So I Just Saw Prometheus

In the original myth, Prometheus is a trickster who creates mankind and then proceeds to make things miserable for them.  He fools Zeus, the ruler of the universe, into accepting sacrifices of bones and fat while allowing men to keep the nourishing meat for themselves.  Zeus, angry about this trickery, takes fire away from men, which Prometheus steals back for them.  Zeus doesn’t take kindly to that either, so he chains Prometheus to a rock to have his liver eaten out daily by an eagle for the rest of eternity while sending Pandora the first woman to earth to sow discord among men.

Abstract watercolor rendition of the Greek Mythology, Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a subsequent version, Prometheus is less a Loki analogue and more just the kindly divine benefactor of the human race who brings them into the civilized age with the gift of fire (which he still stole).

Ridley Scott’s film Prometheus toys with the ideas evoked by both versions of the myth.  Set in the same universe as the Alien franchise, this prequel explores the origins of the xenomorphs and humanity and their connection with their genetic predecessors, an alien race called the Engineers.

I should say that I have never seen any of the Alien films with the exception of Alien: Resurrection which I know really doesn’t count.  That being said, I understand there was a lot of hype surrounding the film before its released because it was billed as answering questions that fans of Alien had had for years.  I didn’t have any of that baggage going into the film, so while I had heard that it was going to be a little disappointing, I was actually quite pleased with it.  As a sci-fi story on its own, I thought it was a lot of fun, though there are a lot of cases where the characters act like idiots for no apparent reason.

Setting aside the bizarre motivational failure of the characters (by which I mean that they do things without good reason; I think of it as one of the biggest mistakes any storyteller can commit), I thought that the film delved into some very interesting questions.  Parental abandonment is clearly the dominant theme explored throughout most of the film.  We have the setup that the Engineers planted the seed for the first instances of life on Earth billions of years ago with the eventual goal of creating human beings.  The Engineers guide early humans for a while according to archaeological evidence that our heroine, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, uncovers on Earth, but then without explanation they disappear.

The entire mission of the ship Prometheus is to go to the galactic location that Shaw and her boyfriend Charlie Holloway find referenced in all the artifacts they uncover and see what’s there.

Included on the ship’s crew are the corporate executive Meredith Vickers and the android David, who both have connections with the owner of the company that’s funding the expedition, Peter Weyland.

Spoiler alert: everyone in this film is a horrible person in some form or fashion, mostly because of parental issues.  Weyland considers the android David to be a better heir than his real daughter, Vickers.  The Engineers for some unexplained reason, decided that humanity’s a bust and not only abandoned them millennia ago, but also decided at some point that they should just be wiped out.  Janek, though perfectly likeable, is a rather irresponsible ship’s captain.  Holloway, though he’s romantically tied to Shaw and a victim of some rather gruesome stuff, is just a jerk (I think I hated Holloway more than anyone else in this film).  David systematically gets multiple crew members killed by exploiting loopholes in his programming in what looks like an attempt to free himself from his directives.  Only Shaw comes away without any major flaws other than the sin of being part of the Last Girl club (she’s definitely tough, but it feels like she survives by virtue of being virtuous, and she goes through plenty of rather graphic torture before getting to escape).

So, in this world of horrible people begetting horrible people, we find ourselves confronted with the question, “Why were we created?”  The answers range from apathetic to cynical.  Shaw, who’s depicted as the only person of faith on the expedition, wants to find the Engineers to ask them why humanity was created.  David, who knows his creator and the purpose he was made for, resents this knowledge and is doing everything he can to try to free himself of his heritage.  The Engineers, when the crew finally meets one face to face, turn out to be incomprehensible to humans.  The last surviving Engineer on the planet refuses to communicate with the humans, and proceeds to exterminate them without remorse.

Certainty seems to be the enemy of hope in this universe.

I recall reading some reviews of Prometheus when it first released that criticized it for bringing up these questions about the nature of humanity’s origin and then failing to offer any answers, but I think this is a strength in the film’s story.  Repeatedly, with all of these awful and irresponsible characters who go around creating things without caring about the consequences for the creations, the film asserts that answers about your origin are ultimately disappointing.  The only character who maintains any hope in finding a greater purpose is Shaw, only because she relies on her faith to sustain her.  Even seeing the Engineers for what they are (callous, amoral things with no concern for the well-being of their creations) Shaw continues to hope that there’s another explanation for why humanity exists.

The whole plot revolves around a common question that is one of the best mysteries of the universe: how did life originate?  Even if you go with the alien hypothesis that suggests an alien race originated life on Earth (what Prometheus is using as its premise) you’re still left with the question of where the alien race originated.  The Engineers are awful; the humans are awful; David’s awful; the xenomorphs (horrific genetic offspring of both the Engineers and humans–it’s complicated) are awful, but this is only a section of the entire genetic lineage.  We don’t know what gave rise to the Engineers.  They still require an origin of their own, and I think it’s this understanding that keeps Shaw going, even after being faced with the horrors of her immediate creators.  She doesn’t know for sure, but she hopes that there’s something better further up the line.

On a side note, Rachael and I rented Alien and Aliens to help finish off the Summer of Sci-Fi, so I’ll have posts in the near future to discuss my thoughts on those hallmarks of cinematic sci-fi horror soon enough.