It makes a lot of sense to me that 2001: A Space Odyssey reflects the worries of the late 60s United States society. This movie touches on many controversial topics that have stirred the emotions of many people throughout the country. By looking at the themes that Walker proposed, it can be seen that each section of the film relates to a different sensitive topic in the society’s culture. The first section, evolution, has always been a highly debated topic. Those who believe in creationism and those who believe in evolution have battled for the majority opinion. As more evidence to support evolution comes to light, the more society seems to fear the prospect that humans evolved from lesser apes. Along with this acceptance of evolution comes implications concerning the “natural,” animalistic, and sometimes violent behavior of primates, including humans. This fear of naturally violent tendencies is illustrated in the scene where one group of apes attacks and kills an ape that is trying to invade upon the group’s watering hole.
The exploration and revolution sections of the movie illustrate the society’s anxiety over advancing technology. As humans create more technologically advanced equipment, machines, and even artificial intelligence, there is a growing fear that our own creations will turn against us. This can happen through either mechanical or electrical failure. It is also feared that robots and artificial intelligence, as this movie shows, will make the decision to revolt against humans. There has also been a growing fear that humans will become too reliant upon and confident in our technology. In the film, this is shown by how much control HAL has on the vessel. He controls the life support systems, the pods, and can observe everything that goes on onboard the ship. Thus, when things go poorly, there are not many options left for Dave. He even has to risk his life just to get back on the vessel because HAL will not let him through the hanger doors. Because the 9000 units had never been wrong before, it was very unexpected to encounter problems with HAL. This illustrates the fear that our overconfidence in our own creations can be dangerous and even lethal.
The transfiguration section of the movie shows how humans are anxious about the unknown. This part of 2001: A Space Odyssey depicts a strange sort of reality where time and space seem to jumble together. The confusing scenes in this part of the movie are characteristic of how ideas of the universe and of time itself can seem overwhelming and discomforting. The mutation section, to me, seems to reflect anxiety over issues such as embryonic and stem cell research. Experimentation with embryonic cells began in the late 1800s to early 1900s. These advances were very limited but they set the stage for later developments. In 1951 scientists cloned a frog embryo. Stem cell research came into popularity in the 1960s and resulted in great controversy over the ethical issues concerning the topic. The end of the movie, which depicts an embryo next to the earth, very artistically brings this controversial and anxiety-filled issue into the movie. Thus, 2001: A Space Odyssey illustrates the concerns and anxieties of the 1960s U.S. society.
Nice job, Amber. Your comments here really seem to speak as much to the prescience of the film than its deliberate attempt to represent these ideas. It's interesting how, it doesn't even engage the evolution debate. Like everything else, the film's "truths" are taken for granted. The notion of naturally violent tendencies, however, does seem to be at issue. Are the apes bound by nature to turn violent with the knowledge they gain from their encounter with the monolith, or is it a choice? Also, you allude to this toward the end, but it's interesting that with all its representations of technological development, the one thing humans don't do in the film is enhance themselves.
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