and placement of art
in relation to the characters. Michelangelo’s David is
center-screen behind Theo’s cousin when they first meet
in the scene. David is a classic Florentine sculpture of
King David, designed to depict a “virtuous fighter for
freedom,” describes the Oxford Dictionary of Art
(“Michelangelo”). King David is also a well-known
Biblical figure from the book of I Samuel, who defeats
the giant “Goliath.” He is the image of an ideal man,
who fought for a country’s freedom (“Michelangelo”).
Nigel’s body movement, just for an instant, resembles
David. As he enters the scene, he stands in front of the
statue and for a moment, shifts his weight into the same
body position as David. Nigel’s trophy of status, David,
is resembled through his body movement. Children of
Men uses irony here to contrast Nigel’s pride in the
sculpture with the contradicting essence of David who
stands for the people. His greed is revealed throughout
the scene through his collection of famous works of art.
Even in the next instance, while smiling, he boasts of

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his importance by exclaiming, “Tried to save La Pieta!
But it was all smashed up when I got there.” Without
literally saying the words, Nigel states that in his most
heroic efforts, even he could not save such a precious
work of art. The work of art referred to is the sculpture
of the Virgin Mary cradling the crucified Christ Jesus in
her arms. By mentioning the sculpture being smashed,
the film notes the uprising rebellion of youth,
continually rejecting faith and goodness. Nigel
disregards the part of the story about unruly youth
destroying a classic work of art; instead he continues to
boast of his esteemed role in the world. In whole, Nigel’s
role, in relevance to the art he refers to in the scene,
points to the film’s theme of ego-centric passivity.
Reflected in the scene’s artwork, the film
expresses the extent to which Capitalism and Neo-
Fascism, a political approach that uses physical force
and control to achieve desired results (“Neo-fascist”),
can destroy humanity. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is
displayed on the wall behind Theo at the dining table.

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In its time and place of origin, the famous painting of
genocide was highly controversial (Alexandrou). The
placement of the camera creates a medium shot,
framing Guernica as a dystopia, an unbearable state of
chaos, encompassing Theo. Together, Theo and
Guernica represent a body of people in a Capitalist
economy: the passive working class, uneager to
acknowledge the inhumanity surrounding them. Nigel
sits directly across from Theo, facing Guernica, but
does not care to acknowledge the extravagant painting.
Here, Nigel is symbolic of the other half of capitalist
economies: the wealthy men holding power, who
choose not to extend sympathy to the oppressed
working class. The two conflicting sides in an extreme
situation, as the film illustrates, rely on one another
yet cannot function peacefully as a society. In fact, the
opposite of peace takes place: the struggle for power
results in death and inhumane treatment of man.
The camera work employed in “The Court of the
Crimson King” allows the audience to perceive details

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of Nigel’s son, Alex, a representation of ego-centric,
passive youth in postmodern society, but who depicts
an essential group to societal balance that has the
ability to change for good. Dialogue begins as the
camera views an extreme close up of Alex’s hand,
which is wired up to a small video game. On his wrist
is the bracelet connected to the wires as well as his
personal identification bracelet. The audience can see
that his elegant plate of food has yet to be touched. The
camera then cuts to a side shot, revealing a small cross
tattooed on the back of his hand and the screen of the
video game responding to the boy’s moving fingers.
The camera then pans up to fix on a medium shot of
Alex, who is expressionless and fully concentrated on
his game. The frame cuts to a wide shot that shows the
entire dining table and room where everything is
painted in hopeless gray tones. Through the entire
conversation between Theo and Nigel, Alex never
looks up from his game, never speaks, and never even
acknowledges his uncle’s presence. He completely

ignores the world around him to indulge in a self-
gratifying activity. In his analysis of Children of Men,
Tzvetan Todorov explains the link between passive
youth culture and dwindling of humanity:
We absorb culture through education . . . it
is related to our language, then to different
landscapes that we live in. What happens
is, during migrations of populations, they
lose initial culture, especially the younger
ones . . . they don’t acquire new culture.
Now this is of course a huge danger
because it is the destruction of their
humanity. (“Possibility”)
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Children of Men pushes the thought that as globalized
society increases, cultures will die (“Possibility”). The
outcome will then be a passive ego-centric youth
culture which Alex represents. As a result of their
passivity, the underlying problems of Alex’s

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generation continue to get ignored, and more serious
problems develop. The majority of the film brings to
light the political direction in which the world is
headed and consequences that result (“Possibility”).
Children of Men quietly references specific pop-
culture images in order to visually illustrate how
damaging pop-culture messages can be and to
reinforce the central argument of the film, while
speaking directly to the youth. During the “Court of
the Crimson King” scene, Nigel spends a lot of time
overlooking his “kingdom.” The industrial cityscape,
including the power station smokestacks and a giant
floating pig balloon, actually mirrors an album cover
by Pink Floyd entitled “Animals.” The album’s
concept was conceived by Roger Waters, the British
Progressive-Rock band’s lead vocalist, who, in an
interview with Rolling Stone magazine states, “I loved
Battersea Power Station as a piece of architecture, and
it had good symbolic connections to Pink Floyd. It
symbolized our decaying rock group.” In reference to

