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The message the movie Seven Pounds sends to viewers is that of personal sacrifice. It's the same positive message that seems to resurface through every generation. Most notably, the message of sacrifice that the life of Christ brought 2,000 years ago. The resiliency of the human spirit, and the idea of helping a stranger are both beautiful and intriguing ideas. Seven Pounds does a good job of reminding us of these age-old notions.

While the movie's storyline is not portrayed in a linear fashion on the screen, the story is finely pieced together. The main character, Tim Thomas (Will Smith), was a very successful engineer with an expensive house, a nice car, and a gorgeous wife. One evening Tim and his wife are driving home when he unknowingly wonders into the wrong line while on his cell phone. Unfortunately he collides with an oncoming van leaving seven people dead, including his wife. After this tragedy, he spends the rest of his life looking for seven people who he can make a sacrifice for, and ultimately save from their personal afflictions. He will give seven pounds of himself (organs, bone marrow, etc.) to atone for his unfortunate accident.

To gain a list of possible donors, Tim steals his brother Ben's IRS credentials to access people's personal information. After finding a list of possible recipients, he examines each person's life a little closer. If Tim finds these people to be good and decent, he choses to give them "a gift". It is up to Tim's closest friend Dan to make sure these people are taken care of after he is deceased. While he can give things like bone marrow and a kidney while he is alive, his ultimate sacrifices come after his death. Upon dying, he plans to give his eyes to a pianist named Ezra (Woody Harrelson) and his heart for a girl Tim briefly falls in love with, Emily (Rosario Dawson). This element of romantic love that Tim unexpectedly stumbles upon makes the movie's message even more clear. Tim gives up his desire to live and to fall in love to ultimately save Emily, as well as the others he has chosen. Even before Tim's death, he has sacrificed all relationships in his life. His loving brother Ben tries over and again to reach out and help, but he is unaware of Tim's plans of personal sacrifice. The movie clearly shows Tim's love for his brother, but he has to protect his plan as well as Ben by shutting him out.

As you can see, Seven Pounds has a clear message. The story that plays out simply shows the importance and also the rarity of personal sacrifice. The imagery and dialogue worked in perfect harmony to portray an important message in Seven Pounds.

Learn more about this author, Scott Blackburn.
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