The Weapon from Outer Space

        Throughout history mankind has always found power and brought feel through weapons. From the nuclear bomb, to tanks, and other machines; humans look for the best weapons and the most powerful ones. These weapons are high priorities for governments, military, and corporations in this movie's world. That lust for the ultimate weapon is the drive for finding the alien in the movie. From the words of Ash himself, him and the corporation wanted the alien to be a weapon on Earth.
        "The perfect organism" the words from Ash after he becomes immobilized. The crew learns that this was not a mission for resources but a mission to bring back a weapon. The alien itself is almost godlike and perfect. For example the alien is able to reproduce through any host securing its ability to continue to exist. Another example is the alien's ability to breath and live in other environments. On its planet the environment looks dark and lifeless. The alien was able to still breath outside of its planet in another environment. If the alien was able to live on the ship, it could sure live back on Earth. Also during Ash's talk after being immobilized, he brings up that the alien is nearly impossible to kill making it efficient for different purposes.
        Looking back through the film again, it is clear that Ash wants to find the alien, bring it on the ship, and bring it to Earth. Ash in the end is an android doing his job for the corporation and bringing the weapon to them. Coming back to the nuclear bomb, Ash can be represented as the many scientists that created the weapon for the government. In this movie's case the government can be compared to the corporation in control of the ship. The crew ends up being the unfortunate bystanders. The ship needed a crew to move and they were the unlucky people that were picked.
        The alien proved throughout the film to be a total killer. Each crew member killed was killed by the alien with ease. Imagine if a being like that was used on Earth under the control of the corporation. The corporation would be able to kill anyone that gets in their way. The alien becomes similar to machines on Earth and no direct humans would be needed to do the job. That was the whole idea of the nuclear bomb. The bomb was used in Japan to prevent more American lives from being lost to end the war. The alien is like the same thing prevented the corporation from losing lives.
        When it comes down to it the movie provides how corporations and government have the power. Not even the people on the mission besides the android had any idea what they were sent out to do. The corporation found the best species known alive and wanted to harvest the creature's power. This can be related to any powerful weapon the military today has. The alien was seen as the best of all kinds of weapons and nothing else could beat it. 

       

One's Own Truth

        "We are dust" the words of Pinbacker in his desperation video as Icarus I failed their mission. His message meant something. In the video he mentioned about the crew's loss of hopes and dreams of completing the mission. At the time it is figured that he is just bringing up about their mission. As the movie progresses his video is not just about their mission but about humanity in general. The captain most likely over the course of their mission went insane and believed that this job could not be done and that it was not right.
        In the video along with bringing up about humans are nothing but dust, he has a religious awakening. Pinbacker speaks out that when it is time for humanity to end, we should except that. He mentions that humanity has no right to play God and alter mother nature's natural course. In nature stars, such as the sun, are born and die. Sadly in the future that will happen to our sun. Pinbacker over the course of his trip must have had somewhat of a religious awakening and knew that planting a bomb to restart the sun was changing the natural course of life.
        Pinbacker abandons the mission and personally sabotages his own ship. He eventually set up his crew and burned them. It could be viewed as a suicide by them but the captain would be there with them. Pinbacker would later become, in his own mind, a protector of nature and doing God's will. This is a dangerous scenario because we can relate this behavior to any person believing they are doing what is necessary for their religion even killing. This happens with all religions today where people kill others for their belief. Pinbacker has gone insane and wants to stop anyone that is going against what his god wants.
        Capa finally comes across Pinbacker in the observation deck. The visuals in this scene depict Pinbacker as a monster. You never see his face or body clearly. His body is blurry and distorted. He mentions that only when man will survive. It is he being the last survivor and he believes he is sent out to stop all those who get in the way. As Pinbacker slashes Capa he says, "not your god, my god." In Pinbacker's mind, he is interpreting God in the right way and everyone else is not. Pinbacker is being a self-proclaimed messiah. He believes everyone else has abandoned God and have no right to believe in him.
        This is when the movie turns into a horror film as Pinbacker goes around killing the remaining members of the crew. Capa is able to outrun Pinbacker and ultimately complete the mission. The work of Pinbacker though as mentioned happens time and time again. It becomes not only a psychological issue but an ethical issue as well. Humanity in general, whether its medicine or any type of technology, will change the natural course of this world. In any person's mind, they can believe that there is no right to play God. In the end, nature plays out in a different direction for the good or the bad. 
       
