The Legacy of 2001: A Space Odyssey

welcome to nightmare master class my name is David Stockdale I'll be your host on this excursion into the dark unknown well the development of advanced technology lead to the next step in the course of human evolution or will it serve to tear Society completely apart in this installment of nightmare master class I'm analyzing the classic 1968 science fiction epic 2001 a Space Odyssey it shouldn't be controversial to say that 2001 is one of the greatest science fiction films of all time it may well be one of the greatest films of all time directed by Stanley Kubrick 2001 follows a space mission to the planet Jupiter though of course that pithy one-line summary can't possibly capture the cinematic journey that is 2001 and nearly two and a half hours long 2001 is a behemoth but the film is notably lacking in dialogue it actually has just around 40 minutes worth of it instead of the expository dialogue we have grown accustomed to in your run-of-the-mill sci-fi movies were treated to the height of both spectacle and yes terror in this cinematic experience Kubrick is known for the breathtaking amount of detail in his films and that is certainly the case with 2001 the film is undeniably beautiful especially in light of the time in which it was created the 2001 is also an enigmatic film over the years fans and critics alike have postulated various interpretations of the movie there are some rather ominous themes apparent throughout 2001 it begs the question what exactly is the film saying about humanity stay tuned for my analysis of 2001 a Space Odyssey [Music] the screenplay for 2001 was written by Kubrick along with science fiction author arthur c clarke who concurrently developed a novel based on the same idea some people think that Clarke's highly detailed novel is the key to interpreting the film but others think that the movie should stand on its own I tend to share this view if you think that you've got the inside track on the meaning of this film because you've read the book I think you're making a terrible mistake by assuming that Kubrick is a tricky director interestingly Clarke was not privy to certain scenes in the film when he was writing the novel as such it is also important to note that there are a few glaring differences between the film and the movie nonetheless it is helpful to have additional context from time to time so the novel is something that I will occasionally reference in this analysis Kubrick and Clarke set out to make a good science fiction movie and that's something that arguably didn't exist prior to the making of this film science fiction cinema prior to 1968 was fraught with cheesy effects any acting and lackluster writing with a swiftness of a deadly cosmic ray the earth is invaded by indestructible moon monsters their ghastly mission death of All Humans 2001 proved that it was possible to make a good science fiction film indeed the movie was so exceptional that it worked to legitimize the genre itself of course the film is better experienced than it is explained as such if you haven't already seen the movie I'm going to ask you to stop watching this right now and come back when you've seen it really stop watching there's no point in continuing if you haven't seen the movie you can stream it on YouTube for like three dollars I'm now going to briefly summarize the key events of the film the movie starts with an overture which plays in total darkness it resonates widely between dissonance and harmony after this were treated to the spectacle of the moon the earth and the Sun in alignment as a tone poem by Richard Strauss play the piece is called thus Spoke their first stuff and was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise of the same name certain interpretations lend credence to the idea that Beach's treatise is semantically linked to the film itself we'll touch on that later the title reads 2001 a Space Odyssey the first section titled the dawn of man takes place in the deserts of Africa the scenery is beautiful but there's a haunting sort of brutality to it bones cover the forefront of the scenic landscape a group of ape-like creatures struggle for survival in this desolate wasteland the Apes are driven away from their watering hole by a rival tribe the following morning the downtrodden group awakens to find what will refer to as the monolith from this point forward and at this point you're probably realizing that the monolith is of tremendous importance to this whole film the scores marked ominously by layers of dissonant moans as these protohumans surround the thing bashing their chests and screeching they're clearly apprehensive about the situation later on one of the aides from the group stands over a pile of bones he picks one of the bones up and studies it again thus Spoke there through slow plays it seems the ape is having an epiphany the eight begins to use the bone like a club the film cuts to a confrontation between the two rival tribes at the watering hole one of the Apes from the central group stands up on his hind legs and proceeds to kill one of the rival group members using the bone of the club just as he had learned in the previous scene another eighth from the central tribe repeats the very same act in this triumphant moment our hero throws the bone up in the air and it is here that we jump forward millions of years into the future the film cuts to a spacecraft drifting in Earth's orbit dr. Heywood Floyd makes his way to an outpost on the moon he talks briefly with his young daughter whose birthday he's missing due to a prior engagement but also speaks with a Soviet colleague who asked him about rumors of an epidemic on the moon outpost the Floyd isn't at liberty to divulge any information to his colleague when dr. Floyd arrives he meets with personnel at the base and proceeds to brief them on their mission it turns out that the epidemic mentioned by dr. Floyd Soviet colleague was merely a cover story the team's real mission is to investigate an artifact on the moon that is thought to have been buried there millions of years ago Floyd