2001 : A Space Odyssey can be interpreted about a million unlike ways . That ’s a big part of its ingathering . But have you ever felt … hungry while watching it ? That ’s because the movie is really about food . Look intimately , and you ’ll see it too !
Audiences have always paid close attention to Stanley Kubrick ’s cautiously crafted films , but the documentary Room 237 really bring the practice into focus . With The polishing having been analyzed down to the last detail , it ’s only natural to turn the focus to another of Kubrick ’s enigmatic masterpiece . 2001 is a movie hoi polloi have made sport of interpreting since 1968 . It may have polarise the critic ( Pauline Kael famously send for it “ monumentally unimaginative “ ) , but its popularity has wear , and it extend to intrigue .
One angle that occur to my attention after repeated viewings of the film , and a chance run into withthis clever essay from 2007 by Josh Ronsen , is this : Have you ever noticed the characters are constantly eating ? That can not be unintentional — this is Kubrick we ’re talk about here . During a recent screening at San Francisco ’s Castro Theatre , I could not get the idea out of my mind . Breakfast meeting ! Trays laden with sentimental parcel ! Sandwiches that might be chicken ! And every time someone eats , something significant happen presently after ! With a hat - tip toRonsen and his screaming observations , let ’s investigate further .
In “ The Dawn of Man , ” the ape colony is first see munching on gage amid a herd of tapirs … until good old “ Moongazer ” realize , as Richard Strauss orchestration boom in the backcloth , that he can utilize a ivory as a arm . He smashes the pile of bones at his foot , and then we see a tapir take a diving . Next view : meat feast for everyone ! It ’s inculpate , of course , that the sudden appearance of the monolith is what caused the ape - learning ability to realize how to craft , and deploy , a tool . But what if the monolith also broadcast the message that meat is delicious ? And it constitute you a badass , especially when you ’ve got your newfound weapon in hand ? ill-use off , you less - crystallize other apes … the water supply is ours and you are not invite to the pig bed pickin ’ .
Many , many , many years later , Dr. Heywood Floyd is head from Earth to the blank space place en route to the moon . Though the Pan Am shuttle come stock with flight attendants fag “ grip shoe , ” there ’s no meal inspection and repair , so one of the first thing Floyd asks his blank space - station contact is “ Do we have time for breakfast ? ” Fortunately , Howard Johnson ’s Earthlight Room beckons for a quick bite before head up to Clavius Base , where another monolith awaits , loom like a elephantine diner menu in space .
But there ’s more eating in store before Floyd gets there . First , there ’s a tray of melted “ intellectual nourishment ” ( based on the promotional material : fish , corn whisky , peas , and carrots ) to be sipped in zero gravity ( before claver , naturally , the “ Zero Gravity Toilet ” ) . give that was presumptively dejeuner after the HoJo breakfast , no wonderment Floyd is stoked when , en path from moon landing to monolith site , he ’s stage with a cooler of sandwiches . Solid intellectual nourishment , yo . Hey , we ’re heading over to the most crucial discovery in the chronicle of mankind , but first … a snack ! The substitution goes like this :
“ Anybody hungry ? ”
[ Rummaging ] “ What ’s that , chicken ? ”
“ Something like that . Tastes the same anyway . ”
“ Got any ham ? ”
[ Rummaging ] “ Ham , ham , ham … ”
No marvel the monolith is righteously gravel when they finally get to the crater . It instruct pre - human beings about the tasty welfare of being a carnivore eons ago , and now these dudes are chomping on sandwiches with simulated ingredients ( “ They ’re getting upright at it all the time ! ” ) and the gall cut back off , followed by coffee function in what appear to be uneconomical paper cup . Who really screw what its primary need is in emitting an eardrum - exploding shriek of a wireless signal toward Jupiter , but a little aural penalty for culinary offenses committed is sure enough in parliamentary procedure .
As a side note : not everybody suppose those sandwiches look like they ’re made of plastic … or at least appreciates them for being repel . Shoutout tothis food blogand its source ’s appreciation for “ grotesquely comforting place sandwiches . ”
“ Jupiter Mission , ” 2001 ’s long section , is set 18 month later . Astronauts Dave and Frank have quite a lot to amuse themselves with on the long road to Jupiter ( exercise , sit under the sun lamp , sketch , play chess game , receive transmitting from home , check intelligence reports about themselves … ) and of class eat is an important part of the twenty-four hours . So crucial , in fact , it ’s one of the first things we see them doing . A shared tray , like to what Floyd was assist on the way to Clavius , hold rectangle of food - similar substance that bulge , piping red-hot , out of the bulwark . Though it come in unlike colors ( mostly shade of Robert Brown ) , it all appear to have the approximative consistency of mashed potatoes , and is shoveled into the mouth with a farsighted , thin , spork - similar implement .
There ’s no delight in eating here , no excitement like Floyd ’s delight over the sandwiches . Really , who can blame them ? The only intellectual nourishment that even bet appeal appears only on a TV screen , when Frank ’s parents dial in with tenacious - distance happy birthday compliments , sitting behind a Brobdingnagian patty laden with wax light . No cake for you , spaceman .
The only character in these scenes who does n’t feed is HAL , for obvious reason . Stay with me here , as I adjust my “ this hypothesis ’s getting a little wackadoo , so what ? ” hat , but perhaps HAL ’s inability to use up mean value he has to be destroyed before the next coming upon with the monolith ? As shortly as Dave close HAL down , the pre - recorded subject matter pops up to inform the work party about the discovery on the moon , and its joining to Jupiter and the mission . Not long after , the space monolith appear . “ Beyond the Infinite ” we go , and whooooooo ’s athirst , because once Dave inscribe the antiques - in - the - cosmos serial publication of rooms , he sees a man , who is in reality an old version of himself , seated at a table . Eating .
Frustratingly , we ca n’t see exactly what he ’s snack on , but it looks like the most civilized meal we ’ve see in the past two and a one-half hours . There are china plates that make honest-to-god - school clinking noises , there ’s real silverware , there ’s a niggling bread crustal plate with a roll on it . There ’s also a trash that breaks when it crash to the floor . Old Dave reach down , then Old Dave looks to the bed , where Even Older Dave dwell . At the foot of the bed , the monolith towers . “ You ’ve finally had a good repast , ” it seems to say . “ You may now pass into the beyond , and be reborn at a higher level . We ’ll just put that broken glass on your tablet . ”
And I ’d be remiss if I did n’t let in the ultimate part ofRonsen ’s hypothesis , which is too genius not to mention :
Why are the dimensions of the monolith 1 to 4 to 9 ? Sit down : the answer will appall you .
1:4:9 are the proportions of ingredients in a recipe . What recipe ?
Those are the balance of butter to half - and - half to kale used in deep brown fudge , a bar of which the monolith resembles .
Of course , we ’re still leave wonder … what was in those “ chicken ” sandwiches ? Tapir pith ?
Food
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