Have you ever seen the movie “2001:  A Space Odyssey”?  It’s interesting.  I first saw it a long time ago, probably when I was still in my single digits, and every few years I rent it again, watch it again, and notice something for the first time again.  The movie is intriguing on multiple levels:

First, Kubrick and Clarke did a helluva job estimating our technology of this era.  While they missed the mark on the whole space-travel thing (and really, that’s not a question of technology but of politics and funding), they nailed many, many facets of turn-of-the-millenium technology.  One of the most often overlooked facets is the use of computer monitors.  In the late 60s, the world was still pretty much run by dials and gauges.  CRT displays were around, but they were only used in a very limited scope.  The idea of using a single monitor to replace row after row of gauges and knobs was pretty revolutionary at the time — let alone the idea of using a single monitor to display, simultaneously or sequentially, information from a wide array of sources.

Second, although the author of the book was heavily involved in the movie, and although the book and movie share many parallels, the movie really told a very different story.  You can use one to interpret the other, but the two have distinctly different tones.  The result is two independent, yet complimentary stories.  Watching the movie doesn’t ruin the book, and vice-versa.  At the same time, you don’t NEED to read the book to appreciate the movie, and vice-versa.

Third, because of the parallels to the book, it’s possible to interpret a lot of key aspects in the movie in a lot of different ways.  Kubrick’s style was not one of waste.  I’m not an expert on the guy or his films, but generally speaking he wouldn’t throw in a painting just because the prop guys had one laying around.  And he wouldn’t replace the dialogue with three minutes of silence if it wasn’t significant.

Which brings me to this website I came across:  kubrick2001.com

It’s a very interesting interpretation of the movie.  While I don’t agree with everything they say, they do offer some insight that I’ve managed to miss all these years.  Like how the opening scenes of humans having difficulty walking in zero-gravity, eating their zero-G meals with a straw (”baby food”), and even learning how to use a zero-G toilet (”potty training”) indicate that we’re embarking on a major evolutionary leap; man is just an infant in space.

I’d love to go on with this post, or at least find a clever way to wrap it up, but it’s 10:41 and the nyquit is starting to really kick in.  Rent the movie, tell me what you think.