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2001: A Space Odyssey

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Name: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Abbreviation(s):
Creator: Arthur C. Clarke & Stanley Kubrick
Date(s): 1968
Medium: Film
Country of Origin: United Kingdom/United States
External Links: 2001: A Space Odyssey (film) at Wikipedia
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.
Fan art - Dave Bowman from 2001: A Space Odyssey (artist Miriam English, from Diverse Universe #7, March 2001.)

2001: A Space Odyssey is a film (directed by Stanley Kubrick) based on Arthur C. Clarke's original short story, "The Sentinel." Although it does not have an organised fandom, there can be no denying the impact the film has had on the science fiction genre. It has been compared to Shakespeare[1] and regularly makes the list of top films among science fiction fans and other audiences.

The film remains a consistent and ongoing topic of much fan discussion, and this provides an enduring if slightly different form of fan activity to the more traditional clubs and fan fiction.

Arthur C. Clarke wrote the screenplay and the novel for the film. Sequel books by Clarke were, "2010: Odyssey Two" (1982), "2061: Odyssey Three" (1987), and "3001: The Final Odyssey" (1997). A 1984 movie sequel to the original film, 2010: The Year We Make Contact was based on Clarke's first sequel novel and was much less-heralded than the original Kubrick movie.

A comic adaptation written and drawn by Jack Kirby was released by Marvel Comics 1976-1977.

Fan Discussion

Some fans have always found the film compelling and familiar:

I was close to ten years old when I first saw 2001 in a theatre. During the intermission I wanted to tell mom and the other adults how exquisitely cool that film was--but they all looked so puzzled, so mystified, so I held my tongue and waited for the second half.[2]

However, the esoteric nature of the film has drawn both praise and criticism:

Being ambiguous, the film is open to different interpretations, and there have been many. You can read what you want into it, whatever preoccupies you. What you do in those cases is find what’s in your mind, so that in a way the film becomes a mirror.[3]

Indeed, the prodigy that 2001: A Space Odyssey manages is that, after all, it is at least ten times worse than I ever imagined it could be.[4][note 1]

The plot revolves around astronauts on a mission to find and study a monolith with help from supercomputer HAL 9000, and everything that goes wrong, This story was encapsulated inside a larger exploration of evolution, alien contact, and discovery. Professional film critic Roger Ebert concludes:

What Kubrick is saying, in the final sequence, apparently, is that man will eventually outgrow his machines, or be drawn beyond them by some cosmic awareness.[5]

However, Kubrick himself was not so certain about asserting his personal conclusions:

You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film—and such speculation is one indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level—but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he's missed the point.[6]

Wider Influence

The film has been highly influential in the development of the science fiction genre and the depiction of Artificial Intelligence in mainstream fiction. Many other film makers also acknowledge that the film has influenced their own work in artistic, philosophical or other ways.

If you take 2001: A Space Odyssey as an example of somebody who creates a new language in film by what he was able to accomplish with art direction, photography, lighting, etc., it is still a gold standard for science fiction.[7]

In 1977, George Lucas himself stated it was the ultimate sci-fi film, and that Star Wars could never hope to come close to being as good. With that in mind, it’s not really a surprise that Lucas used it as a model for his sci-fi world.[8]

Some people were motivated to pursue filmmaking. Actor-director Tom Hanks has said that his first viewing of the film at the age of 12 was an experience that allowed him to appreciate the power of movies. Director James Cameron has said, “2001 meant a great deal to me when I was 16 or 17 years old and it sparked my interest in filmmaking.”[9]

I was rewatching 2001 : A Space Odyssey the other day (an amazing one, btw) and I was noticing very clearly how much Star Trek after The Motion Picture had sort of encoded 2001's aesthetic sensibility into its DNA.[10]

2001 also helped to introduce certain music to popular culture, notably, The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss and, Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. This latter tune in particular, along with associated visual cues from the movie, has become something of an instantly recognisable meme in other films and TV shows. One commentator describes the film, as Kubrick reputedly alluded, as being a "mythological documentary" or "controlled dream" or "a filmic Rorschach" that effectively mixed music and metaphor.[11]

Many other books and articles have been written to analyse the film and its ideas, many of these written by academics or others who are clearly fans of the movie.

The influence of 2001: A Space Odyssey can be seen across the genre:

Science versus Fiction

In 1983, Clarke wrote within a new epilogue for the novel:

The novel 2001: A Space Odyssey was written during the years 1964-8 and was published in July 1968, shortly after the release of the movie...