and his crew travel to the artifacts location and we find that the object is virtually identical to the monolith found by the ape-like creatures on earth millions of years ago once sunlight hits the monolith it emits a high-pitched noise which immobilizes the crew the next section titled the Jupiter mission commences a year and a half later we join the spacecraft discovery one on its voyage to Jupiter the crew consists of scientists dr. David Bowman and dr. Frank Poole along with three other astronauts and cryogenic hibernation oh and there's one more crew member the ship's operations are almost entirely controlled by a super intelligent computer called the Hal 9000 or pal for sure in an interview for a news program al states that he is quote incapable of error he seems to take pride in this l interacts with dr. Coleman and Poole and various scenes he was a chess game against Poole he tends to dr. Poole's various needs as Poole watches a transmission from his parents they wish him a happy birthday later on Hal has an interesting conversation with Coleman how questions dr. Bowman about his feelings towards the mysterious nature of their mission how himself admits to feeling ambivalent about this it is then revealed that how is working up a psychological assessment of dr. Coleman this appears to be standard protocol immediately after this Hal detects a fault in an antenna unit he predicts that the component will fail within 72 hours they retrieve the unit but find nothing wrong with it how suggest that they should reinstall the unit and let it fail so as to diagnose the fault though Mission Control advises that the Hal 9000 computer back on earth is giving to collecting results they indicate that Howe has made an error he'll defend himself claiming that the discrepancy must be due to human error Poole a moment go out into a pod and have a private discussion they plan on deactivating Hal if it's proven that he has indeed made an error but what Bowman and Poole don't realize is that Hal has been reading their lips throughout this entire conversation and there's an intermission for left pondering this cliffhanger for a few minutes Poole goes on a spacewalk to replace the unit in the process Hal takes control of the pod cuts off pools oxygen and sends him flailing out into space Welman tries to rescue him and in the meantime how cuts off the rest of the crews life-support systems they're all killed Bowman fails to save Poole but does succeed in retrieving his body when Bowman returns how refuses to let him in the ship open the pod bay doors Hal I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid I can't do that he'll states that Bowman and Poole's plan to deactivate him has put the entire mission in jeopardy Bowman circumvents he'll by manually opening the ship's emergency airlock he travels through the ship to a room that contains hell's processor Bolin proceed to deactivate how removing components of his processor little by little we witness has intellectual abilities deteriorate he attempts to reason with Bowman then expresses fear and finally as the remainder of house intellect is removed Helsing's daisy bell' is very first programmed memory immediately after house deactivation the ship displays a projection as a recording plays it's a pre-recorded message from dr. Heywood Floyd Floyd reveals the discovery of the monolith on the moon and explains that the mysterious object has transmitted a signal in the precise direction of Jupiter Bowman completes the voyage he discovers another monolith in the orbit of Jupiter his pod is encompassed by the monolith as a spectacle of shapes and colors dance on the screen Bowman is catapulted into another worldly place as he's exposed to various nebulas strange landscapes and other surreal imagery well and then finds himself in an elegant neoclassical bedroom he sees and then becomes progressively older versions of themselves Bowman now old and decrepit lays in his bed the monolith appears at the foot of the bed Bowman reaches out for the monolith and is inexplicably transformed into a giant glowing fetus again let's poke there through stir plays the fetus floats in Earth's orbit staring back at the planet and that's it left the end because of 2001's enigmatic nature the film has been thoroughly analyzed by numerous fans since its release in 1968 and my analysis is heavily informed by these various interpretations this was in a sense unavoidable I've seen this movie quite a few times over the years I can't even begin to count how many different interpretations I've come across at various points throughout my life we are appropriate I will cite these interpretations and if you're interested in a little additional reading check out the video description 2001 is Grand both in style and thematic scope but a cursory examination of the plot might indicate that the film is a little disjointed I mean the whole first act is about a warring tribe of eight people the second act involves a sentient supercomputer gone mad and the third act mainly entails a series of abstract colorful images and a giant space foetus yes it seems a little disjointed but this is actually not the case the story is certainly not traditional at least not in terms of the kinds of films that preceded it but it does make sense here's a way of thinking about the film that might help illustrate certain themes and perhaps even an underlying meaning now I know it's a little played out to call any particular film a quote modern-day myth but if there's any film that can be said to meet this criteria its 2001 in fact I think it would be negligent not to discuss the mythological components of the film but first I need to talk about Joseph Campbell Campbell was a mythologist he's best known for his book the hero with a thousand faces in which he lays out his theory of the archetypal hero an archetype is a reoccurring pattern symbol or motif that is found in art and literature a recognizable type of character that appears across literature and other media can be thought of as an archetype Campbell worked to popularize the ideas of Carl Jung a