   
       

A Galactic Village

        When I was younger I liked looking up at the stars and wonder what all is out there. Here on Earth, there is so much of a connection between different countries all around the world that we consider our planet a global village. The opposite side of the world is closer to us than we know it by using a phone or web chatting. I have never watched an episode or movie of Star Trek in my life but I'm familiar with the idea of it. I have, on the other hand, seen Star Wars and I can relate the two of them with the idea of this "galactic village". Likewise in this film and the Star Wars films that I've seen, there are numerous groups of beings from different planets that all seem to be connected. In Star Wars there is a republic and empire that look over many planets. From the film in Star Trek there is a federation. These films look into the idea that there can be a union and organization among planets in the universe.
        I thought while watching Star Trek that these people from different worlds could be humans from Earth that gathered the ability to space travel. For the movie it was right for them to speak English but them to be descendants of humans of Earth may be a possibility. It could be cool to imagine that humans could travel to different areas of outer space. The federation in the film could be to me is like government here on Earth to look over planets colonized by humans. Watching films like this brings optimism that humanity can find suitable planets to live on and continue to thrive.
        The society on Earth different groups will collide. Violence around the world typically involve multiple groups with different identities. The same is shown in Star Trek. In the film there is two groups mentioned: the Ba'ku and the Son'a. When watching the film I thought of the Ba'ku as human descendants that colonized there and the Son'a as a different type of being. As the film went on you learn that they are the same groups but the Son'a were a rebellious group that broke away. The conflict between these two groups can be related to Earth. The nearest case could be civil wars with different groups but still sharing similar ancestry. This is the case in the film. The conflict turns out to be a civil conflict between the elders and their youth.
        Along with Star Wars, these films bring about the idea of a larger society bigger than our planet itself. From before there are the positives of suitable land for us but the negative of the nature of beings disagreeing and continuously having conflict. Personally I would love to be able to travel to different planets like the guys on the Enterprise. It would be similar to visiting different countries on Earth. Far into the future there very well could be a ''galactic village" somewhere in the universe.   
  

Living in the Inside

        It is a group that people just love to hate. It is a group that works to keep order and security in our lives. This group is all about authority. This group is the government. Governments are what hold a society together or least keeps a society from falling apart. The news gives people a look into what can go on within the government but Brazil shows its perspective on authoritative government in a country with similarities to the United Kingdom. The films follows the working life of Sam within different government agencies. More important the film shows what life is like within terrible agencies.
        Before the main character is even introduced, the viewers see what ruthless actions that the government displays. They have that strong authoritative power and huge ego that they cannot possibly be wrong in their decisions. For example when Jill told Central Services that there must have been a mistake with the name but they assured her that they never make mistakes (then drop the new roof). Information Retrieval even uses torture techniques such as the coat that goes over prisoners even blocking them from speaking and also how the agency tortures prisoners such as the ending when Sam is strapped to chair with all sorts of torturing devices nearby. It is amazing how there could be such a nice society when the government is this awful.
        From watching the film, the agencies themselves seem to be in classes. In both departments there is a sense of simplicity and everything looking the same. There is the beginning of the film with workers keeping busy and all the desks looking equal and simplified. There is a sense of the workers being at the low end of the government world and men like Mr. Kurtzmann standing above them all with a place to his own. When Sam is transferred to Information Retrieval, is does not appear any different. It appears to be a step up from his original place since he gets his own separate office but it is very confined. The lower ranks are still given bad living conditions with living in a sort of solitary confinement and still sharing stuff such as the table with his next door neighbor. Speaking of the neighbor I could see that the solitary confinement was getting to him. Along with all of this the agency leaders still get power and control over anyone else.
        We hear or at least hear from others how bad the government can be. From watching the film, it presented a mockery and even a sense of realism into the life of someone working on the inside. In the film, working in a government agency is not as easy as it appears. Working in the government appears the same as any other company. There can still be those in charge with all the power making all the decisions (mostly bad) and then the workers who are the low class working ants. I can see why Sam wanted to have good dreams every night.
       
          

The Future Environment

        Over the past decades, taking care of Earth's environment has become a bigger issue. The film WALL-E brings up this issue about future impacts to our environment. The movie's scenario is about a world filled with tons of trash. This scenario is implying that the world went through an era of intense consumerism. There is a website called Story of Stuff, http://storyofstuff.org/. This website shows videos about America's consumerism economy. That part of this "story" I want to talk about it the ending as trash is created and how it affects our environment.
        Being an environmental science major, I've had a glimpse of issues such as waste management. Typically waste today is placed in a landfill or burned. The movie's scenario gives it a future perspective. Besides the issue of waste management, an issue related to waste management is over-population. According to worldmeters.org, the world's population is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2040. WALL-E takes place hundreds of years into the future. I could not imagine what the world's population would be at that time. It is relative that increased population leads to increased consumption and that leads to increased waste on the land.
        The film captured on what future Earth could become. There was no water in sight along with constant sandstorms. With a largely populated planet, water shortages are expected. Earth only has limited space. If Earth's population would continue to grow at an exponential rate, there would be little room for living and even placing waste. The film could very well be spot on about there being waste in the streets. As the years go on more waste will pile up and continue piling up. In the film, humans moved away from Earth so the process of cleaning up the waste can begin but in my opinion it would have to happen anyways because of the lack of space that Earth could provide for that many people. The film was a sign to me that space exploration is important if the human race would like to continue growing in numbers.
       But back to waste management, what is the best solution to dealing with all of that trash. It seems logical like in the film, to compact the trash into something smaller and stack them up to save space. It is optimistic for human's to return to Earth but their way of life would need to change. Humans would need to end their dependence on buying more and more stuff. It would only lead to more trash piling up on Earth. Another issue could be how many resources humans would use to create so much waste, more importantly plastics and other products that use non-renewable resources. Recycling is important but not enough on a large scale. Another alternative to waste management is to send trash out to space but energy is needed for that and satellites could be affected. In my opinion the best solution is to conserve products and not be as much of a consumer society.  
       
