rivers@seismo.UUCP (Wilmer Rivers) (03/05/84)
As long as flames as being posted regarding the ending of "2001",
would someone care to speculate about the meaning of the scene in
which the aging Bowman, under study in the extra-terrestrial zoo
(which has been made to resemble a hotel room), knocks a wine glass
off the table, causing it to shatter on the floor ? Why would Kubrick
attribute significance to such a trivial act ? I can think of only 3
possibilities :
1) It shows that mankind is still fallible and hence in need of
further alien intervention.
2) It recalls an opening scene, in which the effect of the monolith
was to inspire the ape to smash something (a tapir skeleton). The
aliens must act further to remove the destructive behavior inherent
in mankind.
3) Since breaking a goblet is part of the ritual in a Jewish wedding
ceremony (& since Kubrick is Jewish), the director is signifying that
a union between mankind and the aliens is occuring, the offspring of
which is the "star-child".
Does anyone have any more plausible, or at least more interesting,
interpretations ?
W. Riversrjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (03/06/84)
>> would someone care to speculate about the meaning of the scene in >> which the aging Bowman . . . knocks a wine glass >> off the table, causing it to shatter on the floor ? I would not try to attribute too much meaning to anything Kubrick came up with. He deals mostly in images, not concepts or thoughts. I'm pretty certain that Clarke did not come up with this one. If you want meaning, read Clarke's "2001", "Lost Worlds of 2001", and "2010". These works are totally distinct and separate from the movie, as far as I am concerned. But I greatly enjoy them all, each for its own merits. Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe
djo@sdchema.UUCP (03/08/84)
I thought it signified Bowman's eminent death. I've always felt it was at that point that he began to *know* why he was in that room at all.