Anti Humanism Comes to the Movies
Human exceptionalism is under attack from every corner, and I think it is driving us crazy. Popular culture is part of the problem. Apparently, the new movie The Day the Earth Stood Still has aliens destroying the human race in order to save the planet. In the coming attractions, we see cities like Rome being evaporated, so it isn't good for us, but wouldn't such mass destruction cause a global winter? Oh well, at least the supposedly threatened polar bears would be saved from global warming.
I haven't seen the movie yet, so I may be all wet, but this movie review in the San Francisco Chronicle let's the plot out of the bag. From the review:
The best visual effects sequence, involving the destruction of Giants Stadium in New York, is already in the trailer for the movie. And while there are many conversations between Klaatu and his human companions about the health of the planet, almost no specifics are discussed. As a matter of fact, I don't recall the words "global warming" ever being spoken. It's as if Klaatu is simultaneously considering both the obliteration of our species and a run for political office. Agreeing with Gore doesn't play well in the red states ... After watching this movie for 45 minutes or so, you may start to think that wiping out every human being on Earth isn't such a bad idea. Anything to get Connelly to stop shrieking, "We can change! We can turn things around!" over and over.In the original film from the 1950s, aliens threatened to destroy us because our warlike ways, coupled with our harnessing of the atom and moves toward space travel, made us unsafe citizens of the peaceful Galaxy. One might say it was to be a preemptive genocide.
But now, we are apparently to be destroyed for Gaia. Again, I might be wrong, but if that is the plot as the review makes it seem, flora and fauna are being elevated to the level of importance of people--and thus is in furtherance of the coup d' culture I have started discussing here, that will, if it succeeds, create a society based on utilitarianism, hedonism, and the new religion of radical environmentalism in place of the sanctity/equality of human life ethic.
As to the hedonism part, a story today indicated that 20% of teenage girls has sent nude photos of themselves over their cell phones. Swell.
Labels: Anti Humanism. Human Exceptionalism. Coup d' Culture. Radical Environmentalism. Hedonism.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 8:42 AM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
I've never seen the original. What was the premise for the invasion in that version?
(All I know is my father said the movie scared the wits out of him!)
Oh, DUH! I missed that paragraph. Sorry!
Time to rent the original, it looks like.
I just don't believe that 20 per cent of teenage girls have done that. What, they asked and got an honest answer from every single teenage girl in the country? Why were they even asking that question?
I don't understand why movies like this are even made. It's like horror movies, or Titanic -- why would anyone want to see it? Yet people make, and watch, them. If that's what's in the human psyche, no wonder the death culture exists.
This was done beautifully, though not with an alien, in a short story by James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon): The Last Flight of Doctor Ain.
I don't know why somebody can't come up with a new plot.
I loved the original movie, but then, I loved most black and white sci-fi movies.
STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!!
LAST WARNING!!!
The story of the original was a jab at the Cold War, if I recall correctly. A peaceful alien came to Earth to talk to us and understand our culture. He had with him a robotic guard. At one point he slipped his leash among the US military and went out into the population to see what the average person was like. One of the methods he used to explain how powerful the other aliens were, and how little they were willing to tolerate us being warlike, was to make "the earth stand still," or rather, have everything mechanical we possess stop working, with a few exceptions - planes in flight, ambulances and other emergency vehicles, hospital emergency rooms, etc. Those all retained their power, but the average car in the street stopped, all lights elsehwere went out, and the alien and the heroine were stuck together in an elevator. The explanation was that humans were dangerous and that if we couldn't learn to get along peacefully with ourselves, we'd be stopped before we brought our war to space. However, the aliens were using their power in a peaceful way, and nobody was harmed during the stillness. (Two police officers did die, but that's going off the main path, so, eh).
This remake is going to stink like a dead skunk. It's totally missing the message of the original! There was no concern about "you die, the earth survives," in the original. The first one was talking about the Cold War, and how we had to learn to get along with ourselves before we could be mature enough to reach out beyond our world! It was a jibe at how we could be so thoughtless about other humans!
Keanu Reeves ought to be ashamed of himself.
I had the same kind of suspicions of this movie watching the previews. I think I've been reading your blog too long. :)
One of the greatest faults humans have today is the hedonistic approach to life. Seeking nothing but pleasure and expecting nothing but pleasure from life? Avoiding all the morals involved in a human's life devalues us. Such hedonistic pursuits has de-volved our bonding with the rest of society because we are to busy being selfish about our own hedonism. In some ways we have become sociopathic in only looking out for ones self and are as base as ally cats who would eat their young.
Having said that there is a majority of folks who LONG for a more moral & caring society where each life should be guided and protected by every other member of society.
I did see someone comment that nothing will make you miss the coldwar like the remake of the day the earth stood still.
From your comments it would seem that comment is justified.
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