Religious Allegory

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MemberOvomorphJune 13, 20121308 Views3 Replies

Prometheus offers many expressions and symbols, but none so powerful and probing as its religious allegory of the ultimate nature of reality. I define religion in this context as expressions and symbols of the ultimate value and importance of life. Any discussion of Gods, creation, good and evil, freedom of choice and sacrifice has connotations of religious expression spread across every tradition, faith and philosophy. These expressions are not antithetical to science or in opposition to it but neither can science answer the ulitimate questions we all ask as soon and as often as we are human at all. Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Why is there suffering? Is there an ultimate truth, being, reality? These are the questions of the characters of Prometheus posed in sometimes traditional allegory and sometimes very unconventional motifs. Take Janek, whose name means "God is Gracious". He is the pilot (a title co-shared with the engineer pilot) and captain of the ship who will not take the evil back to earth. He stands at the bridge grasping a horizontal bar between two crewmaen who have been gambling over the meaning of their mission and sacrifices himself while lifting his outstretched arms as on a cross. It doesn't matter that this is an archetypical allegory and symbol from Christian faith. What matters is that Janek chooses to sacrifice himself to save human kind while others agrandize themselves or play God in order to destroy life. Elizabeth like the barren Elizabeth of biblical text can give life to evil or good and chooses good by warning of the destruction of earth and seeking the source of why the engineers created then chose to destoy. And there is so much more. An android David, not human but extending the God like finger of Michaelangelo's painting to infect life for commercial purposes. Freedom to choose is the cherished proclamation Elizabeth makes like her father and so passes the question to us. What will you choose to believe? Even the engineers were created by something else. While others are debating plot holes and bad science, I am more interested in these questions. What do you think?

notaprequel
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June 13, 2012

I think David explains it perfectly when he says that the crew questioning the engineers would be the same as a robot question a human on why it was made - there is no purpose, other to serve.

Hadley's Hope
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June 13, 2012

I was waiting for someone to point that out. I believe you are first. "Janek" is a common male name in Poland (but pronounced Yan-ek) You can also make a case for him being Janus, who marks transitions. The Prometheus drops out of 'warp speed' on Dec 21st. Janek is the one putting up a christmas tree. When asked "what is that" he says he likes to celebrate the holidays, as a way of marking the passage of time. He is also a border between barbarian and civil worlds.... Which is true when he puts himself between a Juggernaut and our Earth. What does it mean that he slept with the Celtic Sea Warrior "Meredith"... we'll have to consult the Oracle on that one : ) You forget Weyland as Saul the unfit King whose throne goes not to his blood kin, but to his son in law David (the closest thing to a son) David v Goliath didn't go too well in round one. Perhaps in round two.... David, as the non-human delivering the announciation to Elizabeth made me choke on my popcorn. I think that you should not ignore the plot holes and bad science. The direction you're taking is only part of the tapestry of the film, and you won't get it without looking at science and psychology as well.

Tokyokid
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June 13, 2012

Well, you have the tree of life shown in the beginning on the goo container. It is a common achitype in many religions. So, the movie is not a direct reference to a particular religion. All religions contain some form of the tree of life metaphor. The tree of life is a direct reference to resurrection. Jesus' crucifiction is another form of a demi-god being turned into a tree and later resurrected. It is the same myth and not unique to Christianity. The one non-Christian story I can think of is Egyptian where a demi-god dies, he turns into a tree, which is converted into a boat to transport his body to a burial ground, and he is eventually reborn from the boat. I only vaguely recall the steps. I can't recall much about it (names of the demi-god, etc.), but it was a discussion on TV (PBS I believe) with a respected philosopher/historian who has also advised movie makers like George Lucas in creating comparable myths on screen. Even my friend who absolutely hates Star Wars enjoyed the discussion because of the show was factual about history and very interesting. It was a long series over several DVDs, if purchased. I'll try to find a link and reference to post. In the movie, the engineer sacrifices himself only to be reborn. Weyland also says that Prometheus has now returned (referring to humans) and will take his rightful place in Olympus. So, in the movie Prometheus (a demi-god) was resurrected as us humans.