Food for Thought
Posted: Monday, August 03, 2009
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
Costco has a lot of things. I go there mainly for food. They have fresh foods, canned foods, dried foods, frozen foods, and they even have a food court, sort of. What I never thought they had was food for thought. But then, I also buy books and CD's there as well.
My all time favorite science fiction movie from my youth is "The Day the Earth Stood Still," starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. On a recent shopping trip to Costco, I purchased a CD of the movie for a very reasonable price (and no, I didn't have to buy a pack of three to get it). It promised me that the movie had been cleaned up and that a "making of" documentary had been added. Most of the commentators were quite old and it consisted mainly of reminiscences. The movie had not been colorized, which I thought was a bonus.
While Klaatu is still in the hospital under guard, an emissary of the United States ' government goes to visit him. Klaatu makes it clear that he has a message for all of earth and will not speak to any single nation; that he wishes to speak to all the nations of the world at the same time. He appeals to the government representative to allow him to address the United Nations. The official points out that all nations are not members (there were only fifty member nations at the signing of the charter; there are currently 192) and that it is unlikely, even within the United Nations, that they could all agree on a meeting place or that it should even occur. His point was that he didn't think the nations could be persuaded to cooperate.
In that early post-war time, it wasn't an unreasonable sentiment. I'm not sure it isn't still an unreasonable sentiment. At any rate, Klaatu escapes the hospital and goes to live among the humans residing in Washington , D.C. In a rooming house, he meets Patricia Neal's character, Helen Benson, and her son, Bobby, who shows Klaatu around the capitol. At the end of the day Klaatu asks Bobby who he thinks is the smartest man in the world and the boy answers with Professor Jacob Barnhardt who lives right there in D.C. and Klaatu decides to meet him. Eventually he does, convinces the professor of who he is, and asks him to arrange a meeting of the world's scientists in order that he might deliver his message. Klaatu's assumption was that people of science would gather together in peace and cooperation without the petty bickering that nations are prone to displaying.
Professor Barnhardt, played by Sam Jaffe, asked for a demonstration of power when Klaatu told him of the message and the dire results for earth if it did not heed his warning. Jaffe's character said that the demonstration should be dramatic and that no one should be harmed. Klaatu came up with a good one. He "neutralized" all the electricity all over the globe for a 30 minute period with the exception of hospitals and airplanes in the air. All the scientists of the world needed no more persuasion than that and gathered at the site of his landed spacecraft to hear what he had to say.
There was some strife and a couple of complications, but he finally delivered his message. Basically it was this: You have developed an atom bomb and it is a great and devastating weapon. You are a violent people. If you can not manage to live in peace and/or keep your violence isolated to this one planet, you will be destroyed. The peoples of the other planets will not tolerate the bringing of violence to their peaceful existences. End of discussion.
It is a slightly different message from the central message of the recent remake of the movie starring Keanu Reaves. That was one of taking better care of Planet Earth or the human race and all it had built would be erased and the earth would be left to continue on as a repository of non-human life. In the original version, the aliens weren't too fussy about the planet itself and promised to make it into a burnt out cinder. So, our aliens have progressed a bit in their mindset, but have we?
That's the food for thought that I am writing about. As a guess, I'd have to say that everyone now living would agree that we have to take better care of our planet if we want to continue as a people; if we want a good home for the world's children's children. But at what cost? Are we going to cooperate with each other, or will we secure the future for our children at the expense of the children of other nations? Will other nations be doing the same? I'm not confident that the answer is no.
When I look around our own nation and see the lack of respect and trust that some people have for people of a different religion, or those who seek abortions, or those of different skin color, I have little reason to believe that Muslims will ever sit side by side with Christians or Israelis with Palestinians. Still I have hope and it comes from another bit of science fiction Star Trek. In it, the planet earth and all its peoples in all their crazy variety and differences are united in peace. The entire human race works together to make the galaxy a good place to be. Now if they could just do something to bring those darn Klingons and Romulans into the fold.
And there it is, the problem, can we conceive of a time without strife of some sort? Does there always have to be an enemy? Are there no good stories without struggle and turmoil? Why is it always about someone prevailing over someone else? Can we have a happy ending? What do you think?