psychiatrist whose entire psychological framework is built around the idea of archetypes in his book man and his symbols Jung elaborates on this idea quote the term archetype is often misunderstood as meaning certain definite mythological images or motifs but these are nothing more than conscious representations such variable representations cannot be inherited the archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif representations that can vary a great deal without losing their basic pattern and quote the Christ figure for instance is one that seems to reoccur throughout the stories of various cultures Kamel popularized this notion specifically with respect to narratives of various cultures throughout time Campbell was a proponent of a concept called the monomyth that is the idea that all myths are variations of the same basic story a story Campbell typically referred to as the hero's journey we all likely know the hero's journey from an intuitive standpoint we've all seen it play out a vast number of times in myriad ways the narratives of Jesus Moses Krishna and Buddha are said to fit into this pattern Campbell lays out the full 17 stages in the hero with a thousand faces so pick it up if you're interested not every monomyth will necessarily go through all of the stages and stories don't all necessarily go in the same order but here are a few major points the first act commonly referred to as the departure contains the call to adventure this is the point in the story where the hero resides in some state of established normality a kind of everyday life the hero then receives information that causes them to head out into the unknown in 2001 humankind itself can be thought of as the archetypal hero the normality established in 2001 is both the fight for survival against various predators as well as the brutal competition of people and rival tribes the tribe driven away from the watering hole is the tribe our proto hero belongs to he serves as a stand-in for humanity at this point the departure also contains a stage referred to as supernatural aid in which the hero meets a guide often times a character with otherworldly powers with the guidance of this character the hero then quote crosses the threshold into the unknown the supernatural aid referenced in the departure can be thought of as the monolith the monolith appears and our hero is imbued with knowledge that aids him in the tribal conflict from this point forward these creatures we assume to be the precursor to humanity are now in uncharted territory they have the ability to develop tools technology itself is the impetus for human beings crossing the threshold into the unknown expanding outward conquering new lands and making new discoveries camo refers to the second act as the initiation which begins with the quote road two trials essentially a series of tasks that the hero must undergo Campbell notes that oftentimes the hero fails one or more of these tests in 2001 this plays out in a surprisingly granular way when Hale and dr. Frank cool are playing chess howl suggests to pool that he's going to lose in two moves as a result dr. Poole resigns from the game without further consideration of Hal's assessment but if you actually look at the chessboard and you know how to play chess you'll see that Hale is incorrect pool is capable of staving off a checkmate for two additional moves so dr. Poole fails his first test he's unable to recognize how the parent Val ability pool serves as a stand-in for humanity in this competition by extension humanity has failed its first test in the story why is this game of chess so important well it should be noted that often times Cold War was thought of it an elaborate game of chess I believe there's an era to the idea that Kubrick was calling attention to larger geopolitical issues we'll touch on that later another integral part of the initiation is what Campbell called apotheosis a moment of realization for the hero this realization arms the hero with what he or she needs in order to face their most difficult challenge yet when dr. Bowman realizes how's intentions what he's done to pool what he plans to do to Bowman himself he knows that he'll must be deactivated he has all of the knowledge he needs in order to move forward and face this challenge Campbell defines the ultimate Boone as the completion of the central goal in the case of 2001 Bowman reaches this narrative peak when he arrived at Jupiter through the monolith Bowman enters an otherworldly realm and ends up in a neoclassical kind of bedroom and he seems totally content with the idea of staying there this calls to mind yet another stage in the hero's journey referred to as the refusal of the return Campbell describes this stage as the hero's reluctance to come back to the everyday world instead opting to live with the gods another stage called rescue from without entails the assistance of the supernatural guide the hero often weakened by their journey is helped back to their home this occurs in 2001 again with the assistance of a monolith moment now in the throes of death from old age returns to earth but he returns as a completely new being the ending of the film constitutes a transformation for Bowman who himself serves as a stand-in for all of humanity Campbell said be sure there's nothing perishes in the whole universe but it does vary and renew its form thus the next moment is permitted to come to pass so the star child can be thought of in this way a renewal of humanities form though we should be careful here there are limits to this sort of mythological approach to interpreting work the hero's journey is described by Campbell is inherently broad it must be since it encompasses the widest possible set of narratives across cultures in time or at least it attempts to when viewing these things from an archetypal framework it is something to oversimplify aspects of the narrative in a way that ultimately might be counterproductive perhaps I've done that with certain elements of 2001 everything can fit into an archetypal framework if you do enough mental gymnastics critics of