Re: Paradise (Prometheus Sequel)
Well, almost a year old now and still the debate goes on.
You have to admit, either through genius or dumb luck, the creators have done a terrific job of holding our interest... and it isn't just due to the franchise... as you don't see us spending a lot of time debating Alien: 4 or AVP.
And it seems like a lot of us concluded at the time, that NOBODY, not the characters in the film, not the script writers and not even the director, really had a true understanding of what the story was about and where it was going to lead.
I am not sure that I agree with you that they didn't know what the story of Prometheus was about, but I am in complete agreement that there was VERY little thought or planning on setting up future movies and making this the true start of a trilogy.
It is the most singularly subjective sci-fi film I have ever seen (apart from Solaris (both versions)). Depending entirely on my mood I can love it or loath it in equal portions as I watch the story unfold.
Again, is that brilliance or dumb luck that allows for both? I can actually see how some would be frustrated, but I absolutely love it for what it is, and especially after the DVD was released and I got to see more character motivation from the cut scenes, my love was greatly intensified because decisions that defied explanation in the theater suddenly seemed more plausible.
The most central to the story, Elizabeth Shaw, is a terribly conflicted and damaged person, having lost both parents at an early age, emotionally desperate to find meaning and stability through her beliefs and work , even when they directly contradict each other ( a Christian God created man ,not visiting bioengineering space aliens, how does she make that work???).
While Shaw wears a cross, did you really get the feeling she holds traditional Christian views or that the cross is simply symbolic of a more broad-based "faith?"
I absolutely love Shaw (far better than Ripley, who was never even remotely likable) and love that she is flawed. I love that, for her, science and faith can coexist and even the proof of the Engineers doesn't cause her to lose her faith. It is an interesting concept and makes her a fascinating character in a world that likes to preach that the two concepts are mutually exclusive.
And considering the entire structure of the Prometheus mission revolves around the driving force of her theories its not really surprising that nothing can objectively be concluded by the stories end , because through the entire film every other key character involved sees something different as to what is actually supposed to be revealed, entirely based on their own desires and experience.
But isn't that what makes thes characters interesting... possibly even moreso than those in ALIEN? In ALIEN most of the characters had different motivations; money, wanting to go home, scientific discovery, etc. You have similar things in Prometheus, but for me, they were much deeper issues and almost EVERYONE had a different desire or need, many of which directly conflicted with one another. I absolutely hated Holloway and Millburn's characters until seeing the cut scenes and suddenly I saw their flaws and/or motivations and it made me appreciate both of them a lot more and while both of them still made very foolish decisions, I could understand the reason they did so. To me, this made them much more believable and relatable as we see these kind of things every day in the real world; people making dumb decisions that don't seem dumb to them because they are driven by an internal need that overrides, if only momentarily, logic and reason.
Shaw can either come across at the end as a dogged heroine trying to find redemptive answers at the ends of the universe for both herself and the human race , or a dogmatic fanatic, willing to risk the entire destruction of the humanity just to satisfy her personal craving to try and understand the capriciously creative and destructive natures of alien god (s).
My take is that Shaw simply has nothing left to lose/nothing better to do and much like Sherlock Holmes, she has come on the first bit of evidence that is a breadcrumb trail leading to the answers she feels she needs to know. The sad thing for me is, as much as I want to hate Holloway, I think he needed to know more than Shaw did, and he never will.
Ultimately ,like most of theories about Prometheus, it relies entirely on what you the viewer WANT to believe is the TRUTH or reality behind what Shaw does against the evidence you have seen.
I LOVE this about the movie!
Exactly like the TV series LOST.
Interesting that you feel this way because I LOVE Prometheus, and hates LOST, especially the last season or so that seemed to have no rhyme or reason, made no sense, had no direction and seemed to be nothing but a total mess.
And this is the paradox of Prometheus. I think Ridley was trying originally to deliver a straight story in the first drafts, then was sidined by the deliberate ambiguity in the revisioned later texts. The issue is they absolutely MUST deliver a storyline in the second (possibly third) films that takes us somewhere definite and makes sense. Or risk a colossal backlash in terms of box office and critical appeal.
LOL.. Didn't that last bit already happen?
Personally I’m on the fence. Part of me would prefer they left it as it is , a flawed but fantastic looking film that has provoked endlessly interesting interpretation and clever debate.
But, rather like Shaw, a stronger part of me believes there is a far more satisfying answer and conclusion to be found in the next story and film, if only they can be sufficiently patient and bright enough to work it out.
I think you have more faith than Shaw. I can't imagine them giving us a truly satisfying follow-up.
Personally I have a couple of story lines that satisfy me and help me square the Prometheus story and the original Alien without any of the obvious links and I hope the writers get close to them. But the futures never perfect is it.
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