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)hi dianne,i have been through much heartache and disappointment in my life, but i still believe we humans have the capacity to get along.yesterday, clinton negotiated and got the 2 girls to go free from south korea. there IS hope, i think we just all have to be dilligent in our efforts.when i was little, i used to think about a perfect world-no judgments, no anger, no evil, and then i thought, "yeah, but wouldn't that end the world-it's purpose having been fulfilled?"i know i am not as angry as i once was, and i only had myself and what i could get my hands on to read that helped me. i took a dish (that says it's unbreakable) out of the dishwasher, and it dropped on the counter and smashed into a million pieces, and, i'm pretty sure i'm not exaggerating.hundreds of little pieces all over the counter, the floor, everywhere i looked.at another time in my life, i would have then taken every dish out of the cabinet and thrown them :) but now, i simply started cleaning up.so, you see, i know it's possible, probable? i don't know, but definitely possible.thanks for sharing,my best,sueHi Sue.I'm actually quite hopeful most of the time. And on an individual basis, I've met some very enlightened and inspiring people (many of them here on SW), it's just that when you get crowds together or governments or ... any group you want to think of, the herd mentality seems to kick in and suddenly everyone seems to get dragged down to the lowest common denominator. People in a large group will often do things they would never consider doing as an individual.I too think that we can learn to get along ... eventually ... if we don't destroy ourselves first. I do believe we have the capacity. Well now, I guess I don't sound all that hopeful after all. For sure it's going to take a lot of work.Thank you for sharing your insights. And thanks for taking your time to read my article.Hugs,Dianne
Of course we can have a happy ending, yet the amount of work people think it takes is daunting, to say the least.In 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', which is way better than the remake (although the effects in the remake are awesome), humanity is at a crossroads and the most important thing I remember is that Klaatu spoke with a scientist (then a group of scientists), not a politician.We have to get over the mindset you mentioned: someone prevailing over someone else. We have to get over the 'I got mine, who cares if you got yours' mentality, and we have to learn to simply accept the fact we are all different. People have a (natural) tendency to want to be accepted into a group which looks and acts as they, and they resist diversity being forced upon them. That would change if diversity was allowed to follow its natural course and eventually, a few generations from now, the color of skin or religious belief wouldn't be such a stumbling block.Sure, we can make it. It's really simple, yet we like to make it hard. Too bad, that. I only wish we would realize we are all just here for a limited time and that time is best spent living to our potential.Great article, Dianne. Thanks so much.IHi Michael.In the original Star Trek series, Mr. Spock in one episode or another, mentioned the Vulcan IDIC. It was a medallion that symbolized and celebrated Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. To me it always spoke of not just tolerance for differences, but the taking of joy from differences.Just this afternoon while playing ping pong with my husband (we never keep score), we got a particularly long volley going. At that point, it becomes a bit more valuable and we each work harder not to flub up and be the one to stop the volley. But it has to end at some point and one of us will be the "winner" and one of us will be the "loser." There will always be a winner and a loser no matter what we do. But it is the win at all costs attitude that creates trouble. The grasping after the biggest piece of the pie. If we could just rejoice for the "winner" and be happy in the knowledge that next time we might "win", I think a lot of things would go along much more smoothly. If governments and religious groups and others could give up always having to come out on top or be most right, life could be a lot more pleasant for all the world's people.Michael, thanks for sharing your thoughts and thanks for reading.Most respectfully,Dianne
Hi Dianne,
I enjoyed your train of thought as I followed this piece. I was unable to predict where you were going and that made it more intriguing to me. Very well done!
You ask pertinent questions and describe issues dealing with our differences on this planet that should not be. The ultimate question answered, I have hope. That hope stems from my spirituality. When mankind turn from our wicked ways, and humble ourselves before God, then our land will be healed. The hope I have is not in us but Him.
Some people do not like when "religion" is used to answer questions like yours but my desire isn't to please everyone, just the One. I am only being true to who I am as one of many who makes up mankind.
I enjoyed this very much. You gave Food for Thought. I'm still thinking. *smile* Thank you!
Hugs and love,
AvisHi Avis.Not everyone has to like it when religion is used to answer questions. That's the whole point. But they do have to allow it and have a tolerant attitude toward others' beliefs. I'm not saying that we all have to be "door mats" and let the person who thinks the answer is violence just go ahead and punch us in the face (I'll admit that the hardest part might be knowing when to suspend tolerance). Just that we need to consider other points of view and give them the merit they deserve. Just because someone believes differently from us doesn't make it wrong or bad.Well, there you go. You got me to thinking some more. I think the main cause of strife and disagreement is wanting everything to be the way we want it to be. Wars are fought because of this. When we can fix someone's problem in a way that actually serves them best and not us, then we will have finally figured it out.Thanks so much for reading and for you insightful comment.Hugs,Dianne
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