Campbell's approach often note that his boiling down of various myths works in some ways to remove the cultural significance of the stories themselves the respective purposes of the myths in the context of their specific cultural origins I'm not claiming that Campbell's approach is entirely invalid it's just not the whole story I think you have to go further and recognize that oftentimes the nuance of a story is where you'll find the real meat of the work in my view what is valuable about this mythological approach is that it acknowledges there are certain themes and motifs that ring true in stories across the span of human culture specifically in relation to 2001 there is this idea of the hero traversing and conquering the unknown and turning it into something useful that's a resonant idea but as the expanse of the unknown frontier widens into space so too are their frontiers that turn inwards towards humanity itself and 2001 has more to say about the depravity of human behavior than it does about space exploration or malevolent super computers or hyper conscious space fetuses yes I believe that 2001 works in parallel with the template of the hero's journey in ways that are illuminating to its underlying themes and plot mechanics but if I just stopped and left it at that I think we'd be missing a few integral P to the puzzle in some ways 2001 is the kind of inversion of Campbell's monomyth after all there's not one specific hero throughout the film we the audience are left wondering who if anyone we are meant to care about and I'd argue that the very idea that humanity is even worthy of saving is undermined at various points in the film we'll touch on that later if we're viewing this movie from the perspective that humanity itself is the hero it stands to reason that perhaps the failings of certain characters effectively serve as an incisive sort of criticism of humanity itself indeed 2001's depiction of future society is one that hinges upon the repression of emotional impulses I'll first note the distinct lack of emotion in the characters throughout this film you might be inclined to chalk that up to bad acting but knowing what we know about Kubrick's dedication to the small details in his films I'm convinced these hollow emotionless expressions are intentional let's look at the mission briefing now uh I know there have been some conflicting views held by some of you regarding the need for complete security in this matter more specifically your opposition to the cover story created to give the impression as an epidemic at the base many of you were troubled by the concern and anxiety this story of an epidemic might cause to your relatives friends on earth well I completely sympathize your negative views dr. Floyd have you any idea how much longer this cover story will have to be maintained I don't know bill I I suppose it'll be maintained as long as deemed necessary by the council not the way in which this conversation seems totally banal to the characters involved keep in mind they've just made the singular most important discovery in the history of humankind and yet the conversation is completely sterile there's no emotion whatsoever it's as though they're discussing a bank transaction there is a historical precedent for this during the Cuban Missile Crisis President Kennedy recorded his meetings with advisers and intelligence officials including his brother Robert Kennedy who was Attorney General at the time as well as the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara so he says yeah I kill it yeah absolutely you take off 735 bombs this is a this is an extensive Stryper talk and I hope it is okay know if you know anything about the Cuban Missile Crisis you know that this is a discussion of potentially catastrophic proportions though based on the tenor of this conversation you'd think they were discussing a business deal that had gone sour now back to the movie dr. Floyd is giving this mission briefing all the while we know that he's missing his daughter's birthday during his communication with his daughter dr. Floyd expression is blank his eyes are hollow on the voyage to Jupiter dr. Poole receives a birthday message from his parents his reaction as he watches this message is very subdued it would appear that missing birthdays is something of a reoccurring motif in this film dr. Poole's expression is totally blank again we could chalk this up to bad acting I just doubt that's the case knowing Kubrick this was an intentional choice in the direction of the film in this regard the film is eerily prophetic I would say this is because while the plethora of new technology as well as the common use of social media is ideally thought of as a means of better connecting us to each other in some ways these things actually serve to alienate and isolate people for instance UCLA scientists found that heavy use of technology such as smartphones computers and TV may be impeding young people's ability to read emotions another study found that the more young adults use social media the more likely they are to be depressed tellingly house voice in the film is more emotive than any other person in this movie this makes sense considering he was designed to interact with humans yet people have become so dispassionate in Kubrick's not-so-distant future that they appear more robotics than the super intelligent computer the only time dr. Bowman really gets worked up is when his life is in immediate danger society in 2001 has shifted in some sense to a point where strong expressions of emotion are Anantha m'a we're not really clued into why this is you don't really have a good idea of what society back on earth is like but it could be that Kubrick was commenting on the societal trends he noticed during his own lifetime a definitive aspect of the science fiction genre is it's novel at times disconcerting depiction of technology 2001 is a shining example of that technology works in mysterious ways in this film but in large part it serves to isolate people again the film is eerily prophetic in this way it certainly helps if we frame this in the