By Jack Kelly

Last Friday, the Ridley Scott kinda-prequel, but not really prequel to his legendary Alien movie debuted across America. Prometheus has created a variety of responses from critics.  Some have lauded the film, while others have opined it is nothing more than an average summer blockbuster.  As to the ultimate question of its ‘prequelness’, well, that is still a question, kind of.

For those of you unfamiliar with the original Alien, it stars Sigourney Weaver, who played the legendary cinematic character ‘Ridley.’  Ridley was a humble heroin played brilliantly by Weaver and offered audiences an alternative narrative for the main ‘hero’ role.  It was the vulnerable, and yet heroic woman who lived and fought off the bad guys, not a leading man.  It was a refreshing take and helped the audience become emotionally enchanted with her and confronted stereotypes within society about the role of woman in the world.  The original Alien was released in 1979, roughly the same time more and more woman were venturing out of the home after child-birth and thus, creating the two person income earning families that are part of the current fabric of American culture.

In Prometheus, Scott does not shy away from a geo-political perspectives or thought-provoking narratives.  In fact, he seems intent on searching for it and demanding you confront this question as well.  Weyland Industries, the corporate leaching assholes, are once again featured prominently in this film as it was in the previous Alien movies.  Only this time, we are introduced to the very old and almost dead creator of the company.  As was the case with Alien, the crew in this film are venturing far off into space for different reasons.  Some are simply doing it for the money, while others, such as the leading lady in the film, ” Elizabeth Shaw”, played by Noomi Space, are on a search for an answer.

The answer Shaw is looking for can be looked at from a variety of perspectives, which I believe to be the purpose of the movie.  Is she searching for her soul? “Aliens?” The meaning of life? God? Or Faith? And is her search, our search?   Are these questions we are concerned about?  Do we know who created us?  Do we want to know who created us?  Would we be disappointed if our creator no longer wanted us, or worse, was intent on destroying us?  What if our ‘god’ was not the ‘god’ we had envisioned it to be, but simply another species in the universe who was just as flawed and as vulnerable as us?

How would we incorporate such discoveries into the collective fabric of our minds?

With Prometheus, Scott is demanding we explore these questions.  Like Alien, Scott is imploring the audience to not only enjoy the movie and be entertained, but he is requiring some thought of the viewers.  Fans of the TV show Lost, will be familiar with some of the more nuanced, yet fascinatingly confusing topics explored by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, who is the lead writer for Prometheus.

With the addition of Lindelof, Prometheus is not simply a sci-fi thriller starring an action hero, but more of an exciting philosophical discussion that could be guided by Plato that ultimately demands action, in the form of a search testing such Platonic virtues.

So is Prometheus a prequel to Alien?  Ya, it sort of is, but it doesn’t necessarily answer any questions about where the original Alien came from, per se.  Instead, Ridley Scott is asking the audience of Prometheus to explore and consider where not only we come from, but where we are heading and what is our final destination.

Yes, such a question is not only thought-provoking and requires some effort, but in the end, the process of thinking is necessary for the survival our species!

 or is it not?