In one of my favorite viral videos I’ve seen thus far, Peter Weyland, played by Guy Pearce, talks about the history — and the future — of technology. As he does, he weaves the story of Prometheus into his talk and while the story supports his claim that “we are the gods” now, it also casts an eerie foreshadow on what we are to expect from the upcoming Ridley Scott sci-fi thriller Prometheus.
For those of you who might not remember, it was the Weyland-Yutani Corporation that was ultimately responsible for the discovery of the xenomorphs in the first Alien movie and were the ones responsible for most of what happened in Aliens (what with sending those marines back to the planet to collect a xenomorph or two). Fans have been eager to discover the link between Prometheus and the Alien franchise and they were just handed it on a silver platter. Only time will tell if there are other connections.
What fascinates me about this is the way the summer blockbusters are shaping up — specifically the common theme that unites them: You can’t trust companies, corporations, or the government.
See: The Dark Knight Rises.
See: The Hunger Games.
See: Prometheus.
See: John Carter.
One might even include Brave for its clear “tradition isn’t always a good thing” message. It’s not-at-all surprising, considering the political climate we’ve found ourselves in the for the past ten years, but it is interesting. It reminds me of the movies that came out in the last sixties and early seventies and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if this is just the beginning.
Comments
4 responses to “Peter Weyland Talks the Future”
Can you point me in the direction of movies that encourage you to trust companies or governments? Your post made me think of how most stories told through today’s media (movies, music, even video games) have an anti-authoritarian, anti-government and anti-corporation tint to them. I realized that I can’t think of even one movie that doesn’t.
Here’s a small list of some of my favorite movies and TV shows that inspire me to trust those in charge (for what it’s worth): The American President, Captain America (and by extension, The Avengers), A Few Good Men, Into the Storm, John Adams, Men in Black, The West Wing, and Young Mister Lincoln.
I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones in my personal collection.
Scott has touched on a few that I thought of right off hand, but here are a couple of others.
Mr Smith Goes to Washington (it makes me feel positive, but at the same time, shows that Washington is mostly full of crooks), Thirteen Days, The Fog of War (depending on how you look at it), Air Force One, Seven Days in May, Independence Day, Star Wars Ep. 1-3 (has several politicians who are quite good, Padme, Organa). Most of the movies based on John Grisham books end up showing our judicial system in a positive light, and in general, court movies seem to be much more positive than political movies. But even these have a lot of anti-corporation to them. Also, 12 Angry Men! Great movie that will make you feel good about the system!
I think the key here is that it is always the correct choice to pit the hero of the story against an enemy bigger than himself. And what enemy is bigger than a global corporation or government? We love the David and Goliath story, and so that is the type of movie we get.
Scott and I are going to do a podcast on Easy Rider here shortly, and I’ll bring it up. It seems this could use some more discussion!
[…] Movies You Should Love discusses anti (and pro) establishment films […]