scope of history after all historical trends are often largely dictated by the advancement of technology particularly with respect to weapons and it is essential to note that the very first piece of technology in the film is a weapon specifically it's a bone it is the first instance in which the dynamics imposed by nature are totally upended for this proto-human group instead of the absolute strongest of the Apes dominating the watering hole it's now the ones with the most ingenious means of doing away with their enemies and if anything can be said to be the defining quality of humans it's our enginee but nonetheless it is still only through violence that this process of dominance occurs so in a sense while the dynamics of inter species conflict have shifted in this first part of the film the underlying Darwinian framework hasn't changed that is to say we're still competing for survival in this introductory scene we have seen the seeds of human civilization and what exactly is depicted it's just a more sophisticated means of perpetrating violence immediately after the scene with the conflicting ape tribes the film cuts to a spacecraft in the film there is but a mere suggestion that the spacecraft is a weapon there is after all a bone like shape on the top of it perhaps this was Kubrick's sort of clue that things haven't really changed all that much in a few million years in Clarke's book the ship is explicitly referred to as a nuclear device this touches upon Kubrick's previous film dr. Strangelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb Kubrick's political farce apply to biting commentary on the Cold War specifically with respect to the doctrine of mutually assured destruction this is the idea that specifically in the case of the Cold War both the Soviet Union and the United States would be deterred from engaging in nuclear warfare due to the likelihood of the conflict ending in complete worldwide disaster the themes and dr. Strangelove are something to consider especially in light of the fact that be footage from the film was actually used in the third act of two thousand one and while violence is a reoccurring theme in 2001 its depiction becomes less and less visceral and more emotionally removed as the film progresses this is no accident the first part of the movie depicts an ape killing another ape with a bone Club as opposed to the alternative of unarmed combat the bone Club puts a bit of distance between the apeman and his rival compared to the alternative that is fighting to the death with their bare hands this is a relatively more impersonal exchange though only slightly so it's still quite brutal from our perspective though as technology advances conflicts in the film become increasingly removed from an individual standpoint that is not to say that these conflicts are any less disconcerting they're just more palatable to our senses they're not as messy take for instance house prompted stashing of dr. Poole compared to the killing at the beginning of the film this one is considerably more subdued of course the result for the victim is the same he's dead but the process itself is in a sense more user-friendly for another example let's turn to dr. Bowman subsequent the activation of hell on one level Bowman is just removing some units from a computer it's as though he's just getting rid of a few faulty pieces of equipment though on another level we the viewers know that Bowman is removing parts of Hal's brain one by one while Hal is conscious enough to realize what's happening we're seeing Hal a being who wants to pride in his intelligence having that taken away from him in a slow and excruciating process and there's nothing he can do to stop it I mean I take Hal at his word when he's pleading for mercy and when he says that he's afraid and certainly true that we in the real world have developed more and more advanced ways of destroying one another inherent within these advancements is the further removal of personal involvement and along with it the illusory removal of moral culpability that last part is important the more palatable an act of violence is the easier it is to commit such acts a soldier during the Revolutionary War might well end up looking his enemy in the eye as he killed them the cost of war was significantly higher in those days in large part this is no longer the case killing has become totally impersonal during Obama's presidency a whistleblower gave the intercept a cache of documents in tailing a series of US drone strikes in Somalia Afghanistan and Yemen one military campaign called Operation haymaker was carried out in the northern part of Afghanistan the intercept reported quote US Special Operations airstrikes killed more than 200 people of those only 35 were the intended targets during one five-month period of the operation according to the documents nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets and it certainly seems that the current administration has no qualms about drone warfare either president Trump restored the CIA's authority to carry out drone strikes reversing an Obama era policy that gave such authority to the Pentagon some senators interpreted this as an effort to broaden the use of drone strikes at least 46 civilians were claimed dead in a recent US drone strike outside of Aleppo local activists and a modern group reported that the strike occurred at a mosque during a religious gathering through our use of drones we've developed an almost completely impersonal way to destroy our enemies and for those employing said weapons this is certainly a good thing it means we no longer have to risk the lives of US soldiers in these conflicts strategically it's a major advantage but sadly the civilians murdered in these strikes are merely thought of as collateral damage other lives not important enough to consider in this equation may be the fact that it's now immeasurably easier to eliminate people is not necessarily a good thing maybe these technological advances come in at an untold cost and there are even more disconcerting technological advances on the horizon look up