       

The First Silent Film

        Metropolis was my first experience with a silent film. In the past from shows on t.v., I saw a glimpse of what silent films were like. Silent films seemed to receive the stereotype of being goofy, fast movement, old-fashioned, and goofy piano music in the backround. Silent films to me appeared cheap and quick developed. I also found it hard to even get a storyline out of silent films. From watching Metropolis, it changed my perspectives on silent films and showed me that they can be something more.
        First of all, Metropolis did not show those stereotypes of what I expected out of a silent film. In a silent film, visuals are important. When watching the movie, the actors movements appear to be goofy but it appears that way since vocals are taken out. In silent films the actors speak through movement. It shows near the beginning of the movie when Freder displays his love for Maria through movements and dancing. Also from reading through the chapter about cinematography I now understand how silent films get there fast paced movements. As for the third stereotype I mentioned, the film was indeed old-fashioned but in terms of the era of the movie's creation. The movie itself strives to be a more modern film and depict a moment in the future. Finally for the music, there was no goofy piano music. The music could very well be created after the release of the film but the film's music captures the emotion that the actors feel and there was a vast amount of instruments being played.
        The next idea to mention is the fact that Metropolis was not cheaply made. From looking the modeling of the city with cars passing by, this movie took time and care to make. The special affects looked like they were before their time. For example the scene when Hel becomes Maria, the lighting was unreal and depicted future in the making. The actors appeared to be the best that silent films had to offer. The actors were charismatic and you could almost believe you were actually hearing them. The film truly looked like the most expensive silent film at its time. Also this movie busted my belief that silent films were quick when I found out that this one took a year in the making.
        Finally from watching the film I understood that this film and other silent films have a storyline and a message to offer. Silent films can help us look back into the past and see people's perspectives of the present and their thoughts on the future. Metropolis foreshadowed what civilization would turn into the future and in ways was correct. Our society is made up of the work force and the men at the top who control the work force and even our way of life. Likewise in Bladerunner, the future looks to become dominated by corporations and the government has little say in controlling the world. This silent film had something to say and the message was clear.
       
       
           

The Space Environment

        This film takes us to another world, or just the moon perhaps. Most nights I look up there and wonder what it would be like to stay on the moon. From the stories of the Apollo moon landings, I get a sense of isolation and quietness. The film Moon gives viewers a glimpse of what living on the moon in the future could be like. The film displays its view on the surrounding environment and a "humans" way of living on the moon.
        Without even paying attention to the title of the movie, the setting can be pretty obvious. The film shows way everyone pictures as the moon from looking at videos and pictures of the moon landings. There is the darkness of space above and the brightness of the sunlight reflecting off the surface. The outside environment in the movie is dominated by the light from the sun due to the fact that all He-3 is in sunlight. The movie gives an idea of where the character is at in reference to the sun with shadows appearing under vehicles and next to transmitters. Just watching the main character Sam drive around showed the isolation and the strange world around him.
        Even inside the building it looks like living in space. From watching the film, it felt like being in Princess Leia's ship at the beginning of Star Wars. Even if the film did not show outside even once, the setting of where the station was out would not be in question. The color white dominated the entire film. I always wondered if Sam thought that was his favorite color or that he would go crazy seeing white everywhere. It makes sense in a way because the color of the station goes well with the surrounding lunar environment.
        This probably was my first film at observing what it would be like to temporarily live on the moon. Life on the moon does not look that part apart from the fact that there probably would not be that much gravity on the moon. Maybe something could be done on the inside to enhance gravity but even on the moon's surface apart from the fact that it is the Moon, motions on the surface are pretty similar to Earth. A downside to living on the moon is that everything would involve being inside. For the most part, Sam is living inside the station. Whenever he is outside he is imprisoned inside his spacesuit with no exposure to space. His whole life for those three years revolved around being indoors. Another side note, for me it would be hard not having Earth weather at all for three years.
        The performance of Sam throughout the movie is dependent of the setting. The isolation and quietness of the moon itself is reflected onto Sam. I can see the difference between the old Sam and the newly awoken Sam. Sam after living on the moon for three years is tamer and more settled than the younger Sam. I feel like living on the moon could provide more solitude than noisy Earth would. The real Sam definitely had a huge change of lifestyle to live on the moon for a couple years.