2001: A Space Odyssey 9/13

 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

• Opens up with beautiful landscapes of natural elements and land features

• The apes of differing tribes communicate with each other and refused to share the watering hole 

• Taking into account the setting, the desert is low on water which is necessary to live, alluding to the bigger picture that everything is about survival at this point in time 

• Earlier the ape gets attacked by the cheetah, and no other apes are there to rescue him, supporting the prioritization of survival 

• Despite their focus on the basic means of survival, the apes still show an interest and curiosity toward the monolith, touching, smelling, observing the futuristic structure, contrasting their prehistoric way of life 

• The music behind this scene supports the uneasy, critical, feel of the discovery 

• The monolith and the sun, two contrasting elements, a modern object and the oldest entity, is a symbol and inspires the acts of discovery, curiosity, imagination, and ultimately evolution 

• The only social divisions that were introduced in the beginning of the film were that of rival groups, however, the discovery of the bone being used as a weapon or a tool, thus brought about social hierarchy within the groups

• The advancement of technology creates social structures 

• The transition of the bone into the satellite shows how the earliest of discoveries evolved into the most advandanced invention and prompts the plot time into the future

• The music used in this film is so famous and well known due to its timeless simplicity 

• Two newer movies I know of that have referenced this movie is Willy Wonka and Toy Story 

• They must state their nationality which is the division of the groups in comparison to the apes which was most likely based on resources or bloodlines 

• The introduction of culture as a social structure followed the advancement of technology 

• The conference meeting of different representatives in comparison to the apes of rival tribes inherently shows how communication has changed 

• Astronauts discovering monolith on moon has the same audio as in the beginning with the apes 

• Same shot with the monolith and the sun, however, whereas it invoked change in the past, it represented something else in the future based on the high pitched, erie screech 

• Hal is the first introduction of futuristic artificial intelligence technology 

• “Incapable of error”-- ironic and foreshadows an inevitable failure 

• Talking about Hal’s emotions shows the issue with AI technology becoming too sentient but with feelings that can’t exactly be compared to human behaviors 

• Robots can only "feel" anger in terms of revenge because of the inequity and strife between humans

• Hel= AI in Metropolis 

• Hal=IBM – computers 

• The heavy breathing shows a human reaction that a robot cannot experience, such as being scared, or tired 

• When HAL begins to adopt human characteristics, the faulty design of the computer worries the astronauts because he operates the entire ship

• HAL emphasizes human error and it is ironic because they think HAL cannot hear them talking about their worries of him, but HAL is able to read their lips and understand them through that 

• HAL murders four people, and refuses to let Dave back on the ship, yet is able to guilt trip him to not turn him off 

• Even when he is about to die, he is speaking in a monotone, robotic voice, repeating phrases like “I’m afraid, Dave” “My mind is going, I can feel it” 

• Dave feels bad because he has developed a relationship with Hal, which only developed and strengthened because Hal started to exert human behaviors and emotional reactions

• The monolith symbolizes human evolution with respect to the consequences of our reliance on advancing technology