A few years ago, when I watched 28 Days Later for the first time, it was the DVD version, which included several alternative endings, including one that the director intended to be the original ending but which was replaced because it was considered too bleak (you can watch it here in terrible youtube quality). Unlike the ending which made it past the editorial chopping block, the original ending showed Jim dying in the abandoned hospital after Selena fails to save him, and Selena and Hannah walking down a hallway, away from Jim into their uncertain future. It is in stark contrast to the ending that was shown in theaters, which showed Jim, Selena, and Hannah waiting for rescue in relative safety, implying that there was hope for survival, even renewal through the romantic relationship between Jim and Selena.

I find it interesting that in all of the different alternative endings included as DVD extras (there are three in total), Jim dies. Professor Quinby mentions in her essay that the wound he suffers at the end is a Christ-like wound. Unlike Christ, since Jim is a man that dies in a man-made apocalypse, there is no possibility of a second coming, and if there is no rebirth, then there will be no renewal. The survival of both Jim and Selena, however, lays the groundwork for a typical Adam and Eve plot, a common narrative trope where, after a catastrophe has devastated the world as we know it, a man and a woman remain to restore humanity. Since Jim, Selena,and Hannah have already formed a family, albeit an nontraditional one, the audience assumes that the romantic and sexual relationship between Jim and Selena will continue to develop. Even though gender roles are fluid throughout the film, with Selena often coming to the rescue of damsel in distress, Jim, there is no radical reworking of the relationship between man and woman. It defaults to a sexual one, and because the film belongs to a post-apocalyptic genre, to one that might possibly lead to the rebirth of the human species.

The ending where Jim dies in the operating room in the abandoned hospital conveys an entirely different meaning than the official ending. The final image of Selena and Hannah walking down the hall, side by side and fully armed, creates a more visceral feeling of hopelessness. When I thought about it some more, however, I realized that there is no real reason why Jim’s death should doom Selena and Hannah as well. Throughout the movie, Selena is shown to be more than capable of taking care of herself. I find in interesting that the only moment where Jim assumes the traditional role of the hero is when Selena and Hannah are about to be raped. That scene reinforces the vulnerability of female sexuality – it is always threatened (by men) and it always needs to be protected (by men). In my opinion, the only reason that Jim’s survival is necessary at the end, is because unlike the pairing of Selena and Hannah, the pairing of Jim and Selena implies a return to a patriarchal, “normal” society.

All three of the movies we watched this week focused on the sexual agency of women, particularly their importance in post-apocalyptic worlds as the progenitors of humanity. Both Apocalypto and Children of Men have pivotal moments where the female protagonist reveals her pregnant belly, which represents the characters’ (and sometimes the world’s) only hope for the future. Furthermore, it is a transformation of the traditional heroine of the romance, from the passive recipient of the man’s desire to the active participant in sexual activities, whose fertility is valued more than her virginity. To a certain extent, however, post-apocalyptic stories reassert a traditional vision of female sexuality, which is regulated within a heterosexual relationship and which is channeled towards a purpose as opposed to pleasure. It reminds me of how Jezebel was particularly vilified in the Book of Revelation, supposedly for her sexual promiscuity, but more likely because she had some clout within the local Christian community, and as such, was a threat to John. He drew the connection between a woman’s sexual agency and the beginning of her political and social independence from men. In Apocalypto and Children of Men, Kee and Seven’s pregnancy, the most obvious marker of their sexuality, leave them vulnerable and in need of protection. Seven, for example,while she does have resilience and the strength of character,does not have the physical strength to save herself and her children. She would have most certainly died of starvation and exposure in that hole, if Jaguar paw had not returned to rescue her. The difference in strength between them is further highlighted by the structure of the film; scenes of Jaguar Paw outrunning and killing the raiders are interspersed with those of Seven, stuck in the hole.

Apocalyptic narratives envision a world where entire structures of society have been uprooted and destroyed – the end of the world as we know it – and it follows that social constructions such as race, class, and gender should become increasingly obsolete. I can’t figure out a way to express this coherently, but the focus on female sexuality, particularly fertility, reveals what people believe is “natural” or “biological” about gender roles. Furthermore, I can’t help but find it really disconcerting when a woman’s importance hinges on her unborn child, as well as when her life becomes secondary to that child’s life. It’s the same sort of rhetoric that comes out of the anti-choice sectors of society.