lethal automated weaponry and you'll see what I mean I wrote an essay for digital ethics org and 2015 on the topic I'll now read a brief excerpt as technology evolves so too must our ethical frameworks it's a point that's been made a lot in recent times but with each passing moment with each new development the point gets hammered home with increasing lucidity a recent experiment performed by the US government may be the impetus in a new trend involving artificial intelligence in weaponry an Air Force b-1 bomber launched a missile in southern california human pilots initially guided the missile however halfway to its destination communication with the device was severed leaving the computer systems to decide which of three ships to attack in fact this weapon the long-range anti-ship missile prototype is designed to operate without human control this experiment is a notable marker in the history of artificial intelligence AI is beginning to make serious headway in many fields medical diagnostics stock trading and even gaming though in a way autonomous technology specifically in relation to weaponry is a direct product of the Cold War the tomahawk cruise missile now out of commission had the ability to hunt Soviet vessels without human guidance in December 1988 the Navy tested harpoon anti-missile with self-guiding capabilities with disastrous results launched from an f-18 Hornet fighter jet from the USS Constellation the missile mistakenly targeted an Indian freighter that had wandered onto the test range one crew member was killed nonetheless the harpoon remained in use while currently armed drones are controlled by remote human pilots arms makers are working to create weapons guided by artificially intelligent software rather than humans deciding what to target and in certain cases who to kill this software will have the ability to make such decisions without the aid of human Israel Britain in Norway already employ missiles and drones that perform attacks without the guidance of humans against enemy radar as well as tanks and ships while the details of such advancements are kept secret it's clear that a new kind of arms race is taking place if you're interested in digging deeper I'll have a link to my full essay in the video description along with some additional sources so why am I talking about drones and lethal automated weaponry well I believe that Kubrick is primarily concerned with the grand scope of human history in 2001 and since the history of human civilization is inextricably linked with the development of progressively more advanced weapons it seems relevant to note that even now almost two decades after the set time of this epic science-fiction film we still have not broken out of this paradigm Wood Kubrick be surprised by this I doubt it throughout his career he displayed a remarkable wisdom particularly with respect to the tragic fail ability of humankind after nearly 50 years 2001 still stands as a cinematic masterpiece but it also still holds up with respect to its last depiction of artificial intelligence and this is not an easy thing to do some current day movies can't get it right though I have to give credit to ex machina for its thoughtful exploration of the topic Kubrick later said and I'm paraphrasing here that he'll was unable to cope with the fact that he made an error this certainly makes sense if we take what he'll says at face value we can deduce at least a few things at the beginning of the Jupiter mission we can see that how it clearly takes pride in his ability to perform tasks without error I would say that the essential reason Kubrick's depiction of a is still rings true is because he portrayed Hell in such a frail human manner we've discussed how technology in this film serves to alienate and insert further levels of emotional removal amongst the characters importantly how is the apex of this cinematic conceit he's a confluence of both technology and human nature hell's essential humanity is derived from the fact that he was created by humans in some ways he is a dark reflection of his creators he's driven mad by the conflicting human constructs within his programming he'll sensor predicts the failure of an antenna orientation unit as we know that prediction proves to be false it's a mistake hell is not supposed to make mistakes moment of who will determined that the best course of action is to deactivate hell but what caused Hale to make the error in the first place why did he incorrectly predict the failure of an antenna orientation unit the reason for Hal's breakdown was made clear in earlier drafts of the screenplay but it was kept less serious in the final version the narrative supported by earlier drafts indicates that Hal was programmed with conflicting imperatives specifically Lisa V how secretive he should be with his crew in simpler terms he was pulled in two opposing directions one part of his programming directed him towards working in cooperation with the crew and an open transparent fashion and another part of Hal's programming directed him to be secretive about certain key aspects of the mission we know this is true because immediately after how is deactivated dr. Floyd's pre-recorded message plays and it's information that Bowman and Poole hadn't been privy to when Hale is confronted with the possibility of having made an error he doesn't appear to believe it he's in denial after all hell appears to have shaped his entire identity around the idea that he's incapable of error this suggests this isn't true is to essentially say that Hal's entire purpose is a lie in 2001 the flow of information or sometimes the lack thereof is a very conspicuous thing indeed the ape at the very beginning of the movie is privy to something new ie that he can use a bone like a club to destroy his enemies naturally this information gives him an edge in the competition for the watering Bowl later on dr. Floyd knows the true nature of the events happening on the moon base while his Soviet colleagues are totally in the dark they think it's an epidemic so why all the secrecy between Mission Control and the