Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The Day the Earth Stood Still: Human vs GOD alike alien

"yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge"


A sloka from Bhagavad Gita

[Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself.
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]



 




 






"The Day the Earth Stood Still" reminds me the above sloka from Gita as Clatu an alien messenger in human form threatens to destroy the human. Because human are damaging the earth by mean of war, environmental disaster, nuclear weapon etc.
Clatu seems like here mostly an “avatar” from Indian Hindu mythology. He is an advanced alien, more like a GOD kind of as his powers shows his super ability. Even Helen’s stepson Jacob asks him to breathe life into his father and awake him from the cemetery. Clatu answered him mysterious way that some things are can’t be done. But he has not said that, this is not in his ability to breathe life into a dead person.
Director of the movie resist the temptation in the film to portray USA as embody of human of the earth. When Clatu asked the United States Secretary of Defense, that "do you represent all human", she answered “no, I represent president of USA”. Some year back we saw in the movie “independence day4”, president of USA declared ID4 will be Independence Day of all human as they were fighting against alien invader.
This time Clatu also surprised when he heard as the secretary says  “our earth”. He replied to her “do you think earth is owned by human”. These are some wise progress in Hollywood  scripts in today's scenario and able to realize that human lives outside of USA also and not all of them are backing all US policy whether if USA fight against the alien then also.

The presence of the sphere (the spaceship) has caused a worldwide panic. Panicky is an average  syndrome
seen in the most Hollywood films. War of the world, independence day4 etc are some example of this syndrome. Military operation, military action seems like solutions to all. Exhibiting weaponry is a tag of most of the films and they portray  the military might when ever there is a scoop for it.
Human panicky is authentically visualized but not a resistance or an organized mass mobilization.  An organized people resistance is never seen in Hollywood movies easily. Heroes can be seen but not an organized people. Heroes are mostly with supreme individualistic values and they defend it at any price, at any situation. This panicky phobia is a general syndrome which ascends from a capitalist system which also mass media related and a controlled phenomenon.

Helen is begging Clatu for a chance for human to remorse. After discussion with Professor Barnhardt and witnessing human values through Helen and Jacob, at last Clatu decide not to wipe out human from this earth, instead he learn something, how a species learn to behave when it going through a crisis. These are amazing situation for forgiveness from an alien. Lesson learned by human as Clatu put a message for puny human and returned to his own zone.

Yes, crises are not analyzed, but all felt. Actually whole earth feels the heat of global crisis in all ground right now. In the film Helen is not a hero fight against Clatu and save the earth but a human, who is begging for mercy from a GOD alike alien. Finally a message is established as human (all human) now ready to take up the question of crisis through self realization, self criticism. This of course good to see, but blame all human categorically is not as easy to digest. There is scene when we see Clatu listen something with so much concern. Helen says “this is music of Bach”. Only distinctive and authentic message is heard here. Or we can say “Bach” is human answer to Clatu, in fact what ever supremacy he poses.
On contrary, “Bach” is one of the actual domination of human on space or  on earth and human as a species who not only learned to destroy own self but also create things that from raw earth.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” is brilliant for its technical input, totality, actions, sets, camera work, some part of acting etc……with all way Hollywood perfection.

3 Earthling’s comments:

Frank Partisan said...

The American Sci-Fi movies of the 1950s, were based on anticommunism. The monster symbolized communism, and the state machinery always defeated the monster. The masses were impotent.

Holiday Greetings

Noni said...

sfauthor@
Renegade Eye@

thx for comment

nitesh said...

For all its messages and righteous beliefs I found this film just-another-Hollywood-offering the kinda they feeding us since Independence Day.

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