I watched
2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time this weekend.
I can sum my reaction up in one
thrice-
phonated invocation:
Nietzsche, Nietzsche, Nietzsche.
The infamous
Duhhh... Dahhh.... DAHHHhhh.... DAH-DAAAHHHHH!#!!!@$!111 BOOM-boom-BOOM-boom-BOOM-boom-BOOM-boom-BOOM/Duhhh... DAaaahhh.... DAAAHHH... DAH-DAAAAAAHH!H$@#!@$!@$!@111
orchestral piece is
Also Sprach Zarathustra, by
Richard Strauss.
Also Sprach Zarathustra is also a
book written by- you guessed it-
Nietzsche. (The English translation is
Thus Spake Zarathustra.)
"I TEACH YOU THE SUPERMAN. Man is something that is to be surpassed. What have ye done to surpass man?
All beings hitherto have created something beyond themselves: and ye want to be the ebb of that great tide, and would rather go back to the beast than surpass man?
What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman: a laughing-stock, a thing of shame.
Ye have made your way from the worm to man, and much within you is still worm. Once were ye apes, and even yet man is more of an ape than any of the apes...
...I tell you: one must still have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star. I tell you: ye have still chaos in you.
Alas! There cometh the time when man will no longer give birth to any star. Alas! There cometh the time of the most despicable man, who can no longer despise himself."
- Also Sprach Zarathustra
quotation taken from the Übermensch node
The Nietzschean concepts of the
Beast, the
Man, and the
Superman/
Overman/
Übermensch were quite explicitly presented in the
images of the
ape,
man, and
Dave-as-a-cosmic-baby-thing. But while Nietzsche is famous for his utterance of
God is Dead, outside influence in the form of a greater power is
not taken out of the picture in
Kubrick's vision. The
monoliths act as devices that do all of the hard work for us. So...
As I understand it, Nietzschean progression: Beast -> (hard work and transcendence) -> Man -> (hard work and transcendence) -> Overman
Whereas
Kubrickian progression: Beast -> (
supernatural intervention) -> Man -> (supernatural intervention) -> Overman
One could easily split hairs and draw out a discussion for hours on this disconnect between the philosophies, but at least one possible conclusion jumps out immediately: Kubrick has no hope for
anthromatic progression. (Yay for
making up terms.) This idea is rather easy to fall back on, given his
other works. In short, Kubrick implies that nothing short of
divine intervention could kick humanity out of its current rut.
//
Disclaimer: I'm insane. Throw rocks at me.