two scientists Bowman and Poole it is implied at various points in the film that there is something nefarious going on with the mission that's entirely plausible but if that's a case we don't really have many details to go on with respect to the exact end goal we aren't really given a whole lot of information about society back on earth during this not so distant future we know that Bowman and Poole are not clued into the fact that there was a monolith discovered on the moon we know that three crew members were kept in cryogenic hibernation and they were trained separately from Coleman and Poole now clearly the possibility of extraterrestrial life would obviously be sensitive information it could incite public hysteria but why keep the crew in the dark if you've trusted them enough to operate and maintain your spacecraft why not clue them into the full picture well considering the significant amount of time it takes to get to Jupiter it could very well be that the government institution in charge of this mission did not want to give such mind-blowing information to to human crewmembers needed to make the trip perhaps this is why Hal has made to keep tabs on Mission Control dictated the hell that he must make sure Bowman and Poole were psychologically capable of continuing the journey any signs of emotional distress would put the entire mission in jeopardy though perhaps Mission Control overestimated just how equipped their treasured Hal 9000 would be to take the news just as hell is given conflicting imperatives so too does Kubrick present two conflicting depictions of humanity to the viewer one critics interpretation frame this dichotomy and Michi interns Donnell McGregor heavily reference Friedrich Nietzsche's the birth of tragedy in his analysis of the film and this philosophical work Nietzsche describes two conflicting modes of being Apollonian and Dionysian Dionysus was the god of wine this represents our instinctual side the Apes in their everyday struggle for survival are essentially living in a Dionysian mode conversely dr. Heywood Floyd the personnel on the moon and the crew members aboard the discovery one they're all living in an Apollo nyan framework order control rationalism all comprised the Apollonian mode of being nature didn't view either mode and the extreme as favorable by definition rather any culture living in either extreme Dionysian or Apollonian framework would be problematic each with their own respective imbalances each extreme denies an essential part of human nature the Dionysian mode denies logic and the Apollo nyan mode denies instincts paraphrasing Nietzsche McGregor says primitive man is Dionysian and spirit led by instinct and living in the moment but lacking intellectual abilities modern man though is Apollonian in framework peaceful and calm conquered by democracy socialism and religions such as Christianity and Buddhism all vestiges of instinct and man have been extinguished leaving man as a pathetic creature in Nietzsche's eyes McGregor argues that from a Meechum perspective the society depicted in the latter portion of the film is distinctly lacking image instinctual essentially dionyza inside in this framework hell is fully entrenched in an Apollo nyan mode of being or at least this is the way how seems to think of so after all hell does have a complete breakdown when he's confronted with his own fell ability and if this dichotomy hasn't played out enough for you just yet let's talk about the end of the movie Bowman's transformation into what is commonly referred to as the Starchild can be thought of as Bowman regaining his Dionysian mode of being now this is just one way of interpreting the events of the film but I do find the dichotomy particularly helpful for framing the events of 2001 but there is yet another even darker interpretation of 2001 that we have yet to discuss Couric's film can be thought of as an abstract representation of human life in general the monolith represents the unknown as the film progresses humans continually traverse the unknown using the skills they've learned to defeat enemies and make order out of the chaos and the Starchild at the end of the film is commonly thought of as Kubrick's extract representation of humanity's transformation into something greater but is that the most apt way to think about it recall that dr. Floyd Soviet colleagues are under the impression that some kind of epidemic has broken out on the moonbase Lloyd later reveals that this was merely a cover story employed to keep the existence of the monolith under wraps but still epidemic is an interesting choice of words self-awareness is a slippery concept we still haven't fully wrapped our heads around it the very first instance of what can be discernibly called conscious beings in this film is the rivaling groups of eight people perhaps it's even accurate to say that the monolith stands as a marker it denotes a significant point in the career of the human species the discovery of technology specifically weaponry but perhaps also the origin of self-awareness or at least I think it's safe to say that this is the vicinity in which consciousness arises in our species it does appear as though one specific ape who clubs a rival tribe member seems to grasp to a minut extent the gravity of his discovery he Chuck's the bone in the air as a celebratory axe perhaps to some degree the group is becoming self-aware if they have not already done so nonetheless the origin of conscious beings as depicted in the film is intertwined with violence and yes suffering and we can't ignore the possibility I dare say even the likelihood that hal is self-aware the question is touched upon briefly in the film but it's left open-ended so if we're assuming at this point that hell is a fully conscious being and indeed if the ape-like people at the beginning of the film are becoming self-aware it would seem that the film doesn't exactly supply a ringing endorsement of conscious beings does it after all it isn't terribly long before Hal has what in human terms we would describe as a complete nervous breakdown and as soon as