I have not yet seen the new version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, but I watched the original version again last night, and found myself thinking back to a couple of comments that other people had made about that film recently. So, here they are.
First, Glenn Kenny notes that the film was not only about finding peace in our time, however compulsory it might be, but about looking ahead to the day when we might have the kind of futuristic science that Klaatu and his culture represent:
One of the first of countless post-nuke sci-fi parables, Earth was set in the then-present day, the better to preach its pacifist creed. Still, it was every bit a movie about the future. Klaatu has an entirely human appearance and bearing; he also has advanced technology, a “salve” that heals a bullet wound overnight, superior reasoning ability and more. He represents Earth’s, or more specifically given the film’s provenance and milieu, the United States’ potential. Watching the film today, one can conceivably mourn both the cozy-looking past of the American ’50s and the never-to-be realized future that Klaatu represents. I somehow doubt the coming remake will stir any such feelings.
Second, and in a similar vein, Eric D. Snider notes that the film depicts two doctors lighting a couple of cigarettes — right after one of them grumbles that Klaatu’s superior medicine and prolonged life expectancy make him feel like “a third-class witch doctor.” The scene almost plays as satire nowadays, but back then, nobody would have thought there was anything funny or ironic about it. Hmmm, maybe the future has seen some improvement.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In