The Mission

"Overall good documentary, thought it would focus more on why people shouldn’t go to this island or more of the history. It did tell John’s story but it was very evangelical "

"The fact that John Chau, via one of his journal entries, depicted Sentinel Island and its indigenous inhabitants as “Satan’s last stronghold” should have been my first clue as to how delusional this kid really was. An evangelical Christian, indoctrinated from a young age by way of his ultra conservative religious education, (although interestingly, not by his parents who were much more moderate in their beliefs), Chau set off on his long-planned and equally shortsighted mission to tame the savages, who in this case happen to be the last remaining members of an uncontacted tribe of approximately 200 people living on North Sentinel Island in the Adaman archipelago in the Bay of Bengal where they have existed, more or less I disturbed, for approximately 56,000 years. A plan ill conceived and poorly executed, Chau was hit and killed by multiple arrows wielded by the Sentinelese barely moments after approaching the beach on the island where he had paid local pirates to deliver him. The documentary itself is not bad. The most difficult thing about watching it was the appreciation of the amount of arrogance involved in believing that it is perfectly fine to invade someone’s home for the purpose of pushing your own controversial beliefs on people who have clearly expressed they have zero desire to participate in one’s self-centered cultural exchange. Had Chau made it to the island without being riddled by arrows, he would have risked the life of every person there, as it is assumed they have no natural immunity to even the most benign human illness. Chau wasn’t on a mission from God to spread the gospel despite his assertions in his journal. Fascinated by adventurers and stories of exploration from a young age, he dreamed of swinging from trees and gathering coconuts while presumably, I don’t know, sporting a loincloth. This was not about the islanders. It was all about the odd proclivity of evangelicals to insist that everyone believe as they do. "