Building in Straight Lines

Hi guys: I'm writing articles on the site Reelholes about possible symbolism in Prometheus. I'm reposting my second article here: From [url=http://www.reelholes.com/2012/06/20/dissecting-prometheus-part-2-god-does-not-build-in-straight-lines/]second article[/url] [b]“God Doesn’t Build in Straight Lines.”[/b] Why did Holloway say this at the beginning? We know for a fact that God does build in straight lines, especially if the connotation is nature. Crystals, such as those in rock and snowflakes when observed under a microscope show lots of perfect, parallel and crisscrossing lines and angular shapes. Was this just a mistake of the screenwriter? On the surface, the implication is simply that lines such as the road he was seeing, and the alignment of the circular pyramids could not have been forged by the elements. Simply put, they didn’t get there by themselves. The line has caused a lot of frustration for movie-goers because it seems odd that a knowing scientist, especially in his field of study would say such a thing. In the context of the scene, he was simply saying that it looked out of the ordinary. However, there is another layer to this, and it’s a key to a lot of other scenes in the movie. There is no question that Prometheus is filled with religious symbolism and iconography, especially when much of it is so overt. When a symbol shows up in a film, it may or may not have significance. However, when it shows up repeatedly, and especially if it’s without reason in the context of the film, we should take note of it. Let’s start by looking at what lines represent as a shape. Lines represent something that is firm, with regards to people, this could mean someone who is entrenched in their beliefs, unwilling or unable to bend. They represent hardness, and hardness in the bible is frequently used to signify a condition of the heart. Someone with a hard heart does not have the ability to hear from God or believe in Him. A hard-hearted individual is someone who is not spiritual, but instead selfish, someone whose faith is in the opposite of God. Lines also can represent technology, such as the circuits of a computer, or the routes to get somewhere quickly (the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, we all know.), and thus science. So the concept that “God does not build in straight lines” has entirely a different meaning in this context, and it makes sense if we follow it through. Before we get into the straight lines in Prometheus, let’s talk about another repetitive symbol, and it’s the opposite of a line: the bending curve. Curves in many cultures represent the eternal, the spiritual, and the cosmos. Like a circle has no ending, it represents the eternal, healing, protection, and selflessness. A curve yields where a line does not, it is flexible and strong. In some cultures, the curve represents a softness of femininity, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case here. If a curve appears with a line, it could symbolize corruption. If a curve is broken, it becomes a sickle, signifying judgment, like the sickle of the grim reaper. Now let’s look at the symbols as they appear in Prometheus. 1) [b]The engineer drinks from a rounded cup before sacrificing himself to create life.[/b] This rounded cup, symbolic also of the cup that Christ asked to be taken from Him, signifies that the act of creating life is “selfless” and “spiritual” 2) [b]DNA is formed, a curved ladder.[/b] It’s interesting that it’s primarily two parallel curves connected with various straight lines. We are both spiritual and temporal. 3) [b] The Prometheus is shown flying through space in a straight line.[/b] This is shown also as it enters the atmosphere of LV 223 and crosses the surface. This has interesting implications. I think it represents both “technology” and the selfish “man-made” path to enlightenment. 4) [b] David walks very rigidly straight.[/b] He is a robot, but the rigidity helps to enhance the motif here. 5) [b] David going in circles on a bicycle, twirling a basketball on his finger.[/b] This is an act of the technological trying to imitate the spiritual, just as David tries to imitate humanity. 6) [b] The line is uttered by Holloway that “God does not build in straight lines.”[/b] God is not selfish, does not tolerate inflexibility, and the creation of life is even curved (DNA again). 7) [b]The helmets of the crew are very pronouncedly rounded.[/b] This symbolizes the spiritual covering and protection of the minds within. They are masked by spirituality when approaching the pyramids. 8) [b] The roads connecting the pyramids are straight. The pyramids themselves are round.