Shaw: Parallels with Eve?

DippyBird
MemberOvomorphMay 14, 20122214 Views53 RepliesI know it's probably just me going COMPLETELY off on a tangent... but can anybody else see a parallel between Shaw and the Eve described in Abrahamic religion?
Shaw seeks knowledge and follows the temptation to learn what the 'Gods' learn, whilst Eve gave into temptation and ate from the tree of knowledge - condemning herself and the rest of man to die an be cast out of the Garden of Eden.
Both seek knowledge and end up being punished for it in rather graphic ways... Shaw being impregnated with that tentacled horror and the death of the crew, Eve with death and the pain of childbirth etc...
Am I crazy? Or am I onto something?
May 14, 2012
[quote=artyoh][i]Could even one Engineer be the equivalent of a benevolent sky-daddy? Sure...but would that really make sense in an "Alien" universe, where it already seems to have been established, that survival is about the best you can hope for?[/i][/quote]
If it didn't make sense, but were done in a [u]really creative way[/u], it could be AMAZING! I don't think it makes PERFECT sense for Deckard to be a replicant, but I'm really quite OK with it.
I'm still not completely convinced that THIS [i]Alien[/i] universe is the end-all be-all of THE Engineer's universe. If it is, and it's all tidied up logically and with a nice twist for panache, then I'll likely be just fine with it that way. If it's not, but it's still creative and elegant (and I get to go the the Engineer home world next time for further elaboration), then that'll be fine and dandy with me. This, of course, is where the Lindelof factor comes in and I HATED the ending of LOST. It was a cosmic cop-out to the Nth degree. But, I don't think Ridley would allow such.
As for the moral relativism, well yes, it's a little more interesting as an exercise in the context of SF than in the reality of something like the Holocaust. What with all the evisceration (from the inside out), and face melting, and c-sections and whatnot, I'm not sure there is going to be a lot of time to explore this particular thread in the space of [i]Prometheus'[/i] running time, but I'll be happy to get just a few unicorns pointing in that direction. (You know that the unicorn in the dream was test footage for [i]Legend[/i], right? Maybe we'll get a sneak peak at the next [i]Blade Runner[/i] in this!? LOL)
May 14, 2012
@Myrddin365...I think you may mean the complete and utter arrogance to go and confront them mistakenly based on a completely misinterpreted and completely wrong idea to begin with?
May 14, 2012
It definitely has the "we are insignificant beings at the mercy of unspeakably horrific entities should we have the misfortune to encounter them" Lovecraftian vibe.
Safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good!
May 14, 2012
Eve sought equality with God. Shaw only seems to want communion and relationship. These are noble goals, spiritually, but it is inaccurate to believe that those two things can be achieved in a temporal venue light years from earth.
Safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good!
May 14, 2012
Not crazy at all. there are a lot of things that one will come to make parallels with cause there are things in the plot [et al] that are pretty much hints to religious and non-religious matters.
That seems to me a very good aproach you've made
[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]
May 14, 2012
I'm a little rusty on my Christianity... haven't been to church in YEARS... so forgive my inaccuracy Myrddin365. Perhaps it's not Shaw's fault then, more Holloway's I'm getting more of a reckless vibe off of him, but regardless she seems to be getting punished for it, no?
May 14, 2012
Thanks David1 :)
Myrddin's made a good point though, perhaps Shaw might not have been the one that gives into temptation - that seems more like something Holloway would do to me. But just as Adam was punished for something Eve had caused, perhaps Shaw is being punished for something Holloway (?) has caused?
May 14, 2012
You weren't inaccurate. Shaw is. There are Eve parallels in the outcomes, but pandora is possibly a better analogy. Curiosity killed the whole effing race! Lol
Safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good!
May 14, 2012
But Shaw is [u]undeniably[/u] the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve]Mitochondrial Eve[/url] for Cuddles.
I find Holloway immensely unlikeable, even in the "landing" clip. He reeks of 'JERK'. We'll see...
May 14, 2012
@sukkal
Good point on both. Holloway does seem like a total douche.
Safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good!
May 14, 2012
@sukkal
Totally agreed! The way he put his legs on the table. That's good acting there. I felt like I wanted to punch his face, the whole body language and voice tone when speaking to Shaw was so...
Haha, back in the days, there was crazy theory about they using some wormhole or technology and arriving to prehistorical earth, David turning into real human through bio-liquid and then David + Shaw starting humanity in the end.
May 14, 2012
I'm getting a sort of arrogance off of him, can't really place it...
LOL... I think that's a given sukkal, I was meaning more the metaphor of what happens to her!
May 14, 2012
Shaw is a bit too "innocent" to mirror the Biblical Eve. Of course, Biblical Eve—having been written exclusively by men—has certainly gotten more than one raw end of the shaft... if you know what I mean...
May 14, 2012
I know what you mean sukkal... I know exactly what you mean.
I don't honestly believe Biblical Eve did it out of badness, I believe it could have been more along the lines of that she was just curious - something which is a VERY human trait.
I agree that over the years the messages have become muddied and a lot of the stories will have lost their original meaning, but there was a human element to them - but that's just my belief!
May 14, 2012
Most christian biblical scholars find Adam and Eve equally culpable in the fall.. I can't speak for Jewish scholars.
How can Shaw be too innocent for Eve? Eve was sinless until the apple incident.
Safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good!
May 14, 2012
They do now Myrddin... I don't think that's always been the case, at least not historically.
I don't think Shaw's too innocent for Eve, I agree with your point on that Myrddin, but I was agreeing with parts of what sukkal was saying.
May 14, 2012
Fair enough. Interpretation is necessary, but risky.
Safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good!