For this "2001 A Space Odyssey", it is not an exaggeration to use the most gorgeous words I can use to describe her greatness. I want to write about my understanding of this movie. Maybe you don’t understand it. Then follow me to understand this great movie. If you don’t agree with me, you might as well look at it from another angle.
If this movie is classified as a science fiction film, I don't think it is appropriate. It should be a philosophical movie with a critical and scientific nature.
In the opening paragraph of "So Zarathustra Says", I can't help but wonder whether the theme of the film has something to do with Nietzsche's thoughts. This also makes me use Nietzsche's thoughts to explain the whole movie.
The beginning of the movie starts with the ancient orangutans, which are the early humans in evolution. Think of the apes as humans! Although human beings are attacked by wild beasts, they compete with their kind for the only source of water. But humans still live in harmony with the surrounding animals. One thing changed the destiny of mankind. Inadvertently mankind mastered the use of tools (that is, the most primitive science was born here). From then on, mankind moved on another path and began to kill and eat meat. In order to gain profit, he would kill the same kind. It is the path of science and reason that is heading towards.
Along this road, mankind has walked into the 21st century. Science has created a powerful material civilization, which has caused tremendous changes in human life, and mankind can even travel between planets! Material civilization looks so beautiful. Look at the huge spacecraft, as beautiful as "Blue Danube", a masterpiece of mankind!
But are human beings happy? Is the human heart still empty? With scientific rationality, human beings have become the slaves of science. The brilliance of life cannot be seen in humans, and some are just mechanical thinking.
Does science bring people closer, or is it farther? The protagonist communicates with his daughter through video calls instead of face-to-face communication. Is this a convenience brought to us by science or has it taken away from us? The food given to us by nature has become a pack of drinks to drink through straws, and the pleasure of enjoying food is also deprived.
This is an era of incomparable belief in science and reason. Human beings are serving science, not for their happiness. Humans have even more trust in computers than humans, and even human lives are controlled by computers. The ironic name of this computer is HELL. This also laid the groundwork for what happened later.
People are not perfect. Could the machine he designed be perfect? HELL said that this 9000 computer has a perfect record, and errors can only happen to humans. The two drivers expressed their doubts about HELL and were immediately punished by HELL. The modern science represented by computers only cares about rationality (the success or failure of tasks), not humans themselves.
The protagonist defeated the computer. Just like Nietzsche's description of the three stages of human development: camel, lion, and child. Humans will still evolve from the lion, who thinks they are omnipotent, to the purest form when they were born, a reincarnation.
Later, an abstract picture that travels through time and space is like the road of human development. The straight lines and graphics at the beginning are exactly the scientific century human beings live in. Although gorgeous, the human heart is extremely fearful and the soul is distorted. This is unavoidable. The development of science is the lion's link in this cycle.
What we then see is not the universe, but the microscopic world under the microscope, a drop of red scattered in the darkness. Does his shape resemble the cosmic landscape in an astronomical telescope? Who knows if our universe is a tiny part of another world, where it is just a drop of red paint in the water?
The road of human evolution is progressing, but it is no longer the previous abstract graphics. We see mountains, all kinds of mountains, and the road is extremely difficult. Blue, green, yellow, red, the colors are getting brighter and brighter, it seems that the light is right in front of our eyes... we finally returned to the original appearance.
Human beings finally have a deeper understanding of themselves, take off the cloak of science, and restore to a real person. Throughout his life, mankind has finally completed this cycle. Although the body has aged, the mind has been restored to the purest infancy.
At this point, mankind has completed this great reincarnation!
This is why the episode uses "So Zarathustra Says" and the meaning implied by the last baby, indicating that human beings have completed their spiritual evolution.
As for the black stone tablet, my understanding is that it represents science and reason. He came to the world to make mankind obtain unprecedented material prosperity; he also betrayed mankind, leaving the soul empty.
After watching this movie, whether you and me who believe in science have enough courage to rethink scientific beliefs, even if it is a little skeptical and critical attitude to look at the science of the current era.
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