2. Insignificance and Futility
Prometheus mirrors the ongoing theme that cuts consistently through Lovecraft’s work: the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the true powerhouses of the Universe, in this case the Engineers. Just as David has been made to serve frail humankind’s own self-interested purposes, so have we been made to fulfill an as yet largely unspecified role for the Engineers. In the Prometheus universe there is nothing special about humankind when we look at events on the cosmic scale.
The movie to some extent accuses mankind of believing that the Universe owes it a living and an explanation for its place in the cosmos. Nowhere is this better conveyed than in Peter Weyland’s all-consuming self-centred and self-satisfied desire to obtain the secrets of eternal life from the Engineers. We now know what David says to the Engineer as he acts as the mouth of Mr Weyland (fittingly, man alone could never have decoded the key to the Engineer’s speech, it took the efforts of his manservant- alone for 2 years on board the Prometheus- to decipher the Engineer’s language)…
‘This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life’.
As far as cosmic introductions to our ‘gods’ go, it’s hardly friendly and it’s hardly reverent. And ironically the clue as to how the Engineers might react to this request was there all along. It was embodied in Holloway’s condescending and discourteous treatment of David, which hauntingly foreshadowed the way in which our own creators might choose to treat us: at best with condescension and ambivalence, and at worst with, well… a murderous rampage.
Prometheus suggests that no matter how hard we look for answers we will meet futility. This is best communicated by the vision of the Prometheus as it enters the barren desert of LV-223, the desert itself a metaphor for the barren universe. David’s statement that “no man needs nothing” suggests that man is by his very nature inclined to question, but there are no meaningful answers out there. “There’s nothing,” says Peter Weyland at the end of the movie, as he is poised halfway between life and death in the darkest region of the cosmos. “I know sir, have a good journey…” says David. David, with his matter-of-fact vastly superior computerised intellect, has long ago calculated the improbability of there being anything beyond corporeal reality. In the words of Chuck Palahniuk “this is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time…”
Key line: David – “There is nothing in the desert, and no man needs nothing…”
You Might Also Like...
- Prometheus: 6 Answers To The Key Questions
- Prometheus: 8 Mythological & Literary Motifs In The Film
- Lindelof & Spaihts Confirm “36 Hours” Was NOT Scripted
Want to write about the stuff you're passionate about and have your work read by an audience of over 10 million a month? Click here to become a contributor.
29 Comments
First comment! Another wow. Can I say Benji that this is a great way to finish off what
has been an amazing 3 article series.
I enjoyed them all but article 1 was insanely good as it proposed some
amazing plot answers that I would never have got on my own! Especially the
Alien connection! But I really enjoyed these themes and myth ones too
though and feel my IQ has increased by about 5 points with each article!
What I like is that you clearly are aware of the movie’s flaws unlike some
“fanboys” out there but have still taken the time to thematically analyse
the movie and dissect it using your own knowledge of myth and literature
which is obviously very well informed.
One more request can you write an article which answers what people say are
plot issues as a lot of what they point out are not plot issues and you
will know the answers.
Thanks again.
@ AlienInJapan,
Thanks for commenting and for the kind words.
Yes I think that the next Prometheus article will ‘answer’ what some people consider to be plot-holes as per requests for a kind-of rebuttal article to the WhatCulture “20 blunders that ruined the film” piece.
Coming soon!
Another awsome article!Keep up the great work!
Great article Benji! And after reading all three of them gave me a better understanding of the film. You have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into these articles. Thank you for that.
I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie and didn’t understand all the negative comments made on many forums about the plot holes and on the film as a whole. It seems to me that many folks want clear cut answers to all the questions posed in the movie, as if they can be as definitive as a math problem. I believe that the films creators wanted the audience to work a bit to get the answers from the clues provided. Sure there are some silly things that went on (the two crew members that ran away and got lost, then played with the strange new life form..really? You’re going to touch that?) but it is a movie, not reality.
Thanks again Benji for a fantastic series of articles that was prepared like a Doctural Thesis. I enjoyed them immensely and it gave me some validation for enjoying the movie and believing it was more layered them many folks gave it credit for.
