Babel

The movie Babel, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, is an intriguing story about a married couple, Richard and Susan, who are struggling to be reconciled after the Richard abandoned the family and has now returned. In order to encourage his wife’s forgiveness, Richard takes Susan on a vacation of North Africa so they can spend a lot of time together and talk through the issues.

The movie artfully weaves three other stories together to illustrate how one event is caused by another, working together to bring about the final result. First there are the two Moroccan brothers, both in their early teens, who are shepherds taking care of their father’s flock in the hills. Their father buys a rifle for them to kill the jackals before they eat all the sheep. In a bizarre twist, the younger brother, trying to outdo his older brother, ends up shooting Susan, who is riding in a tourist bus passing past the brothers’ village. The boys hide the rifle and run back home, while Richard frantically tries to find a doctor who can save Susan’s life. As the police investigate the incident, the trail leads back to the father. As they flee the police, the older brother is shot to death by the police before the younger brother surrenders and confesses.

Then there is the story of a Mexican nanny taking care of two children, a boy and a girl. Half way through the movie you begin to realize that these are Richard and Susan’s children. The nanny, desiring to go to her son’s wedding but unable to leave since Richard and Susan haven’t returned on time, takes the children to Mexico along with her nephew who drives them there.

The final story is of a deaf Japanese girl who is desperate for love after losing her mother by suicide. Feeling alienated from her father, she seeks the attention of any male she thinks she can seduce. In another bizarre twist, she seduces a young police detective who has come to ask her father a few questions. When she realizes that the police are interested in her father’s missing rifle, she tries to protect him by fabricating a story about her mother’s suicide, saying she jumped from the balcony. Later on we realize that the rifle was given to a Moroccan hunting guide by her father as a thank you present. It was this rifle that was sold the brothers’ father and which nearly killed Susan. The Japanese girl’s father tells the police detective that his wife didn’t jump from the balcony but blew her head off with a gun. It was the girl who was the first to find her mother dead. While the father emphatically claims it was suicide, we are left wondering why he gave the rifle away. Was he overcome with grief and wanted to get rid of the weapon that his wife used to commit suicide, or was he trying to get rid of the evidence that might implicate him in the murder of his wife. In either case, the giving of the rifle to the Moroccan guide was the event that eventually led up to the shooting of Susan.

The movie also shows how the shooting of Susan ultimately causes the deportation of the Mexican nanny. Since Richard and Susan couldn’t come back on time, she took it upon herself to take the children to Mexico for the wedding. On returning to the United States, the border guards realized something wasn’t right, and a chase ensues as the nephew tries to elude the border patrol. Finally, they are found and the nanny is deported for illegally taking the children into Mexico without written authorization from the parents.


This movie artfully shows how one action can affect the lives of many other people. A suicide/murder leads to a gun being illegally purchased. That leads to an accidental shooting which results in the police killing a young boy fleeing from authorities. The shooting leads to the husband and wife being unable to return home on time, leading to the nanny taking the children illegally into Mexico, ultimately ending in her deportation.

Every decision we make affects not only ourselves but others around us, and may cause a chain of events that touches the lives of people we will never meet. The law of unintended consequences is real and must be taken into account when we make decisions. While we can’t know what result our actions may have, we can be sure that when we make wrong choices we will end up hurting someone. There are no victimless crimes and when we choose to do what is wrong or foolish, we will eventually have to answer for the pain and suffering it caused others.

In the end, the whole sequence of events resulted in the reconciliation of Richard and Susan. This reminds us that God works all things together for the good. Even negative circumstances can work good in our lives. So, even though we can’t choose the consequences of our choices, God can still override our ignorance, foolishness, and sinfulness for his glory. The key is to seek forgiveness and reconciliation.

One caveat needs to be made: this move has some explicit sexuality and portrays some negative behavior, so it isn’t for everyone.