For an R-rated movie, "Prometheus" performed very well at the box office, which means that many of you went to see it. According to some of your comments, some of you didn't like the film, while others loved it. But despite a difference of opinion, almost everyone had questions about what they saw. We're now going to attempt to answer them.
HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD:
We're ignoring plot holes and just focusing on real questions raised in the film. Some of the plot holes that we found are: Why did the biologist and the geologist get lost when they were the ones who had the map of the entire place? How did David know that the Engineer would come after Elizabeth? How did the Engineer even get outside, considering that he needs oxygen to live and wasn't wearing a mask? Why was it so important to hide the fact that Weyland was on the ship with them? And how did the group not know that the biologist and the geologist didn't leave since all the vehicles were still there?
We're ignoring all of those. Here are the real questions:
Q: What was happening in the opening scene?
A: Ridley Scott revealed that the planet may or may not be Earth. It doesn't matter. The Engineer is there to sacrifice himself by drinking the black goo and letting it spread his DNA in order to create life. Self-sacrafice is a huge part of the movie, just like in religion and mythology.
Q: Why did David (Michael Fassbender) poison Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green)?
A: David doesn't have emotions, but he's very curious and is constantly doing research for Weyland. He wanted to see what the black goo would do to Holloway, but still only placed it in his drink after he got Holloway's permission to do so. For those who don't remember, David asked him if he would be willing to do anything to get the information he's after.
Q: Why do the Engineers want to kill humanity on Earth?
A: The film clearly shows that Engineers created life on Earth and then guided humans throughout our development, one day hoping that we would come visit them. But we did something very bad. So bad, that it upset the Engineers. And according to the movie, whatever we did, happened two thousand years ago. The only thing that could be is that we killed Jesus, who apparently was an Engineer as well. Here is a quote from Scott: "If you look at it as an 'our children are misbehaving down there' scenario, there are moments where it looks like we've gone out of control, running around with armor and skirts, which of course would be the Roman Empire. And they were given a long run. A thousand years before their disintegration actually started to happen. And you can say, 'Let's send down one more of our emissaries to see if he can stop it.' Guess what? They crucified him."
Q: Why did the black goo turn Holloway into a monster?
A: The goo is the creation of life. But it reacts to the nature of the being controlling it. Engineers believe in sacrificing themselves in order to help others. After killing Jesus, people clearly showed that we are willing to hurt others to help ourselves. The goo reacted to Holloway and turned him into a monster. That same goo didn't react at all in the hands of David, an emotionless robot.
Q: What did David say to the Engineer to make him go crazy?
A: There are plenty of ideas around this. David hinted that he would be free if Weyland died, but obviously he couldn't kill him himself. So maybe David told the Engineer something that would cause him to react that way. But that's not likely what Scott was hoping to get across. The more likely scenario is that David told the Engineer exactly what Weyland told him to say. But the Engineer knows that people have been corrupted and that their presence around the goo creates death. Plus, it doesn't help that Weyland, a very selfish man who has lived far too long in order not to give up his reign, is requesting for a way to live longer. It's also pretty interesting that the Engineer killed his creation (Weyland) with Weyland's creation (David).
Q: Why did Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) give "birth" to a huge octopus-looking creature?
A: Elizabeth cannot have children, but then surprisingly gets the news that she's pregnant. And that her child will be very different from what she expects, a special child. This is all part of Scott's way of tying the story back to the Bible. Think about it... This all happens on Christmas. Plus, the only way for the Alien to exist is to be spawned by humans. The creature is selfish and kills in order to live. Engineers are the exact opposite, they sacrifice themselves so that others can live. The goo in their hands creates life. In the hands of humans, it creates death in the form of the Aliens. So this was a very important step in the creation of the aliens. An interesting side-note is that Elizabeth calls the operation a 'caesarean' instead of an 'abortion.'
Q: Was Vickers (Charlize Theron) a robot?
A: Probably not. It's not mentioned one way or another, but all the clues point that she is human. She hates the fact that Weyland says that David 'is the closest thing he has to a son.' Plus, she is waiting for Weyland to die to take over. Weyland wouldn't leave his empire to a robot. And I would hope that Janek (Idris Elba) would figure out whether she's a robot after sleeping with her.
Q: Why was the surgery pod configured only for a man?
A: The pod is not sexist. It's there to keep Weyland alive. You can configure it for women, but it was for Weyland, a man.
Q: Is this the same planet that we see in "Alien"?
A: While there are many clues that this may be the same planet, in reality the planet in "Prometheus" is LV-223 and in "Alien" it's LV-426. This also means that the alien at the end of the film is not the queen.
There are many more questions to answer and hopefully the DVD/Blu-ray of "Prometheus" will do that.
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