Forbidden Planet

Charles S. writes:

I had occasion to see the classic science fiction movie Forbidden Planet (1956), and was reminded again of how enjoyable it was, taken simply as entertainment. However, this time it occurred to me that the plot can be seen as a political metaphor. At the risk of reading too much meaning into it, the tragic antagonist is the scientist played by Walter Pidgeon, who also represents the ancient and extinct Krell race that long ago populated the planet but somehow mysteriously disappeared. As the plot develops, we finally understand that the Krell committed racial suicide because they released their darker, most evil natures that they had somehow forgotten or failed to acknowledge. The evil was always present, but was unwittingly given destructive power via the Krell’s ultimate societal/technical construction that provided any material want just by thinking about it. As the scientist likewise succumbs, the movie likens this to Freud’s id released through the subconscious.

This is the type of message that our culture used to deliver as both a teaching device and a reinforcement of traditionalism. Now it is anathema, quaint, outdated, replaced by the noxious Avatar. I think we’ve fallen a long way.

- end of initial entry -

February 23

The blogger Cesar Tort writes:

About Charles S.’s comments, Forbidden Planet is my chosen metaphor for my “Epilogue to the Gates of Vienna edition” of The Return of Quetzalcoatl, which deals precisely with the deep psychological causes of today’s self-loathing and suicidal tendencies among Westerners. Although the book is already written, only one chapter is being published approximately each two months at GoV.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 22, 2010 11:35 AM | Send