Religious Symbolism In The Film 'I Am Legend'

On the surface, the 2007 film I Am Legend comes across as a mainstream Hollywood action blockbuster and it certainly contains all the essential elements of that genre. It has Will Smith, an established Hollywood star, who plays the lone and masculine hero, who must save everyone at all costs, by defeating the monsters in a series of choreographed action scenes. The film also has a very high production value up to 150 million dollars. However, I Am Legend has a serious message about how we as a society have forgotten God, and in doing so we have failed to value the things that are really important. A close examination of this text shows that it is not just an action/horror film. This film contains religious symbolism and if the viewer is not aware of this, it changes
their reception of it from violent entertainment to a message for humanity about love and redemption.
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I am Legend displays a primary symbolism that is constantly shown everywhere throughout the movie: the butterfly. The butterfly symbolises a lot of things. It can be interpreted as a sign of what is important. In this case, the butterfly reminds Robert of his daughter Marley, as it is one of her last words to Robert before she died in a helicopter crash (“Daddy look, it’s a butterfly!”). For the alpha male darkseeker it reminds him of his lover, as shown at the butterfly tattoo on the alpha female’s neck. It can also be described as a transformation. Throughout the film, Robert have changed from an angry, isolated and lonely man into a gentle and understanding man, just like how a butterfly bursts out of its cocoon. But particularly, the symbol represents God Himself. The constant showing of the butterfly
symbol tells us that God is everywhere; He is watching our every move. In the first scene, when Robert is driving his shiny red Camaro, he takes a sharp turn to the left, and then the camera shifts to a poster with an image of a butterfly, and underneath it are the words: God Still Loves Us, Do We Still Love God? Also on the poster is a picture of a pair of hands reaching to one another, from the famous image of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Creation , in which God reaches out to create Adam, hence the name Creation. However, the image in the poster is slightly different. Adam’s hand is a bit buff, compared to God’s hand, which looks skinnier. Also, Adam’s hand is seen to be pointing a gun to God’s withering hand. This particular scene gives us a heads up of what is to come, that is, the concept of how humans are now trying to play God and try to change His plans, despite everything that God has done to humans.