If America chooses to ‘leave the world behind’

January 19, 2024

SEOUL – Currently, the United States of America is experiencing a plethora of domestic and overseas crises. Internally, there is unprecedented political bipolarity, severe inflation and the surge of a COVID-19 variant called JN 1 that have caused widespread deaths. Externally, the Ukraine war, the South China Sea dispute and North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile launches threatening mainland America come to mind.

Under the circumstances, many Americans no longer want their country to interfere in international affairs. They want to “leave the world behind” instead and have their country lead a serene life in isolation. Surely, however, that is not the Founding Fathers’ original dream.

One way to watch the 2023 American apocalyptic movie, “Leave the World Behind” is to read it as a metaphorical depiction of what would happen if Americans chose to be isolated from the world. The movie begins with that premise, as Amanda Sanford, an advertising executive from New York, is tired of people and the world and decides to “leave the world behind” for a quiet vacation in a rented house in Long Island with her husband Clay and her two children, Rose and Archie.

When they arrive at the beautiful rented house, however, a series of weird things start to happen. There is no Wi-Fi connection, no mobile phone service and no TV reception in that house. A huge cargo ship crashes on the seashore where they are sunbathing. At night, a man named George H. Scott suddenly appears with his daughter Ruth at the doorstep and reveals that he is the owner of the house. George then explains that he and his daughter had to return home because of an abrupt citywide blackout in the city, where they were residing.

Amanda is