@ Bonk, @ Dylan,
Glad you enjoyed this and am happy if this series of articles has added to your understanding and appreciation of the movie.
Bonk, the ambiguity has been praised as genius by some and hated on by others. I certainly think the movie left is with just enough clues to derive answers.
What annoyed me, similar to you, were the unscientific scientists and the at-times weak script.
Great stuff Benji.
Can’t wait for a consolidated article which also combines the v insightful comments I see you making.
You’ve cracked the movie for sure and helped people like me get it too!
Great series of articles, very well written and equally conceived in relation to the movie. I myself am torn between loving the movie (and all the myths, themes and questions it posits-expertly conveyed in your articles) and hating the severly lacking plot/character holes that seem to be weighing it down.
What I would love to know is how you reconcile the heights Prometheus acheives, with the lows which are identified in another WC article-”Prometheus-20 Blunders That Ruined the Film?”
Being a philosophy/history buff, I was immediately drawn to the subtle motifs and themes of Prometheus…but much like the Matrix and Inception, couldn’t help but wonder how much better the film could’ve been with a more developed script, storyline and better character development.
@ Jonathan,
Agreed. The last time I recall attempting to dissect a film in this way was probably The Matrix. It’s great when a film comes along that allows us to peel away the layers and in its depths discover its secrets.
It’s a shame that we couldn’t have it all with Prometheus- the full package- perfect script and screenplay coupled with the thematic richness & mythic resonance that we were gifted with!
Ah well… that’s life!!!
Once again, many thanks Benji for a great sysnopsis and analysis article, your vast take on all things promethean have become an abridgment of sorts, or accompaniment as it were. The one thing I do know is that whether or not your thesis’ are acurate to what Scott, Lindelof And Sphaits were trying to create they have certainly added to the 3D Imax price I originally paid, and ergo would pay to see again, if not only to transgress through the theorized facets of each provoking argument for and against the literary, mythical and philosphical homages you propose. One thing I know for sure I WILL like and enjoy about the film as a whole (coming from neither fanboy nor layman) is watching it second time round will be much more interesting and hope to do this soon.
With regards to this article I particularly enjoyed new questions that were raised (apologies if I missed them) about the concept of David’s AI or emotional intelligence, and althought cliched as it may sound (As I know many filmas have explored this of late), the capacity for truly creating in a profound manner a being in our image. Another religious connotation ofcourse (Wasn’t it God’s choice to give us free will the most contentious point of creation angel-wise etc – I’m sure you could tell me :))
Liked your references to Descartes also, not just ‘corgito ergo sum’ – which I am very surprised wasn’t slotted into the filmscript somehow, but also with regards to stoicism aspects or rationalism, again I’m sure the script could be broken down through the ‘Discourse on the Method’ if one chose to do so :)
Your wink to Palahniuk made me smile, a scriptwriter (along with youself) could have had some well needed swathes of input – ‘the unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs fantasies that last. Stone crumbles, wood rots, people, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you change the way people see the world. You can change the way people live their lives, that’s the only lasting thing you can create’ – CHOKE.
That Benji my good sir, describes exactly how I feel about both the film Prometheus and your articles, and I know I which I would say had more imagination ;)
Thank you
Nb: maybe I should pay you the £20 and not the Odeon :)
Thanks Kenshiro. Glad you enjoyed the wink to Palahniuk! I once lent the book ‘Choke’ to a good friend he said it had a profound impact on his life…!
I hope you enjoy Prometheus more on the second viewing.
“That saying, about how you always kill the thing you love, well, it works both ways…”
Nonsense.The human Engineers we see in the movie didn’t “seed” anything. Go back to school and study biology again – the humanoid “engineers” were “uplifted” by as yet unknown alien species from early hominid primates, maybe some half million to 100.000 years ago. There is no other viable explanation.
Worse, Ridley Scott specifically states this in his interviews. Sorry, you are off by a few billion years.
Teach the controversy!
