I have it on DVD after loving this movie when it came out and hording it on VHS for the longest time. I haven't had a chance to watch it in a bit though, although I was wondering if anyone else had had the same feeling that I did, that some or all of the aliens were aware of George Orr's power? I can't remember if this is somehow implied directly in the movie, or if it is just something I read into it...
shareI think you're right, and I think there's a dream sequence where the alien seems to be talking to Orr about his ability, and in a first-person way as if they were speaking to him through his dream.
The aliens live in the dream realm and survive it. The universe dreams itself and George drew them to Earth. They are a Christ symbol in the book and the movie. Well done, loved them.
shareThe initial emphasis in the film is on all that can go wrong via dreams, how much of them tap into the darkest parts of the human psyche, etc. Which is true, of course. What we tend to forget is that dreams also tap into what is best in the human psyche, all the potential & possibilities for growth & wisdom ... to me, that's what the aliens are, the sort of wise helpers of myth, the positive aspects of George's psyche, the embodiment & expression of his own basically Taoist worldview.
Indeed, if everything we see has been dreamed into existence by George, then Haber himself may well represent the Western part of his psyche, the supposedly rational part, the part he's been raised to believe is the salvation of humanity & reality. But when he essentially turns his life over to that part, in an effort to make sense of what's going in, it fails him & makes things worse in its attempts to make things better. At which point the aliens emerge, a counterpoint & alternative to Haber. They are George's salvation ... and of course, he's saving himself by becoming whole
Note also that the intervention of the aliens enables George to find Heather again: male & female, the sacred marriage of the psyche. Haber doesn't seem to have a personal, private life; love doesn't seem to enter into his worldview; everything he does is about control & power, even if he consciously believes it's all for the greater good in the end. Each "improvement" he makes in the world results in a more dehumanized humanity -- the world as a whole becomes a smoothly running machine, but the individuals are soulless cogs whose only purpose is to keep it running smoothly. Where is love & empathy & compassion & true wisdom in Haber's world? Those things don't exist for him.
The Aliens actually live in a dream state. When they first run into him they explained that he is iahklu' (someone who can alter reality with dreams). They were curious if there were more like him on earth. They looked on this power like someone who can play the piano.
share