[originally written 4.11.06 and posted elsewhere on blogger]
Shall I tell you
what I find beautiful about you?
You are at your very best
when things are worst. (starman, Starman movie)
do you ever wonder why we bother looking for extraterrestrial life? i mean - why bother sending out signals to tell them we're here? what do we think we'd do if we ever found an extraterrestrial, on earth? i'm inclined to think we might very well kill it. kill the very thing that intrigues us so. because ... well .. that's we do. destroy that which we do not understand. i wonder ... why do we invite that which we cannot host? like ... perhaps as a planterary society humanity simply has not evolved to the point at which we could accept and co-exist with ALFs.
this does have a religious connection to ... because ... do we think we would recognize the messiah if he came in our life time? what if he did walk the earth - in the form of some one life anwar sadat or yitzak rabin or ghandi or martin luther king or JFK or RFK - and we killed him? because we did not understand him ... his message. what if? do we get another chance? this movie ... starman ... it made me think these things.
it starts out with that message we sent out with voyager ... a message representing all humanity and inviting the intergalactic listener to visit earth. and so ... the aliens visit. the space ship crashes. an energy source disembarks and assumes the form of a dead man ... having found some DNA on a hair clipping that the man's grieving widow had near her. the couple have quite an adventure, dodging police and federal agents and the military (who want to capture and kill the alien), as they try to get to arizona so the alien can meet his mother ship and return home.
as i watched more and more of the film the biblical theme ... symbolism ... struck me like a brick in the head. powerful. messianic, i found the story quite messianic. a special man, with healing powers and infathomable knowledge of the universe descends from the sky. the rulers of the society in which he lands find out about him and they fear him ... they have a morbid curiousity of him. he means them no harm ... not in a real sense ... however, they wish to kill him. just because they can. what really made me think of the bible ... of mythology? well, the fact that he impregnated her. she told him that docs had told her she could not have babies. similar to the story of mary, mother of jesus, the alien tells the woman that he impregnated her - that she will have a boy baby. that he will have his father's knowledge. that he will serve as a great teacher. the impregnation of a previously barren woman makes me think more of sarah, though.
the movie - its a good one. i won't spoil it for you by telling you of the ending. you gotta find out for yourself!
This means challenging my self to compassionate, encouraging, genuine and hostile-free exchanges. It also means contemplating my reaction to the thoughts, feelings and expressions of others, prior to acting upon them. 
3 comments:
I once had a discussion with my alternative mentor about the number of Christ-stories in human narrative both before and after the Biblical Jesus. It's an archetype that transcends time--from Herman Melville's Billy Bud to the Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonis."
I saw Starman only once, many years ago. I'd just about forgetten it, even though the questions raised in it are similar to the theme of my own site.
About twenty years ago, I got all hot and bothered by treatment I had received at the hands of others. A friend of mine calmed me down by putting it into a context I still remember today. He shrugged and said, "People hate what they don't understand." Part of that hatred might stem from fear, especially of the unknown. But I think part of that intertwining of fear and hatred stems from our own sense of inadequacy.
I'll see if I can find this movie...sounds good.
I watched "Girl like me"- interesting that I grew up feeling much the same way they did...except that my hair was blonde- but dirty blonde. I wasn't thin enough, or had straight teeth- or cool clothes- I had too many freckles. and my hair was way to straight. How many girls did you know who actually met the standard? Growing up- I knew ONE. I fear image issues run rampant throughout the culture for girls- regardless of race.
The key to fixing this lies in the parents- the mom in particular. One of my biggest struggles is keeping the media input at a minimum- and my input about my daughter at a maximum. Too many parents let their kids become influenced by what's on the tube- and don't stand up for their daughters and the REAL beauty they posess.
My 2 cents...and for the record- some of the most lovely kids I've ever seen were a mix of races. The photo of you with your mom is proof- you were absolutely a beautiful child.
x-dell~you make some very good points. i find that the messianic or spiritual or biblical or call-it-what-you-like-you-know-what-i-mean achetype present in so much human narrative - i.e. film, print. its as though we're retelling the same story we've always told thru the ages, but adorned with so many layers of culture and/or modern details many may not see the original tale.
i believe you've hit the nail on the head where the marriage between hatred/fear of the unknown and self-inadequacy goes. @ the root of fear often lies doubt and apprehension, does it not? and so it makes sense ...
while we're on the topic of film. tit occured to me, the other day while having a conversation with a hindu friend of mine, that 'groundhog day' - with bill murray and andie mcdowell - seems like a metaphor for reincarnation. perhaps you've figured that one out years ago ... but it only just occurred to me a few days ago. just thought i'd share it. maybe i might write a post on it sometime. :)
mayden ~ agreed. it starts @ home. it starts with the mother and father. i have learned that saying things, as a parent, is all find and good. its the actions that our children learn from. we model for them ... with or without realizing it ...
and, with or without realizing it, they take that frame of reference and apply to themselves. many-a-girl expend so much energy in her late teens and most of her twenties fighting the reality that her mother, indeed, lives there in the tiny lines and delicate curves on her face.
and so many mothers spend so much time caught up in that web of body image/inadequacy. how do we stop the cycle?
about the pic - ah, me. its all about the hair, i say. take away the hair, i turn into an odd-looking goof. :)
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