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Prometheus: A Sort of Review

Prometheus – Ridley Scott 2012

Halloway, played by Noomi Rapace, is a scientist who discovered that ancient civilizations knew we
came from another planet and went in pursuit of a star map to investigate. This is a nice premise. That we did not evolve from the apes but was seeded here by another race. Darwin says that we evolve (evolution) from other animals because we can. Evolution hasn't given us direct evidence that we did in fact evolve from the apes. Just because we can evolve doesn't mean we did. On the other hand, there are ample evidence that meteors and space dust that bombard planets provide a healthy medium for water and other stuff of life, perhaps even DNA, which can start life somewhere else in the universe.

Halloway along with a team of scientists, engineers and others traveled to this destination in the map to find out the truth.



The film is ambivalent about the scientists being wrong or right. For me they were half right and halfwrong. Halloway calls the protohumans “engineers”. “We called them engineers. They engineered us.” said Halloway. In the movie Halloway is described as a believer. I believe this refers to her faith on humanity. That human beings are at their best when they are being human. Her faith also include science and humanity's effort to understand where he came from through science. Unfortunately, her faith also includes trusting that man has the best interest of the universe at heart. Halloway believes that man will choose to be the universe' savior if he can.

Instead of engineers busy at creation, the crew of Prometheus found a store of capsules full of
dangerous biologically manipulated creatures created for killing. What if these engineers are throwing the dice when they manipulate the basic building blocks of life. Some times they create beautiful diverse life in the process of trying to create. Some times they stumble into a nightmare soup. Or maybe they were creating a biological weapon all along.
Weyland, played by Guy Pierce in heavy make up, financed the trip and brought along himself and his daughter played by Charlize Theron. Weyland's interest is to get the secrets of creation itself and maybe prolong his own life. He ignores his own daughter and shows great regard towards an android played by Michael Fassbender. His daughter is only interested in the company's bottom line. The android showed goodwill towards humans and one point Weyland referred to him as his son.



Michael Fassbender plays an android who may lack a soul but makes up for it in spades. Good guy, saved lives, makes the human feel he's one of them and all that some humans take for granted. There's this scene after watching a movie (Lawrence of Arabia, my favorite epic), he stands infront of a mirror and combs his hair. Here's an android, alone, no human contact and mindful of how he looks.

One more point to be made is the opening scene of one of the protohumans taking a poison and literally disintegrating down to his DNAs. I think it shows the tendency of human beings for self-destruction. I also feel that the protohuman in this scene is shouting defiance at others in the space ship above. It's like he doesn't like what's about to happen next and ending his life is his act of protest at some authority above.


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