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FORBIDDEN_PLANET


                                                             June 30, 2004
Somewhere along the way, it became
popular to say that "Forbidden
Planet" is a science fiction                    SPOILERS
version of the Tempest.

This is grossly overstated.

Yes, it's about an encounter with a
ship-wrecked magician (of sorts),
and yes he has a daughter, and there
are some spirits/monsters in his             Morbius, Alta, Robbie...
employ.                                      And the "Monsters from the Id"

But there's very little thematic
overlap between the film and the
Shakespeare play.
                                     The magician gives up
                                     his magic?  Perhaps.

Consider, however, that
the name of the ship is
the Bellerophon:

In "The Iliad" there
is the tale of "brave
Bellerophon, a man          Most characters in the Iliad have
without a fault".           these associated catch-phrases,
                            something like "the caped crusader"
He had a few kings          or "the man without fear".
plotting against him
(they were set on him
by a spurned jealous                      TAKEN_LIGHTLY
woman by the name of
Antea, no connection
to Alta, I presume).

   One of these kings sets
   Bellerophon a task:

   "he ordered Bellerophon to kill the Chimaera --
   grim monster sprung of the gods, nothing human,
   all lion in front, all snake behind, all goat between,
   terrible, blasting lethal fire at every breath!"

                                           "Hector Returns to Troy"
                                           Book 6, line 210

                                           Homer's "The Iliad"
                                           (Robert Fagles translation).

A number of aspects
of this film are
worthy of note.

     The soundtrack: Louis and Bebe Baron's
     non-deterministic electronics.             There's a persistent
                                                myth that they were
        A truly great                           using therimens, but
        work of music.                          that's just wrong.
                                                They hacked their own
                                                electronics.

There's a strange element                              ("The Day the
imported from fantasy:                                 Earth Stood Still"
the virgin that can calm     An ability                is a better
the beasts.                  she loses                 example of a
                             once she's                therimen
                             been "kissed".            soundtrack.)
   But then, Alta's
   degree of naivete         Not only does her
   is literally an           tiger suddenly try
   impossibility,            to kill her, but        In a fit
   given her                 Captain Leslie          of jealousy?
   familiarity with          acts like it
   literature.               should be                  Because she's
                             *completely*               no longer
   The only plausible        obvious why this           magically pure?
   explanation is that       has happened.
   she really is             "You really don't
   putting them on,          know, do you?"                 The artist
   giving them "the                                         tried to
   business".                   Duh, everyone knows         outline
                                your tiger tries to         an image of
   Though there are some        kill you if you fool        the beast:
   scenes (e.g.  when           around behind its
   she's complaining to         back.                       Dangerous,
   her father about the                                     savage...
   Captain) where she              When we next             prone to
   really seems an                 see Alta                 jealous
   astounding innocent.            again, she's             rages.
                                   no longer in
   A fantasy virgin,               a white gown,
   so inexperienced                instead she           It's obscured
   she might even be               wears a black         by these strange
   impressed with a                mini-skirt.           overtones of
   schmuck like you.                                     unicorn tales.
                                   
     What a strangely                GOTH_TRANSFORM     
     repressed time
     that was...

       Not just a
       delicate lack
       of mention of
       sexual details,           And this in a story
       as you find in            about the inevitability
       films only ten            of the beast within for
       years earlier,            people that have risen
       but a complete            up from beasts.
       faking of human
       nature.
                                                              (Jan 06, 2017)
           The bald, hypocritical lie                There's one good line
           replaces restrained hints...              that might explain Alta's
                                                     character-- "As though
                                                     all that biology had
                                                     something to do with me!"

                                                     Alta is raised by a man
                                                     who wants to believe
                                                     that rationality can
                                                     control the "animal
                                                     within"-- she's insulted
                                                     and surprised that
                                                     anyone might regard her
                                                     as a sexual entity.

                                                     It isn't so much an
                                                     ignorance of sexuality
                                                     as a presumption that
                                                     that that's just of
                                                     historical interest.


There's something going on with visual motifs that
puzzles me, and I don't expect to ever understand:

The crew of the Bellerophon wear
a design of concentric circles as        I'm not sure if this was a
their logo, their badge.                 sign of ship or service.
                                         I guess it might have been
          Targets?                       rank: circular stripes.
          Orbits?
          Orbitals?       A complex
                          vagina?
             layers
             within
             layers

At the movie's climax, a hand
pushes down the destruct
plunger, and the visual motif
reappears: the plunger is
located in the center of some
glowing concentric circles...


The real core of the film
has to do with the dangers
of powerful technologies and
the need for safety features.

The Krell technology amplifies
human power to the point where
unconscious impulses can have
immediate, worldwide effects.

          It unleashes the
          "monsters of the Id".

This by itself might be taken
as a warning that human spirit
and technology are ultimately
incompatible...

But opposed to this is
the example of "Robbie" --
a hybrid-technology, built
by humans using Krell
capabilities. With Robbie
the need for checks
on power was not overlooked.       Robbie does pretty
                                   well with a 6-bit
   In true "Asimov's Laws"         electro-mechanical
   fashion, the robot is           accumulator.
   incapable of harming
   human beings.                                         
                                                              
                                                               
        "No, no, I deny you!                                 
         I give you up!"                                 
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                 So, which is it? 
                                 Is it a forbidden
                                 planet, or not?  




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