OMG “Khannea”. I have seen the drivel you post on other sites and now you’ve come and tainted the comments of this great article with your spam.
You statements are ridiculous:
> “Go back to school and study biology again” Sorry, forgot they were teaching ancient astronaut theory in schools now! Me – 1. You – 0.
> “There is no other viable explanation”. Yes, there is! And the crap your “Khannea” blog spouts is not it. Me- 2. You – 0.
> “Worse, Ridley Scott specifically states this in his interviews”. No. No he doesn’t. For one Ridley rarely states ANYTHING specifically in his interviews. The SFX team and Ridley and Damon have all conceded that this is Earth, or a planet “like Earth”, in the early stages of development. With the Engineers acting as GARDENERS. Me -3. You – 0.
I saw that you were spamming your ideas on an early one of Benji’s posts and your spam comments got deleted. Hopefully this will too! A.I.J. wins 3-0. Riot!
“want, not a concept I’m familiar with…” I think this comment is more ambiguous than it seems. It may actually mean that he “wants for nothing”, that he has everything he needs and is in a sense, self-sufficient, or perfect. He also follows up this line by saying, “besides, doesn’t everyone want their parents dead” – possibly an admission of sorts and one example of him implicating himself. In a more general sense, he may mean he simply doesn’t want very often – in other words although he knows what it means and experiences it, or experienced it (he no longer wants to be a real boy), he’s no longer familiar with it…
Really like the Nietzshe comment btw. Can you comment a bit more on that?
@ AlienInJapan,
Nietzsche popularised the idea of the ‘death of god’ in “The Gay Science” & “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”.
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?” is an oft-quoted statement from The Gay Science.
It pushes the notion that, due to an increasingly secularised society, and advances in physics pushing our understanding of the Universe, humanity has essentially killed the traditional concept of ‘god’.
Discovering the Engineers in Prometheus is the final nail in the coffin.
A fanatasitc set of 3 probing articles Benji. They are getting talked a lot about in the Prometheus forums.
Eg:
1. “If everyone coming onto this site, and particularly the ones that complain about not understanding the film, would just begin with these articles and articles written by John Muir, they would have about as good and complete grounding in the film as possible.”
and
2. “For me, this analysis is ten times more captivating than the film itself. The author of the article; for the most part, addresses the most important question that the film asked: What happened on LV-223 2,000 years ago?
In my opinion, the theory presented in THIS article would have made a splendid screenplay for an actual “Original Story”- to be viewed by any audience- even those not familiar with Alien. It could stand on it’s own, but still be in the same universe AND count as a prequel too!!
Eureka!!”
and
3. “I’ve read other articles of Benji. Always intelligent, stimulating work.”
Please drop into the Prometheus-movie forums to say hi!
Thanks for those comments Pussycat. I am glad that these articles are getting some attention from the die-hard Prometheus fans!
I think the themes/philosophy of Prometheus are suitably open ended enough that a lot of stuff can be wedged into it. So I wedge into it Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Ok, so, heres some minor nitpicking…Shaw’s infertility is not cured per se by the incorporation of life giving black goo into her body. I believe her body was used as an incubator of what she had extracted from her abdomen. There was no fertilization of an ovum is what I mean, and she is still infertile when the movie comes to a close. This might seem like a minor nitpick but it is crucial to the movies link back to Frankenstein which ultimately links back to Prometheus mythology. How is not a mystery but I won’t go into a full explanation, just to say……
Basically all life created in the movie is created asexually, by a dude, with the help of a technology.
Also, while the accident or disagreement theory is most likely with respect to what happened with the engineers, think about this for a moment. They sent space Jesus, it didn’t work, and then they realized that we, the flawed humans would show up one day begging for immortality, which is in fact what Weyland did. And guess how the black liquid (also seen in X-files), a descendant of lovecrafts shoggoths that can empathically detect your motivation, reacts when you use it to create life selfishly…. Ok, so they contrived to kill us, their creation out of what impulse: self preservation. And their technology activated in accordance with that impulse.