... 2001 was written in an age that now lies beyond one of the great divides in human history; we are sundered from it forever by the moment when Neil Armstrong set foot upon the Moon... Now history and fiction have become inextricably intertwined.


The Apollo astronauts had already seen the film when they left for the Moon. The crew of Apollo 8, who at Christmas 1968 became the first men ever to set eyes on the lunar farside, told me that they had been tempted to radio back the discovery of a large, black monolith; alas, discretion prevailed...[12]

A subsequent generation that did not live through the era includes some people who question whether or not 2001 provided the technical apparatus for Kubrick to fake the Apollo Moon landings. One rebuttal is humorous and playful:

Stanley Kubrick could have been asked to fake the moon landings. But as he was such a perfectionist, he would have insisted on shooting it on location. And it’s well documented he didn’t like to fly, so that about wraps that one up… [13]

Themes of Life, Growth, and Evolution

Man-Ape to Human

The first part of the film explores our evolution from Moonwatcher to Moonwalker. Mime artist Dan Richter, who played "Moonwatcher" (the man-ape who touched the Monolith and later threw the bone into the air, depicting a leap of evolution) shared his house for some time with a capuchin monkey named Nancy. He felt that this enabled him to develop a deep understanding of our connection with other primates, as might be implied within the film:

During the time that Nancy was my roommate, I developed a very strong kinship with her. Anyone who has lived with a primate, not just kept one in servitude in a cage, will understand my feelings for Nancy. She had a well-defined personality, feelings, a psyche, a sense of humour, and the ability to form relationships. Nancy helped me learn that primates are very close to us. We have a great kinship with them; we are not that different from each other. It's all a matter of degree rather than kind. And now my job is to capture the correct degree of separation to make the "Dawn of Man" sequence succeed.[14]

From Human to HAL

Art by Mike Symes in Energumen #1, February 1970.

Another part of the film - often a fan favourite - charts our journey from astronaut to AI, as explored in the interplay between the human astronauts and the HAL supercomputer. Dave's request to HAL, "'Open the pod bay doors, HAL'," HAL's response, "'I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that'," is often quoted by fans.

One commentator explores this interplay and its implications for our evolutionary future:

Do we, then, want to build an intelligent, friendly, flexible machine like HAL? Yes. Are emotions necessary to such a machine? Apparently, yes. In fact, lack of emotions may bt the key reason why artificial intelligence has failed at this task to date. But there is another question - and I don't know the answer: are people ready for affective computers?[15]

LGBT+ fans question queer subtexts within the movie, even extending this exploration to HAL:

This movie was set firmly in the "boys' only adventures" genre of science fiction, similar to that of another SF great, Forbidden Planet, where the male-only domain of spaceflight was barely breached by women, in a curious attempt to suggest that having men-only aboard a spaceship would eliminate any suggestion of sexual hijinks - and, over thirty years later, we can look back in amusement and see a possible (if unintentional) gay subtext to the whole story: for example, was HAL a jilted and jealous lover?[16]

It is noted that others explore a similar queer perspective, and one academic asserts that, "to suggest that he [HAL] has a Queer affinity is nothing new".[17]

Another fan is full of praise regarding the significance of HAL:

HAL is probably the most important computer in the history of film. While there are been madder computers (the one from Demon Seed comes to mind) and fancier (EMORAC from Desk Set) there are none that are more human or more fully realized. HAL as a character has inspired entire books on its own. There are so many things that HAL represents. The first thing is that HAL malfunctions and feels that he has to take charge of the situation after that happens. He doesn’t want to be shut down (and in 2010, the sequel, he asks “Will I dream?” when they tell him that they’re unplugging him) so he kills the three scientists who are in hibernation. The real ending as far as a lot of viewers see it is when Dave goes on a walk-about and re-enters to unplug HAL. It’s a touching scene when Dave undoes HAL’s memory and HAL first pleads for Dave not to do it and then the singing of Daisy is positively heart-breaking.[18]

The question is raised of the physicality and psychology of human growth, and a suggestion that spaceflight can be ennobling and inspiring, carnal and corporeal (and it also potentially explains the popularity of the science fiction genre):

Navigation - of a vessel or human body - through a space in which gravitational pull is suspended, introduces heightened pleasures and problems, the intensification of erotic liberation and of the difficulty of purposeful activity.[19]

