Written December 2012- Reposted here in preparation of radio-talk show theme on Steve’s Video Store.
Prometheus is a film about hope. Yes, hope. The theme is clearly that of humanities’ search for their creator, but in the end, through the symbolism and conversations offered by the film-writer collaborating with the director, this film offers to its viewers hope of something greater than our pety, ego-centric selves.
So much anger, and literally some hate, has been spewed toward this film, quite undeservedly, that I feel a need to revisit its theme especially at Christmas time. Since Ridley Scott never said to the “Alien” loving public that his film would explicitly bring answers to all the open ended questions to the 1979 film, Alien; I guess I seek to clarify a few misconceptions. People love to whine and cry when they don’t get what they think they deserve, and the pop-culture followers of the Alien films, fall into this superficial category.
What Ridley Scott did mention in all the interviews before the premier of Prometheus is that a new universe of science fiction wonder would be opened and maybe some of it would relate to the film Alien.
There is no doubt in my mind after viewing Prometheus many times that this film relates to Alien in a profound manner. The imagery, the architecture, the mural, so many small, meaningful details culminate into the final scene where a creature much similar to an alien from the Alien movies, is born. How could anyone doubt that roots from the 1979 film stem directly to Prometheus?
I have written extensively about the imagery in this film, but a couple of details remain unexamined: the Christmas tree and Shaw’s cross are two major examples. The Christmas tree in Christian faith is a symbol of the birth of Jesus Christ. The cross represents the death of Jesus and the later resurrection of Christ the Savior. These symbols are not randomly placed within the script of this movie, and I believe they carry the intended central theme of the film.
The “holy” trinity of Prometheus: Holloway, Shaw, and David 8.
Its Holloway who says it… he wants to meet his maker. He wishes to meet his God, just as Weyland desires the same; yet all they really get are Engineers. It is critical to remember that Holloway wants the answer to a question: why did you makes us. Weyland, though interested in the same question is looking for resurrection. The essential question is basically the same but it will lead to different answers depending on which character asks it.
This is central to the continuing need in humans to understand beginnings, most importantly, our own beginning. The scene at the start of the film where the child Shaw asks her father profound yet simple questions about the death of a tribesmen and the death of her own mother lays the foundation for the “Christmas” theme.
In the pivotal scene where Holloway becomes infected with the “black goo” by David8, the conversation turns upon the idea of the search for a creator. As this conversation evolves the camera angle slowly turns to include in the foreground the Christmas tree that was decorated by Captain Janek, perhaps the most outwardly human character of them all. In that scene where the crew has just been “resurrected” from cryo-sleep, the Christmas tree seems almost a joke, a side-bar detail about the state of mind of the Prometheus’ Captain. However, it is really the conversation of the crew that are the side-bars to this scene. The introduction of the Christmas tree is crucial to the film’s theme.
What is it, deep down inside most all of us that makes Christmas time so important? To answer that question is to uncover the entire point of the Prometheus mission. Resurrection, death, life, creation, definately a Christmas theme and most definately the theme of Prometheus.
Dr. Elizabeth Shaw is arguably the main character of the film. It is plain by writer and director intention that she is a Christian who chooses to believe in the resurrection of Christ, symbolized by the cross dangling from her necklace. Shaw’s life is detailed from earlier to mid-story of the film. Her mother died when she was very young. Her father although a scientist and archeologist also observed the Christian faith. Shaw was given the cross/necklace by her father after her mother died as a keepsake. Shaw never explains exactly why the cross is so important to her, whether it is cherished because it once belonged to her mother or because she so profoundly believes in the symbolism of the cross. She does, however, reply to her fellow scientist and lover’s snide comment about ditching the cross (since he has lost hope in finding “his” god), that she chooses to believe in something higher because something obviously made the so-called Engineers.
Another fine point that seems lost in all the “Alien” debate over this film is another Christmas theme: the immaculate conception. Shaw, in tears, informs the audience, through another reply to Holloway’s lack of sensitivity about how “easy” it is to create life… anyone can do it. Shaw is a barrien woman, unable to create life and Holloway’s comment cements the idea of life from something other than the joining of egg and sperm (witnessed in the other Alien films and part of the Alien mythology).
Holloway’s response to his callousness toward Shaw’s inability to mother children is to make love to her. As the action picks up several scenes later David (an andriod with his own creator issues) discovers that Shaw is pregnant. A stunned Elizabeth says she can’t be and David replies that the pregnancy isn’t exactly normal. Clearly this is a reference to the conception of Christ himself, who of course wasn’t quite a normal human either. Even though it is at this point the Shaw story seems to skew away from the Christ story, for she inflicts upon herself a self initiated cesaeren, this new life form is a fairly tough little bugger (wink to Ash from Alien), and ends up surviving Shaw’s attempt at killing it. In the end, this hybrid human creature comes to the rescue of its disenfranchised mother and uses its mother’s attacker (an Engineer, the original creator) to create yet another new life form. . . the proto-alien all the Alien fans were waiting to see.
In the David 8 character we see another version of the creation story, but one that follows more closely on the arrogance of human ego and quite frankly a comment on the Christian Bible ideas in the Old Testement and the fall of Man from Eden. God (the Engineers) give life to human beings, but for some reason humanity is not worthy to continue. God, or the Engineers, plan to annihilate humanity with a Great Flood or with the black goo; and this relates back to that scene so beautifully detailed from the beginning of the film seems to be the precurser to life on planet earth.
As Shaw picks up the pieces of David 8 who has pledged to help her survive, the film comes to an end. If we are looking for extended Christmas metaphors it is plain that the new Testement of Christ and the resurrection to save humanity is symbolized by the character of Shaw (the belief in hope). As she cradles the head of David 8 (knowledge of humanity encompassing ideas of ego and the Old Testement) she assures him that he will be fine thus humanity continues on its quest for knowledge. The two then shoot off into space like a shooting star in search of more answers.
The Christmas theme is intact and has come full circle. Prometheus, bringing fire to man and enlightenment to humanity, inspires the search for knowledge and the understanding of creation, in an attempt to be at peace with human destiny.
Merry Christmas everyone. 
Vick's Pen 