I also believe humanity was flawed because the first engineer was not 100% serene in the moment of his disintegration into human DNA.
My big question is this, and I have reason to believe it will be handled in the sequel. Are there female engineers?
You know it’s funny, they are our creators, and we call them engineers, they are a supremely advanced extraterrestial race, and they are using a biological substance, but they are — very very important — NOT depicted as scientists concocting something in a lab. They are depicted as monks in robes, their rooms are cathedrals, they don’t have equations and chemical structures on black boards, they have giant paintings, like the sistine chapel, depicted as warnings. They handle this black substance in a church.
Why? Why go to all that trouble to depict the Engineers as followers of a religion instead of scientists?
So I kind of agree with cavalorn’s interpretation that the black goo is an extension of the spiritual essence of the biological entity that handles it. Like Lovecraft’s Shoggoths it can hypnotically interact with its Elders and if the Elders are not trained, a spiritual training in a vedic order, to reject self-preservation, then you do end up with the xenomorphs.
Why did they want to kill humans after Jesus (space Jesus or not may not even matter, fact is humans saw an image of divine self-sacrifice and ignored it, no change)? Cause that was the point where it became clear to the engineers that one day, sooner or later, humans would read the maps in caves, and come for a visit, and humans would not ask “what made you, the engineers?”, humans would ask for immortality, the very thing that makes their technology turn into unkillable killing machines.
Here’s the catch-22, why did they want to kill the humans they created? Because they knew the black goop would become xenomorphs when the humans came for visit.
So why did the black goop then suddenly turn into xenomorphs? Because the Engineers were suddenly acting out of, yep, you guessed it, self-preservation.
Here’s the mind blowing conclusion: When Jesus didn’t fix humans, Engineers started behaving …. like humans.
Another nitpick.
Shaw isn’t cured of her infertility. The Black Goop gets inside holloway and there it mutates as it would. When Holloway and Shaw get it on, Holloway, he is not impregnating her, fertilizing an ovum, he is transferring the tentacled thing that began inside him (Ridley shows it to you in his eye) to her infertile womb.
Otherwise, great read. Sorry to nitpick.
Oh, couple other things. Stuff that might go without saying by now. Lindelof was recycling stuff from X-Files. Black Goop, a protagonist scientist woman who wears a cross and is also infertile. Or maybe X-files was just recycling stuff from other source material that Lindelof went to as well. Stuff I’ve never read.
In any event, if Lindelof ever names another character “Charlie” you know that dudes a goner from the get go.
@Kmk,
I am glad that you enjoyed this. And no problems: I don’t considering it nit-picking, just contributing to the discussion! With Prometheus few, if any, of the on-screen elements can be considered to be definitively answered.
Re. Shaw and her progeny I think there are several routes you can go down:
i) her infertility is cured by the black goo (fitting with our interwoven themes of destruction and creation- in that Holloway’s death leads to the engendering of new life via Shaw)
ii) more along the lines of what you say- in that life is created but not via the restoration of her fertility per se.
I agree that the “female Engineer” enigma will be answered by the sequel.
I touch on that here…
http://whatculture.com/film/prometheus-5-things-we-want-to-see-in-a-sequel.php
Thanks for commenting.
Well, I had no idea my first comment was going to post. No biggy. Just wanted to explain why I posted a follow up comment, that’s kind of just another regurgitation of blah blah blah. in future will note that commenting on whatculture is probably reviewed prior to appearing.
Thanks for letting me comment!!
Thank you for taking the time to write up your thoughts. (You probably put in more effort than the actual script writers.)
I watch the alien docos so had some understanding of where they were going. I would have preferred these ideas to have formed the basis of a new film (not tacked on to the Alien series).
Nobody mentions the Predator vs Alien series of films, which present yet another theology for the Alien character. To be honest I preferred the Predator vs Alien theology to the Prometheus film. Predator vs Alien was action and pure fun. A creature the Predators hunt to signify their hunter status. Simple and let’s get on with the action. Let’s not forget the original Alien film was a horror film – proof that a horror film could be a very high quality film, but still it was a horror film.
