The Engineers' Religion (one spoiler concept inside)

sukkal

MemberOvomorphMay 18, 20124072 Views47 Replies

The [u]spoiler[/u] concept is that I refer to a character from the leaked credits who has [i]not[/i] been seen as such (definitely) in a trailer to far (to my knowledge). It's probably not a big spoiler if you've been here for more than a week, but I wanted to put up this warning... : : : : Overall, I feel that BigDave's analysis in [url=http://www.prometheus-movie.com/community/forums/topic/4717]THIS TOPIC[/url] of the role of the Sacrifice Engineer is probably spot on. My only lingering doubt comes from the fact that IF the Engineer were to BE sacrificED, then in "proper" English I would expect his credit to read "[u]Sacrificial[/u] Engineer." So that's why there is a question mark here. Do you feel that that (presumably holographic??) character is closer to Abraham in this scene or to Isaac? There is precedent in franchise canon for both in the xeno behavior. Mammals are sacrificed so that new xenos can be born. And, in [i]Resurrection[/i], two xenos sacrificed another (against its will) so that they could escape their cell. The needs of the many... Do you think the "Sacrifice Engineer" will BE sacrificED, or that we'll see him sacrifice something or someone to someone/thing else? And this is the crux of why I'm posting this. [u]Within the LOGIC of the Engineer culture, why all of the religious iconography in this film?[/u] (I understand why it works for Noomi's character and the rest of us human schmucks watching the film. It's great for advertising, etc... But, [u]how is it justified internally in the STORY of this film[/u]?) Why would a culture capable of and clearly engaged in advanced genetic engineering, interstellar travel, "godlike" powers, etc. have their own religion? And, what is that religion? What dynamic in their culture led to its creation? [url=http://masempul.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Religious-Symbolism.jpg][img]http://masempul.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Religious-Symbolism.jpg[/img][/url] Please hypothesize away. If you have SEEN the film or feel compelled to report word of mouth from others who have, please don't do that here. Please don't [u]spoil[/u] beyond the mention of the character from the film credits. This is about a theoretical philosophical discussion for those of us who don't want to KNOW the answer until we see the film (if it's even in the film). Thx!!

Dave_b
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May 18, 2012

Every intelligent species will have a motivation. Some may be benevolent, while others will be hostile. Some will be ambivolent and opportunistic. We might even be ignored by those that consider us to be nothing more than anecdotal to more worthy lifeforms. Many possibilities exist....some pleasant and some so full of horror that death would seem a pleasant alternative. Just sayin:O)

sukkal
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May 18, 2012

@artyoh — Kudos for effective use of bile in a post! But it's not just piling up rocks, you forgot about all of the precision slicing of the rocks and the fact that the rocks, once sliced and piled, produce "vibrational energies" that possibly "did stuff." I agree that IF the Engineers do have some kind of "religion" and the writing everywhere makes us privy to the nature of that through David, or if the frescoes 'speak' to it at all, that it will likely not skew particularly Judeo-christian. However, 'Elizabeth Mary' Shaw could not be pointing much more strongly towards a strong association with the New Testament. I realize that her character is the daughter of a priest/minister and that easily explains this factor. But, the mural’s/fresco’s being on the ceiling of the chamber(s?), surely must have been intentionally designed to be situationally evocative of holy human architecture. @Dave_b — In this—for Prometheus—I can't get by the "head" factor. The head is THE most iconic image in this so far (that I have seen). It is OUR head and it is the head of the Engineers. There clearly is some level of "interest" from their (civilization’s) side towards us. I have to say that the film will be very unsatisfactory for me personally in this area—their interest in us— if this is not touched on at all. Poor artyoh up there is suffering elevated bile levels over this "playing god" thing. At least we need to get [u]some[/u] kind of satisfaction. Clearly it's going to skew VERY dark and utterly lacking in beneficence, but anything, no matter the tone, can have it's logic, subtlety, and mystique. So, All — Is the "sacrifice" in this ritualistic (based on dogma), or pragmatic (to prevent the spread of some sort of 'infection'), or something else? Who has an opinion or hunch?

Newtella
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May 18, 2012

I know this sounds very idealistic but I like to think our system is protected somehow by benevolent space traveling races. Otherwise, the technologically-superior ones with malevolent intentions would have enslaved us already a long time ago. I used to work at Lockheed. I know things. I've seen thi -- gaaAAK! *thud*

sukkal
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May 19, 2012

@Newt — I think that was on [i]Ancient Aliens[/i], Episode 17.

Newtella
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May 19, 2012

Really? I've never seen that series. Is it any good or totally hokey? I've tended to shy away from The "History" Channel when it became too obvious their programming had too much of a pro-corporate ("Hershey's thru the years") and pro-Christian slant...

sukkal
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May 21, 2012

There's NOTHING X-tian about [i]Ancient Aliens[/i]. It's very [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Däniken]von Däniken[/url]/[url=http://www.sitchin.com/]Sitchin[/url]-esque.

sukkal
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May 22, 2012

POST SCRIPT: Today I discovered (by accident) that there is an answer about the meaning of the word "SACRIFICE." You can find it in the spoiler section or you can PM me if you want to know before seeing the film.