More on Prometheus
One of my cow-orkers pointed out there’s a popular theory going around that Prometheus is all about classical mythology in an SF setting. Most SF movies are, but the theory outlined here actually does a pretty good job of explaining some of the more baffling aspects of the movie. I’m not equipped to spot this kind of stuff, not having a religious background and not having studied mythology.
The links and videos at the bottom of his post provide some good counterpoint though, and if you invest the time to read the article I suggest you also watch the videos – especially the first half of the Akira the Don one (the second half is irrelevant).
In addition to what is said in the latter, an obvious flaw with the Space Jesus theory is that wiping out humanity because we nailed their peace teacher to a tree is a pretty hypocritical lesson in peaceing out, space dudes.
While there’s nothing wrong with weaving mythological references all through a movie, even an SF movie, it still doesn’t feel like a well-put-together story. Also, I wish people would stop relying so heavily on this material – consider the underlying values behind things like the Prometheus myth. They’re outdated in that they severely undervalue life – depending on how they’re told, they’re almost death propaganda. I’d like to see some more sensible SF flicks made to establish new, pro-life mythology.
