What Is the Meaning Behind Kubrick's 2001?

[polyb]

Being a Kubrick fan, I just had to pass this along knowing that someone here would appreciate this. Enjoy!

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http://www.kubrick2001.com/2001.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Thanks, that was good polyb.

The monolith was planted by ETs as stated, but I think they got the part about Hal's motives wrong. According to Clarke in his book 2010, Hal was given conflicting instructions which caused the deception and attack on the Crew. When the crew became a threat to the mission by threatening to shut him down, since only he knew certain aspects of the mission, only he could complete the mission, so Hal opts to save the mission as instructed, and turns on the crew. In 2010 Hal redeems himself and is allowed to evolve for his sacrifice. I wasn't sure about the die poor ape man part either. Dave's consciousness now existed at all points in time which is why he kept changing while he waited in the white room. The birth of the starchild is right on as I understand it. So, a few objections but certainly a fun watch.

Edit: crud, I'm still forgetting something. Hal didn't make a mistake. The antenna failure was a ploy.

 

[meteor]

One of the greatest misteries of the series, in my humble opinion, is how Frank Poole is recovered alive in 3001 Space Odyssey, after a thousand years drifting in space! I was completely ignorant of the fact that space-wandering had such healthy effects!

 

[saltydog]

Yea, I enjoyed it and the movies too. Can someone here explain to me what the "birth of the star child" means?

Thanks,
Salty

 

[loseyourname]

At the end of 2001, Dave's consciousness is transferred into the fabric of space itself and freed from material bonds. He is thus charged with supervising the next evolutionary step of the human race initiated by his encounter with the monolith near Jupiter, as well as the evolution of the coming Europan biota. After being freed from matter, he is referred to as the "star child." He is the first human to undergo this process, a process that had already been undertaken by the ETs that left the monolith 4 million years ago.

 

[saltydog]

At the end of 2001, Dave's consciousness is transferred into the fabric of space itself and freed from material bonds. He is thus charged with supervising the next evolutionary step of the human race initiated by his encounter with the monolith near Jupiter, as well as the evolution of the coming Europan biota. After being freed from matter, he is referred to as the "star child." He is the first human to undergo this process, a process that had already been undertaken by the ETs that left the monolith 4 million years ago.

Fantastic! You are so kind to explain this to me.
Salty

 

[russ_watters]

Not bad (but Ivan's and loseyourname's explanations were better). The strange thing is how he misunderstood Hal's motives - to me, that was about the clearest thing in the movie! Though, that may be because I saw 2010 first...

 

[loseyourname]

It's a lot clearer if you read the books. The films have a lot of very dense symbolism and imagery and are tough to comprehend on their own.