In the summer of 1816, writers such as Mary, Shelley, and Byron often met on the outskirts of Geneva, and once by chance, someone proposed that each person create a horror story. Later, only Mary's work was completed, and it was Frankenstein, which is known as the first science fiction novel in the history of human literature. Frankenstein was written in 1818, and when the book came out, it immediately swept Europe, and the writer Mary Berger was a book. Shelley is also known as the mother of science fiction.
Mary. Through Frankenstein's reflection on the tragic fate, Shelley emphasized his own view that in the face of science and technology, people should remain rational and restrained, and in the face of nature, people should maintain respect and fear, and cannot destroy nature without limits. Looking at this work from today's perspective, Mary. Shelley explores not only people's dependence and abuse of technology, but more importantly, the thinking and exploration of the meaning of life.
If the early science fiction novel laid the foundation for future science fiction films, then this "Frankenstein" not only laid the model of science fiction, but also laid the most basic narrative mode of science fiction movies. In many later science fiction films, we can almost all see the same expression. For example, "The Day the Earth Stopped".
In 1951, the American director made a film called "The Day the Earth Stopped", which used the alien Kratu to express the director's views on politics, technology, and the fate of mankind. Regarding the end of the movie, there are mixed reviews. For sci-fi fans, the ending of "The Day the Earth Stopped" weakens the meaning of the film itself, and does not highlight the meaning and value of what the alien Kratu saw and heard in the film. Some fans also said that the end of "The Day the Earth Stopped" is a warning to human beings and a sublimation of the theme.
What kind of story does "The Day the Earth Stops" tell? Why is it that when talking about this movie today, fans are still enjoying it?
The alien Kratu arrives in Washington in a spaceship and calls on humanity to ban nuclear testing. But the proud and conceited Earthlings did not heed his dissuasion, but instead shot at him and arrested the injured Kratu. Clatu did everything he could to escape from prison and hide as Mr. Carpenter. However, due to a tip-off from a friend of the landlord, Kratu was shot dead by the military. At this point, the robot in The ship in which Kratu is riding brings Kratu back to life.
After the resurrection, In order to awaken mankind, Kratu used his own power to paralyze all the electrical appliances on the earth. Although paralyzed for only a short hour, this hour contained Clatu's prophecies and warnings about the fate of mankind. Finally, Kratu left the planet in his own spaceship.
From the plot point of view alone, this is a very typical science fiction story. But if we analyze the science fiction figure of Kratu, we can find that the fate of Kratu from coming to suffering, then resurrection, ascension to heaven, such a fate picture is obviously similar to that of Jesus. Christ is similar. And The rationality, wisdom, tolerance, and dedication possessed by Kratus are also similar to those of Jesus. The religious spirit represented by Christ is the same. It is worth mentioning that Cratu's incarnation of Mr. Carpenter also has an allusion to religion, "carpenter" means "carpenter", and Jesus' secular identity happens to be a carpenter.
In The Day the Earth Stands Still, there is a villain character named Tom. Stevens. From a religious point of view, this character is actually the prototype of Judah. Every character in a science fiction movie is an innuendo of the worldly people, and through this innuendo, we see the world's vulgarity and the gap of human nature, and the science fiction movie is a beam of light that can shine into the cracks of human nature and let the shadow stay behind.
Science fiction films have two significant characteristics in narrative, one is macro and the other is fluidity. These two characteristics not only add more elements and plots to the science fiction genre, but also continuously enrich the content of science fiction movies. However, no matter how science fiction movies change, their narrative models are always "the same": the development of science and technology has put human survival in trouble, creatures from outer space or other dimensions of life have descended on the earth, or confronted humans, or helped humans to fight against evil forces, and finally achieved the salvation of mankind through magical power and the spirit of dedication and sacrifice.
This narrative mode has become a classic template since the birth of the first science fiction movie, and to this day, when we analyze science fiction movies, we still can't jump out of this magical spell.
Today, when we understand the movie "The Day the Earth Stops Moving," we can actually learn about the status of science fiction movies as a culture in American society through this movie. In other words, through science fiction films, we learn about the culture, religion, and even ideology of American society.
Now let's look at the social, psychological, and cultural factors that appear in science fiction movies.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > social factors:</h1>
The United States is a very religious country, and the influence of religion in social life is very extensive. From the seventeenth century to the present, American Christianity has experienced four revival movements, fogel said: "The rise of the religious boom in the United States has taken on a cyclical nature, with a cycle of about 100 years. Each cycle can be divided into 3 stages, each lasting about a generation. This statement shows the enthusiastic pursuit of religious beliefs by the American people and the vitality and persistence of American religion.
The first religious revival took place in the eighteenth century (1730-1757);
The Second Religious Revival took place in the nineteenth century (1800---1920);
The Third Religious Revival took place in the early twentieth century (1890--- early 20th century);
The Fourth Religious Revival took place in the 1950s and 1980s (1950-1980s);
Among them, the Fourth Religious Revival had the greatest impact.