[/b] Everything in the pyramid is rounded: the giant head, the urns, the doorways, the corridors, the chambers, and the murals. On the head in the ampule chamber are various straight lines. This is important. This duality of selfish vs. the selfless seems to indicate that this was at one time a very spiritual race of beings, but then something selfish took over. Instead of the goo being used for good, the curved bowl of the sacrificial life giving fluid was changed to the erect rounded vases, and the spiritual head of the temple was altered. Peace changed to war. Were these even the same beings? Are there two factions? It’s interesting in the orrery of the Juggernaut (The space jockey chamber); there are lots of straight lines and symbols in the rounded chamber. This is in contrast to what we see in the temple. When David visits this chamber and activates the hologram, a line is shown connecting to Earth. Another symbol of the straight line that causes destruction. 9) [b]The crew remove their helmets[/b], removing the spiritual protection, not just physical protection of the elements. This signifies that they are choosing selfishness over selflessness. All of the engineers in the temple are helmeted. This is an act of symbolically defying God. 10) [b] When Elizabeth has David remove the helmet[/b] from the decapitated engineer, it is no longer protected. Without protection, technology (selfishness) is introduced to it and it is destroyed. Also note the look of confusion on the reanimated head before it explodes. 11) [b]David must wear a kind of helmet[/b] (a false spirituality) before he can peer into the minds of the crew as they sleep. 12) [b]Shaw gives birth to a round sack[/b] after being cut by technology, and then the round sack explodes. Another symbol of technology, selfishness unable to interface with the spiritual? 13) [b]David and Vickers argue in a strangely curved hallway[/b], lit strangely in dark blue. There is more significance to this scene we will go over at a later time, but in this instance, it does seem to indicate that there is something spiritually significant about the encounter, or something falsely spiritual about it. It’s as if technology and selfishness have a kind of spirituality of their own when interconnected. 14) [b] The blob of goo that David gets from the urn[/b] is in the shape of a perfect dome on his fingertip. The goo doesn’t react or burn him, because this weaponized form of the goo is itself only technology. Again, David and the goo, false spirituality when interconnected. 15) [b] Holloway rolls the ball straight to David[/b] as if to strike him. Selfishness, destruction again. 16) [b] Elizabeth is curved after her ordeal[/b], bowed over much of the time for the rest of the film. Bending, spiritual, yielding. 17) [b] When returning to the juggernaut[/b], Elizabeth keeps her “spiritual covering” on until the engineer is awakened, removing it only to speak to her creator. 18) [b] The juggernaut is curved[/b], and even rotates as it exits the ground. It is a broken circle, a symbol of judgment and death from an angry God- the sickle. It rises to pronounce judgment on man. 19) [b]When the Prometheus sacrifices itself[/b], the selfish Vickers with all of her riches escape, the pod jettisoning in a straight selfish, unyielding line. Her pod is ok, but the “riches” is partially destroyed, as riches cannot save themselves. 20) [b] Here’s the big one: Vickers runs from the falling Juggernaut in a straight line[/b], unable to bend or break from her wicked path of selfishness, and is crushed by the falling “judgment” of the sickle, the spiritual judgment. 21) [b] Elizabeth escapes judgment.[/b] Elizabeth, being broken and bent, trips, rolls over to face her judgment, and “bends” to escape it. 22) [b]Elizabeth again escapes[/b] the falling “hammer” of the juggernaut by yielding to it in a curved recessed rock and is again spared. 23) [b] Elizabeth grabs a very curved axe[/b] (there is a lot more symbolism here we will cover in a later article) before confronting the engineer. The axe in many cultures symbolizes the creation of new life. 24) [b]The adult trilobite is made of many curved tentacles[/b], and is spiritually significant because this “dark” engineer is about to be killed, but not giving of itself, and creates instead “death” instead of life. This new life form emerges, with a curved body, but a straight, pointed head and tongue. A powerful spiritual metaphor for a powerful, spiritual being, but an abomination because it’s constructed with lines. The alien is born. So, wrapping it up, we can see how the psychology of lines and curves can be interpreted in Prometheus, just one of the many allegories in this film we will surely be talking about for a long time.