From Savannah to Star-Child

The interplay between humans and extra-terrestrial life (as depicted by the Monoliths and their creators) depict another level of growth that remains beyond the scope of human understanding within this movie, although the ending implies that possibly our evolution will turn us into the very Star-Child aliens whom we seek. One fan analysis suggests:

Our first space spores have been launched. As symbolized in 2001 (and by technologies such as Apollo and Voyager), we are launching our first spores into the cosmos. In effect, 2001 is one of those spores, though it is artistic and philosophical. With our knowledge of the cosmos, we have the opportunity to become Star-Children and philosophical Ubermensches, to be the artists, scientists, philosophers, voyagers, and tourists of the cosmos —seeking not merely to survive but peacefully pursue our existential quest in a beautiful and sublime universe.[20]

Legacy

Positive

Apart from its ongoing influence upon films and the science fiction genre, its philosophical impact also continues to influence and inspire fans:

2001 has in fact, and according to my experience, a depth of meaning that has never before been duplicated in a film. It is so full that it brims over. Granted it is not so highly structured and compartmentalized as the insane machinery of what we have been conditioned to accept as the only "good" way of life -- that being the Western industrial and technological "civilized" way of life -- but this is not any fault of the film! It is incredible that Kubrick has used the very latest technological advances to indict themselves.[21]

It is striking how 2001 differs from the sf films that have gone before and after. It seems essentially almost the only real ‘hard’ science fiction film, where not only is science respected, but science and the glory of the universe are the stars of the film. It appeals to our desire to explore the world, and the universe. Since the Earth is pretty nearly fully explored, what can fulfil humanity’s innate instinct to explore like outer space?[22]

Negative

The film reflected the life and times of so-called "manned" spaceflight[23] - an era when space exploration was seen as, "a historically white and male aerospace sector"[24] despite the 1963 spaceflight of Valentina Tereshkova[25]; the behind-the-scenes involvement of NASA's African-American women "computers"[26][27] and the "Mercury 13" astronaut trainees.[28]

Historically, 2001 can be seen as a relic of sexist times - as feminist critiques of the material make clear:

The main actors are all men, with women participating in certain scenes for brief moments only.[29]

“They [space pods] were usually christened with feminine names, perhaps in recognition of the fact that their personalities were sometimes slightly unpredictable. Discovery’s trio were Anna, Betty and Clara.” - Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)


Sorry, but I’m not laughing.[30]

This raises questions about the relevance of this film to female audiences and fans.

Fandom

Pairings

Although shipping does not appear to be a central focus of the film's fans, there are still a small amount of relationship focused fanworks. The most common pairings being David Bowman/HAL 9000 and David Bowman/Frank Poole, both romantically and platonically.

Common Tropes in Fanworks

  • Crossovers: seem to be a popular subject in fanworks, usually with other science fiction fandoms, popular choices are Star Trek, The Wandering Earth films, Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream and the video game Portal, all other sci-fi works that feature artificial intelligence or intelligent computers.
  • Horror: many fanworks seem to contain some element of horror, mostly concerning the dangers of space exploration and artificial intelligence

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fan Films/Vids

Archives and Links

Pop References

Resources/Further Reading

Notes

  1. ^ This anonymous critic of 2001 made some provocative statements, for example they appear to have tapped into what some perceive to be a gay sensitivity within the film, responding with a nasty comment: "In casting 2001, Kubrick apparently cornered in the washroom a number of habitues of a Gay bar on the Sunset Strip. Then he didn't bother to coach them at all in their new careers before shoving them willy-nilly in all their no-doubt-toothsome masculine glory before the grinding cameras. He never even provided scripts for them to work from, but airily told them to improvise their lines as they went along." (p. 30) (Overall, this was not the only homophobic comment in the zine.)

