So was the rectangle supposed to be aliens? Because it seems to me like it works better as a metaphor for humanity's drive for progress at any cost, from the first monke who bashed another's head in with a bone, all the way to us creating a higher intelligence that kills us.
Don't know how the frick to explain the ending with the old man and the baby though. Maybe he advances far enough that he finally transcends violence?
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It's aliens. Watch the sequel. It explains everything.
Idk go to reddit
>So was the rectangle supposed to be aliens
it was a device of their creation, all the monoliths were, although they had many different functions, this one was for projecting "higher thoughts" into the brains of the monkey men while they slept
>Because it seems to me like it works better as a metaphor for humanity's drive for progress at any cost, from the first monke who bashed another's head in with a bone, all the way to us creating a higher intelligence that kills us.
No
In the book its more like a giant ipad with different activities to teach the monkeys.
yes, in the book it does display colorful moving images to them too, things to teach them and stimulate them
Predictive programming for 65" TV?
one theory posited by rob ager that i happen to like a lot is that the monolith represents the cinema screen tipped over on its side. obviously you can just interpret the whole movie literally as being about aliens, but on an even more literal level its just "a movie about aliens" if you are following my logic. This isn't the definitive meaning to the film by any means but i think its genuinely inspired and theres actually a solid amount of visual evidence backing it up. but yeah on a symbolic level you could interpret the film as being about dave bowman realizing he's a character in a nasa funded space race propaganda film, and managing to transcend those boundries by films end
I remember this explanation but I don't understand it. Why is the monolith vertical if it's a screen?
>Why is the monolith vertical if it's a screen?
oooof
specifically to obfuscate the metaphor, the idea is that you have to reorient your entire perception (by rotating your view for example) in order to catch on to the symbolism. i doubt kubrick even wanted you to notice it on a conscious level, but as a metaphor for ability for cinema to have a transformative effect on our minds i think its actually pretty profound. its also entirely possible it was never intended by kubrick at all, but even then its still pretty interesting to consider
yes, the movie is about how film directors and their artistic creations are responsible for all higher thought and cultural/technological development among us monke-like cinema goers, I could see Kubrick sneaking that one in too (his films were all subtle shitposts from e-girlta on)
>cinema screen tipped over on its side
I knew tiktok videos would destroy humanity eventually
shit my samsung actually looks like a monolith, I wonder if it has the same 1x4x9 dimensions too, close if not
Wouldn't be surpised if it's the kind of thing Steve Jobs demanded the people who actually made the iPhone adhere to
>In Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series, Monoliths are machines in black cuboids whose sides extend in the precise ratio of 1 : 4 : 9 (12 : 22 : 32) built by an unseen extraterrestrial species whom Clarke dubbed the Firstborn and who he suggests are the earliest highly intelligent species to evolve in the Milky Way. In the series of novels (and the films based on these), three Monoliths are discovered in the Solar System by australopithecines and their human descendants. The characters' responses to their discoveries drives the plot of the series and influences its fictional history, particularly by encouraging humanity to progress with technological development.
It's a symbol for the initiated. Read Manly Hall's books.
The rectangle is a perpetual dynamo that also opens doors to other universes.
According to the novelization of the script by the co-screenwriter yes it's basically some alien instrument of evolution or something. Kubrick didn't explain that stuff on purpose though and probably for the better.
>old man and the baby though
transcending flesh into some post corporeal being I guess
too bad threads about real movies like this one get so little action on here
We got a fairly decent 2001 thread a week ago but yeah, it's pretty rare.
rob ager also did a really good vid on 2001 as a horror movie, and i really think thats an underappreciated aspect of the movie. its genuinely pretty terrifying, especially how accurately it depicts the horrifying void of space.
his recent vids havent been as good but he's definitely the best living kubrick scholar imo
It represents alchemy
I knew almost all of this but never picked up on the renaissance art referring to rebirth. Fricking anons, man.
sounds like you have brain damage
While it may be alien in origin in the books, Kubrick is known to change many things including major themes in his adaptations. A central reason Stephen King hates The Shining is because he changes the story to reflect on the insanity of the writer without plausible deniability, essentially turning a mirror on Stephen Kings admittedly abusive creative process itself. In 2001, I am convinced the black cube is the devil, or a totem of knowledge from him, as many themes of the movie convene on the matter, such as transhumanism and ai. This is further explored in an esoteric fashion in Phillip Tippet's masterwork Mad God, but as another anon said reading is required to fully grasp the symbolism.
You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, the book was under the control of Kubrick, he made Clarke write it under his vision and direction, the book released way after the film.
I remember years ago I said the monolith “infected” the apes with the idea of OCD. The smooth lines and “perfect” sides were a new concept for the stupid dirty apes.
that's funny
> rectangle
Do you even geometry
It's your enlightened perspective (movie starts with a few intentional dark frames, you're viewing from inside the object), witnessing moronic humans (Kubrick hated humanity) waste money and time with their fantasies.
1) Alien civilization wants to nurture intelligent life
2) Introduces a gene-altering machine to promising protohumans who would otherwise go extinct
3) Bury a similar monolith on the Moon to act as an alarm to alert that the humans have advanced to a space-faring civilization. It emits a beacon to Jupiter
4) Human goes to Jupiter to investigate and is transported to another gene-altering machine. Machine transforms him into homosexual superior, to prevent humans from going extinct via nuclear annihilation
5) Profit
It's the "divine spark" entering human, pushing them to their next stage of intelligence and existence, getting them closer and closer to God.
Monkey was the first time, giving them the intelligence to utilize tools
Moon was another, perhaps being the catalyst for their drive and technological developments to reach the moon in the 1960's, despite not finding the monolith until 30 years later
Dave came across one as he was alone and flying towards Jupiter, which set him on the course into hyper-drive or whatever, where he essentially leaves the physical universe and transcended time and no longer was trapped by linearity, and thus could view himself at different stages of life.
The final time is a more personal event, where Dave is old in bed, it is the moment he dies and thus meets God.
The fetus at the end symbolizes that man on earth is still in it's infancy, while also being part of Dave's non linear life trajectory.