It was a seminal moment for me; my step-dad taking me to the opening of Kubrick's "2001". I didn't understand it. I didn't want to understand it...I was washed over with a sense of awe and absolute wonder. It's as if time slowed and I could see each and every frame of this amazing creation in a distilled and concentrated way. It was more than "movie-magic" happening to me...in my 12 year old brain I was finally understanding what it was like to be truly alone and how infinitely small I was in the vastness among the planets.
I was overwhelmed.
Each and every subsequent viewing of the film, (sometimes on large, kind screens...sometimes on a tiny tv), showed me more beauty and made me more amazed. I saw the flaws and foibles of humanity...in a machine. I saw the icy cold calculations of a machine...in heroic astronauts. I saw the finger of knowledge extended, baptizing my species with intelligence. ...but mostly I heard the silence...the silence of space...of death and of birth. It was a silence that has echoed in my ears to this day.
I was overwhelmed.
Each and every subsequent viewing of the film, (sometimes on large, kind screens...sometimes on a tiny tv), showed me more beauty and made me more amazed. I saw the flaws and foibles of humanity...in a machine. I saw the icy cold calculations of a machine...in heroic astronauts. I saw the finger of knowledge extended, baptizing my species with intelligence. ...but mostly I heard the silence...the silence of space...of death and of birth. It was a silence that has echoed in my ears to this day.