the eight people are endowed with self-awareness they just use it to create more advanced weapons consciousness ideas and the flow of information can be viewed as a kind of epidemic in this film first spreading across the earth with the advent of primitive weaponry in the first part of the movie and then spreading across the solar system in the rest of the film Bauman's transformation can be thought of as a return to time before cognition itself maybe before is the wrong way to put it perhaps it's simply the end of cognition from a certain perspective that can be viewed as a cure to the epidemic of self-awareness this line of thought calls to mind the worldview of horror author Thomas legate legate lays out his philosophical views in the conspiracy against the human race a philosophical treatise in which body toys with a radical idea humanity should voluntarily put an end to its existence now before you write them off as a total crackpot I should know that other serious philosophers hold this view I think you have to contend with the idea seriously the God he puts forth the argument that consciousness is a superfluous product of evolution on this planet and its occurrence is the reason for a tremendous and untold amount of suffering not the least of which arises from the inevitable realization that each and every one of us will someday perish just like that eighth man who had his head bashed in at the beginning of the film I've stated before that perhaps the model of represents the unknown well it is perhaps death itself that is the ultimate unknown perhaps the central most mystery in 2001 is the very same mystery that has haunted us since people have existed the mystery of what happens after you die I think Kubrick supplies an answer for us but it might not be the most ideal answer yes there are colors and strange landscapes it's an ethereal sort of journey but it's one with a definitive end moments transformation is not entirely dissimilar from the sort of out-of-body sensations that are said to occur in near-death experiences while some claim a supernatural justification for these experiences there are physiological models that account for them well God II would say that the human tendency to justify our existence such efforts being evident in religion and philosophy are merely evolutionary programming in action they're all just post hoc rationalizations for a meaningless painful existence towards the end of legalities conspiracy he prompts the reader to consider an imaginary scenario in which were confronted in a very immediate sense with our own mortality quote all of the sudden something was set in motion that changed everything something descended upon you that had been circling above your life from the day you were born and for the first time you feel that which you had never felt before the imminence of your own death there's no possibility for self-deception now the paradox that came with consciousness is done with only horror is left this is what is real this is the only thing that was ever real however unreal it may have seemed note that the text the end in 2001 does not appear until after all of the credits have been displayed and after this there's a full four minutes of total darkness is this part of the film I certainly think so I believe the four minutes of total darkness at the end of the film represents death itself the ceasing of human processes and in light of the events that transpire in the film it's almost a relief isn't it do I seriously believe that Kubrick is proposing a quick and orderly end to the human race no I don't I doubt he was ever that pessimistic but I do think it's a compelling an alternative way to view the movie as compared to various interpretations in which critics celebrate Kubrick's depiction of humankind's transcendence and I do believe that it is essential to acknowledge and contend with the darker aspects of human nature in order to come out the other end with any semblance of a better future ahead of us for Kubrick I do think there is hope for this prospect but it's a narrow kind of Hope surrounded on all sides by the dangers we've previously discussed there aren't going to be any monoliths that will come down from the heavens to spur our evolution the idea that we will someday be able to transcend our violent nature is a wonderful myth and it will remain nothing but a myth if we do not pay attention to what is happening around us we are at a morally significant juncture in society perhaps now more than ever before only by bold and innovative thinking can we impose a moral framework that ensures Kubrick's beautiful vision for humankind comes to pass I still have hope for this prospects but it's a narrow kind of hope the beauty of 2001 is not only apparent in the aesthetics of the groundbreaking cinematography but also the myriad of ways in which the film can be interpreted I certainly do not pretend to have a monopoly on the meaning of this film if you happen to think my analysis was a little all over the place well that's because it was and intentionally so I'm trying to illustrate that this film is a kind of beautiful enigma Kubrick uses the heightened reality of cinema to illustrate the difficulty of life itself the moral and even logistical ambiguities we all inevitably face that wraps it up for this installment of nightmare master class in the next episode I unbox and review a Water Pik I got to scrape all the plaque off my teeth thanks for watching and good night [Music] [Music]

Channel: Nightmare Masterclass

Views: 97,333

Keywords: stanley kubrick, 2001 analysis, 2001 theory, fan theory, arthur c clarke, cold war, dr strangelove, mutually assured destruction, science fiction, Hal, nietzsche, joseph campbell, monomyth, the hero's journey, monolith, jfk, john f kennedy, thomas ligotti, antinatalism, drones, artificial intelligence, consciousness, epidemic, thus spoke zarathustra, apollonian, dionysian, 2001: A Space Odyssey, space odyssey, 2001, chess, cuban missile crisis

Id: bDMf39_1ncw

Length: 55min 47sec (3347 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 08 2017