Prometheus bit off more than it could chew. It should have presented the whole story and not left it hanging. Why try for a series of films, without presenting a coherent whole film first?
Prometheus was so heavy handed with the religious element, and overmanipulative on all the emotional points.
The thing I learnt from watching Lost is that I shouldn’t trust Lindelof – he just likes to mess with your head (thinks he’s sooo clever), and then disappoints you with an unsatisfying ending. (Why are they so hung up on catholic images if Lindelof’s jewish? Same qn I asked with lost – why are these guys so interested in purgatory which is a catholic invention. Ok so maybe it was the bit in Maccabees)
I had hoped Ridley would have reigned Lindelof in because Ridley usually delivers a satisfying film experience, but not this time.
Perhaps this film was not mind-blowing because there have been so many films and docos about aliens having a hand in human civilisation on earth. If you want to blow people’s minds then you have to blow their minds. Not bore them and overmanipulate them.
At last! After wading through, literally, hundreds of fanboys discussions. On how the film does not tally with the franchise. Both in chronology and quality. It is a relief to find an intelligent discourse on a film that is rare these days. One that questions rather than answers and forces a resolution in a neat little package.
As far as i am concerned, after Alien, the quality dips dramatically to zero. Relagated to the status of Star Wars. A commercial toy franchise, to make us, as consumers feel secure and safe, within an uncaring and chaotic universe.
Kubrick, of course, used similar themes in his films that are comparable to Scott’s. But you are bang on regarding the mythology used and integrated in Prometheus. Ignoring plot holes and dodgy characterisation, this alone elevates the film beyond the usual dross churned out by the so called ‘dream’ factory.
Great article.
Glad you enjoyed this Goatboy and thanks for the kind words!
Questions for the film makers…
If there are multiple sites on the planet with other space craft, then it is likely that the outbreak 2000 yrs ago would’ve been contained to only one section.
If the engineers were planning on taking a trip to earth, then I think it is likely there would’ve been others on the planet that could have filled in and completed the mission. Besides all this, surely the authority to send to earth a space craft laden with xenomorph-type creatures would’ve come from above. If one military outpost failed to commence, another team on a different military outpost (same or different planet) would’ve been instructed to go to earth.
Perhaps the filmmakers would like to say this military outpost created and oversaw earth’s development and so was responsible for kicking-ass if the earthling’s strayed from the path. (As a point of comparison the Roman outpost in Egypt would’ve been first to move on the Jews in the event of a Jewish uprising. But at some point other Roman armies would’ve been brought in to make sure the job got done).
If you want humans to worship you wouldn’t you have some reps on earth to keep the people in check/ in line?
So now the filmmakers might change their mind and say it wasn’t a military outpost? Maybe a post that oversaw developments of the colony. Even still over 2000 yrs word would have gotten back to the home planet, and surely another team would have been sent in to make the earthlings suffer.
If the engineers wish to be revered, the constellation one would worship would usually be the one of the home mother planet, not of some military outpost.
Truth be told, I am happy to overlook plot holes if overall the film is an enjoyable experience
After Lost, I stopped thinking all the plot lines through because it became obvious by the end of season 1 that the writers didn’t keep their word.
So with this film I didn’t bother spending too much time thinking about it, cos I figured I’d prbly be let down.
Glad to be 1 of several visitants on this wonderful site…
Hey Benji!
Great articles, that has made me wanting to see Prometheus at least one more time!
But I have a question, as I can’t seem to wrap my head around the qoute – “There is nothing in the desert, and no man needs nothing…” I don’t think I quite understand it. I’m probably misunderstanding the qoute, but why is it not “and man needs nothing” without the “no”. I hope you understand my question and that you can maybe explain it to me further?
Hi William,
Weyland basically tells David to “try harder” in terms of finding the solution to eternal life. He thinks the all of the Engineers are dead so needs to go down another avenue…
He therefore decides to use Holloway as a lab rat. In David’s estimations, the humans around him are not much more than rats and Holloway, with his comments, can be considered to be a willing test subject.