In the 1950s, the United States was in a period of rapid political, economic, and military development, and although the economy was prosperous, it was due to urbanization, suburbanization, nuclear threats, and the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. At a time when American society was in dire need of religious power to stabilize the people's minds, the religious revival movement was supported by the U.S. government. The 1951 film The Day the Earth Stopped Reflecting the Religious Revival and Social Problems of the Time. And this revival movement also set off a religious epic fever and a science fiction fever in Hollywood.
In the 1970s, the power of conservative evangelicals in the United States continued to grow, and various new churches emerged one after another. Evangelicals link the Bible to politics, linking evangelism to the well-being of the nation and demanding a restoration of traditional Christian morality. Over the next thirty years, conservative evangelical forces grew, and the Christianity they espoused had a profound impact on all aspects of American society. The religious revival movement lasted until the 1970s, when science fiction films gradually replaced religious epic films, and many directors of science fiction films began to consciously implant religious elements, religious metaphors or innuendos into the films.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > psychological factors:</h1>
There is a famous saying: "The end of physics is mathematics, the end of mathematics is philosophy, and the end of philosophy is theology." If you can't understand this sentence, look at how Einstein said of religion: "Science can only be created by those who pursue truth wholeheartedly and yearn to understand things." Yet the source of this feeling comes from the realm of religion. "It can be seen that any field can be linked to religion.
For ordinary people, religion is an effective placebo. If we put the time in the fifties and sixties of the last century, we will find that the era was actually full of turmoil, unrest and radicalism, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the War of The Shipwreck, the Kennedy Assassination, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, and so on. And this period was a period of social transformation in the United States, and the developed industry brought about a rapidly developing economy, but also suppressed human nature.
After Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the "American Dream" shattered and people desperately needed something to comfort, so religion became the first choice. What people need is not only material satisfaction, but also spiritual satisfaction, and the spirit of comfort is one of the needs of people. Marx once said: "Suffering in religion is both a manifestation of real suffering and a protest against this actual suffering." Religion is the sigh of oppressed beings, the feelings of a ruthless world, just as it is the spirit of a state without spirit. ”
As the best choice for psychological comfort, religion can transfer people's contradictions in reality to the outside of reality, and get relief and liberation through prayer, doing good deeds and other acts, so as to get rid of spiritual problems. The American people of the fifties and sixties needed security, stability, and peace, and when they could not see hope in reality, they naturally turned their attention to religion.
Marlos has described the crises facing mankind: wars, diseases, natural disasters, crime waves, social disintegration, neuroses, brain damage, the collapse of authority, long-term bad situations, etc., are all human crises. In the United States in the fifties and sixties, most of these problems happened to exist, so religion developed very rapidly at this time.
Jesus, the alien Clatu in The Day the Earth Stands Still, gave prophetic warnings after witnessing the crises of human society, just as the Bible prophesied about the future society of mankind. So, people can only be saved if they follow in Klattu's footsteps.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > cultural factors:</h1>
Most science fiction movies are permeated with a strong religious atmosphere and ideological overtones, so science fiction movies and culture are directly related. The image of Christ in science fiction films represents the spirit of salvation in Christianity, which derives from religious culture.
"The Day the Earth Stopped" is a portrayal of the Cold War, but the film also reflects the idea that the problems that technology cannot solve can only be solved by religion. Because technology cannot solve all problems and sometimes creates new conflicts and contradictions, people still need the comfort of the soul and the salvation of religion.
Unlike didactic theory, science fiction films are poetic prophecies in which the director embodies values and outlook on life through stories that resonate with the audience.
Zhou Guoping once said: "When we read the story of the hero's treasure hunt, what attracts us is not the last treasure found, but the thrilling adventure situation on the way to the treasure hunt." The search for meaning is a spiritual treasure hunt. "That's probably the point of the story. People always like stories more than preaching, and science fiction movies use a very charming way to turn preaching into stories and make stories eternal.
The Bible is an eternal myth in the hearts of Americans, and Jesus is the hero of all ages. In the context of modern culture, the savior in science fiction movies is actually a response and inheritance of American Christian culture. We all know that film is born of ideology, and it also acts on ideology.
Hollywood film directors borrow the archetype of Jesus in science fiction movies to tell stories, which not only reflects the charm of science fiction film narratives, but also epitomizes the consistent themes of Hollywood movies: individualism, moralism, patriotism, heroism, etc. In short, the American spirit.
Stories always begin like this, a thought that interrupts your otherwise peaceful life, as if seeking something called "meaning." As a classic science fiction film, "The Day the Earth Stopped" gives us a glimpse of Hollywood's film technology and film culture in the fifties. But it is not just a science fiction movie, through which we can see the popular psychology of the Cold War, human disputes, contradictions, pride and conceit.