America and Space, A Love Affair

If you can watch 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)[1] and make sense of it after the first viewing I don’t believe you. Produced at the height of the “space race” between the USA and the USSR, 2001 depicts the birth, life, death, and rebirth of human civilisation. Or at least that is one of the ways it can be interpreted. With a plot left deliberately vague by Kubrick it has left audiences and critics baffled ever since.

AMERICA’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH SPACE

In May 1961 President John F. Kennedy announced that by the end of the decade America would have put a man on the moon. Despite not living to see this come true, Kennedy’s vow held strong. Said as a response to the USSR for being the first to put a man in orbit, it started a love affair in American film and television with the idea of space exploration. The hugely successful television series Star Trek debuted in 1966[2] boasting an incredibly diverse cast, especially when considering the political climate both internationally and domestically of the era. Kubrick fought hard to premiere 2001 before any country landed man on the moon, capitalising on people’s eagerness to see more of the solar system that we live in.

TECHNOLOGY, FRIEND OR FOE?

Right from the start of 2001 we are shown it is our use of technology that separates us from the beasts. The apes use it to reclaim their water hole from another tribe. Omitting three million years, we see the human race travelling between planets with comfort and ease in advanced spaceships. At this point it appears that the technology is there to help and provide for the characters within. However as the portions of plot that are coherent progress, we realise all is not well with having technology so ingrained in our day to day lives. The operating system of Dr David Bowman’s spaceship, HAL 9000, starts to malfunction and eventually leads to the deaths of several of Dave’s fellow astronauts. Dave only survives due to his ‘murder’ of HAL. This forces us to realise two question. First of all is it really murder if HAL was never truly alive, despite how much he seemed to be? And secondly can we keep up with the technology as it evolves, or will it eventually overtake us as we see in so many films? Or must we defeat it so that we may continue to evolve? [3]

 

Finally in July 1969 America managed to land man on the moon, just over a year after 2001 debuted. While this seemed to calm the trend of space oriented films at the  time, our fascination with outer space has never really gone away. Rather, we are now looking further into other galaxies, still in hope of finding extra-terrestrial life. As long as we don’t invent another HAL, I’m OK with that.

Jenny Coombs

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[1] 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dir. Stanley Kubrick (1968, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

[2] Star Trek, Gene Rodenberry (1966, Desilu Productions)

[3] DanielDilenno, Technophobia: Science Fiction Vision of Posthuman Technology (University of Texas Press, 2005), p99