References

  1. ^ Russell Blackford, "Shakespeare, Science Fiction and all that Jazz", in Bruce Gillespie (ed.), Steam Engine Time #3, December 2001, p. 8. (EFanzines)
  2. ^ Jim Susky, "2001: A Space Odyssey" (letter of comment), in Henry Grynnsten (ed.), The Mt Void, Vol. 36, No. 41, Whole Number 2010, 13 April 2018 (FANAC)
  3. ^ Henry Grynnsten, "2001: A Mind Odyssey", in Henry Grynnsten (ed.), Wild Ideas #13, June 2021, p. 2. (EFanzines)
  4. ^ Author Unknown, "Kubrick & Clarke: Zombie Makers", in Redd Boggs (ed), Bete Noire #22, Winter 1970-1, pp. 2 & 3. (FANAC)
  5. ^ Roger Ebert, "Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey", 12 April 1968; reprinted at RogerEbert.com.
  6. ^ Norden, Eric, "Interview: Stanley Kubrick", in Playboy magazine, September 1968; reprinted in Gene D. Phillips (ed), Stanley Kubrick: Interviews, University Press of Mississippi, 2001, pp. 47–48; cited on Wikipedia, last edited 4 January 2025.
  7. ^ Matthew Modine, quoted on AZ Quotes
  8. ^ Jesse Percival, "The Influences of Star Wars: 2001 A Space Odyssey", Medium, 8 December 2015.
  9. ^ George DeMet, "The Search For Meaning in 2001", The 2001 Archive, 1998.
  10. ^ dvcaputo, "Aesthetic Influence of 2001: A Space Odyssey", reddit, (2018?).
  11. ^ David W. Patterson, "Music, Structure and Metaphor in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey", American Music, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 444-474. (JStor)
  12. ^ Arthur C. Clarke, "Epilogue: After 2001", in 2001: A Space Odyssey, London: Inner Circle Books, 1983, pp. 225 & 226.
  13. ^ Howard Berry, "Moon landings footage would have been impossible to fake – a film expert explains why", The Conversation, 10 July 2019.
  14. ^ Dan Richter, Moonwatcher's Memoir: A Diary of 2001: A Space Odyssey, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2002, p. 68.
  15. ^ Rosalind W. Picard, "Does HAL Cry Digital Tears? Emotion and Computers", in David G. Stork (ed.), HAL's Legacy: 2001's Computer As Dream and Reality, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1997, p. 302.
  16. ^ Geoff Allshorn, "Convener's Report: 2001: A Human Odyssey", in Geoff & Miriam (eds.), Diverse Universe #7, March 2001.
  17. ^ Camille E.B. Boechler, "What About Hal?”: Imagining a Queer Physicality in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey," Louisiana State University (Honors thesis), 2017, pp. 2 & 3. (Academia)
  18. ^ Chris Garcia, "52 Weeks to Science Fiction Film Literacy - 2001: A Space Odyssey", in Chris Garcia (ed.), Drink Tank #290, 2011, p. 12. (EFanzines)
  19. ^ Annette Michelson, “Bodies in Space: Film as Carnal Knowledge”, reprinted in ArtForum, originally published February 1969.
  20. ^ Barry Vacker, “The 50th Anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey — The Meanings of the Monolith”, (This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar”) at Academia, 2017, p. 9.
  21. ^ Manning Glicksohn, "2001: A Review", in Mike Glicksohn (ed.), Energumen #1, February 1970, p. 12. (EFanzines)
  22. ^ Bruce Gillespie, "Happy (belated) 50th anniversary, 2001: A Space Odyssey"!", in Bruce Gillespie (ed.), SF Commentary #104, November 2020, p. 113. (EFanzines)
  23. ^ Maura Phillips Mackowski, "Review: Manned" Spaceflight for Women?", Technology and Culture, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 170-174. (JStor)
  24. ^ Kim McQuaid, "Race, Gender, and Space Exploration: A Chapter in the Social History of the Space Age", Journal of American Studies, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Aug., 2007), p. 406. (JStor)
  25. ^ "Valentina Tereshkova: More about the First Woman in Space", The Tech Historian, n.d.
  26. ^ National Geographic Society, "Women of NASA", National Geographic, 19 December 19 2024
  27. ^ Brynn Holland, "Human Computers: The Early Women of NASA", History, last updated 28 September 2023
  28. ^ Margaret A. Weitekamp, "Lovelace’s Woman in Space Program", NASA, 11 October 2004.
  29. ^ Feminist Film Critic, "2001: A Space Odyssey", Feminist Film Critic, 8 July 2005
  30. ^ Nikki Miller, "2001: A Space Odyssey – A Feminist Perspective", Nikki Miller PhD, 2 January 2016
  31. ^ Alexis Gilliland, "Some Notes on 2001: A Space Opera", in Mimosa #27, December 2001, pp. 26 & 27. (FANAC)
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