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the floating pig from the cover, which was also
displayed at shows, he says, “The pig came down in
flames every night” (“Floyd’s”). The British journal,
Critical Quarterly, connects similar movements heard
in Leftist music in the 1960s, “the desert home of the
capitalist pig is blown up . . . and we see, . . .
accompanied by a spacy and sinister Pink Floyd
music track, . . . the whole commodity universe of late
Capitalism . . . float by” (Beverley). Fans believe that
the floating pig references George Orwell’s Animal
Farm however, the book criticizes the opposite type of
extreme government. Animal Farm is commonly
known to be a political satire on Communism; Pink
Floyd’s pig criticizes the other extreme political
ideologies of Neo-Fascism and Capitalism, as
explained in Critical Quarterly, using a parallel
illustration of animals. Analyzed in “A Revolution on
Animal Farm,” V.C. Letemendia explains, “By
revealing the divisions within the animal ranks,
Orwell is cautioning his reader to question the animal

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view of the class struggle, for the crucial problem
that . . . the real enemy is the power-hunger of the
pigs” (Letemendia 133). In a Communist situation like
George Orwell’s book illustrates, the “pigs” would say
that “all animals are equal,” when they secretly
attempt to gain control over all other animals and
especially the humans. The satirical allegory, at times
expressed by Pink Floyd’s pig to criticize Capitalism,
is that the working “horses,” mindless “sheep,”
violent “dogs” and powerful “pigs” are always in
competition. One or two groups are always
maintaining complete control, and sometimes
subsidiary groups rise above the rest of the oppressed
classes. Waters’ ideals align with the ideals of the film
and the symbol of the pig in Children of Men. The pig
balloon is placed in the background to represent the
strength and pride of the controlling, powerful “pigs”
in 2027. The film hints that if Fascist “pigs” come to
power, inhumane acts and killing will rise due to a
controlling regime. In the commentary, “The

Possibility of Hope,” Slavoj Zizek says, “The main
mode of politics [and] how you mobilize people is
fear: fear of immigrants, even leftists, fear of too strong
state, fear of taxation.” The “pigs” are a group with
power obtained by wealth and ownership, but they
use the “dogs” of society to facilitate violence and fear,
in order to achieve their agenda. In the film, it is
apparent that certain groups of “dogs” are rising up
against the “pigs,” while the working “horses” and
mindless “sheep” just ignore it all. The ironic twist,
however, is that the “dogs” want freedom from
control, but they are using control to get it. From the
view of Children of Men, as Zizek interprets, the fight
for humanity will always be linked with the continual
battle of control (“Possibility”). No longer should the
young allow society to crumble, but future generations
must realize their integral part in society on a large
scale and must instigate change.
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Children of Men uses art, pop-culture, and camera
work to express a protest against ego-centric passivity.

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The specific references call youth to recognize the
movement of postmodern society and to become
cautious of political trends toward Neo-Fascism and
Capitalism. This method of visual reference relates to
the youth audience and brings light to problems
progressing and the corrosive effects they have on
culture. Humanity is only present on one planet, and
Children of Men speaks out on the need to preserve it
by beginning with positive development in youth
culture, adapting with globalization, and continually
balancing power within society. The brilliant details in
the background of the film commonly go unnoticed by
viewers, which echoes the same trend in ego-centric
passivity: a disregard for the surrounding environment.
Children of Men is just the tip of the iceberg of
recognition needed for major changes in global society.
In hopes that youth will realize how important the
changes are, the film is one of many efforts to prompt
youth to be the positive progress the world needs in
order for humanity to survive.

Works Cited
Alexandrou, Alex. “Guernica, bombing of.” The
Oxford Companion to Military History. Ed.
Richard Holmes. Oxford University Press,
2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford
University Press. Web. 28 February 2011.
Beverley, John, 1943-. “The Ideology of Postmodern
Music and Left Politics.” Postmodern Culture 1.1
(1990). Project MUSE. Web. 21 Jan. 2011.
Children of Men. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón. Perf. Clive
Owen and Julianne Moore. Universal Pictures,
2007. DVD.
“Floyd’s Pig Crashes at Coachella.” Rolling Stone 29
May 2008: 18. Academic Search Complete.
EBSCO. Web. 12 Feb. 2011.
Letemendia, V.C. “Revolution on Animal Farm.”
Journal of Modern Literature 18.1 (1992):
127-137. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.
Web. 12 Feb. 2011.
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“Michelangelo.” The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Ed. Ian
Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University
Press. Web. 28 February 2011.
“neo-fascist.” The Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Ed.
Katherine Barber. Oxford University Press
2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford
University Press. Web. 28 February 2011.
“The Possibility of Hope.” Special Feature. Children of
Men. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón. Perf. Clive Owen and
Julianne Moore. Universal Pictures, 2007. DVD.