upstill@ucbvax.UUCP (10/09/83)
For those who are bewildered at the themes of 2001, chew on this
next time you see it: (I haven't read the book, so forgive any repetitions)
The film is about two great steps of man. The first is the use
of tools and technology. The monolith appears at the beginning solely
to present this idea to the apes, who are otherwise qualified to receive
it. The second great step is to transcend technology when that it reaches
a logical endpoint. When is that endpoint? When the tools take over.
Notice: in the movie every computer, every spaceship has much more
interest and beauty than any of the characters. The (human) characters
are so insufferably dull and banal simply because they are serving the
tools, not the other way around (the shuttle crew does nothing but watch
the machines do their jobs for them; the Jupiter crew eat food designed
for machines to produce, not for people to eat). From this point of view,
much of the dialogue in the movie is hilarious (listen to Floyd's reactions
to the first contact with extraterrestrial life).
This is my reading of the film. Watched closely, almost every shot
deals with this theme in one way or another, observing humans stripped
of their humanity by the glorious tools which they have built. The end
of the film is just about taking the next step, of leaving behind this
shell. Note that none of this is anti-technology, else tools would never
have been introduced in the first place. The point is that what is
appropriate or necessary in one context may have a limited usefulness.
In case it is unclear, 2001 is probably my alltime favorite film.
Comments?
Steve Upstilledr@teklabs.UUCP (Ed Reuss) (10/12/83)
2001's theme is existential. That's why the original seemed so long and boring to those who couldn't appreciate it. Recognize that the version most often shown in the theatres is a cut down version released after the first run. The ape who figures out how to use the bone as a weapon is an image of the Nietzsche-an "Super-man" as in his book "Also Sprach Zaratustra", as is the rebirth of Dave at the end of the film. Note, the 2001 theme music used during these scenes is the opening bars of Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra". All this relates back to the old 19th century Byronian, Nietzsche-an, Wagnerian Romantic conquering hero. No doubt Siegfried (from Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelung") would be proud. I liked the idea about man using tools to develop technology eventually leading to man becoming a tool of technology. Nice touch. It is a credit that the most dated aspects of the movie are the hair styles the clothes, and some of that is starting to come back in style. I still get a chuckle out of the photographer's plaid suit. Ed Reuss teklabs!edr