MovieChat Forums > Childhood's End (2015) Discussion > Sorry Arthur MAJOR SPOILERS)

Sorry Arthur MAJOR SPOILERS)

posted 9 years ago by strangebedfellows
11 replies | jump to latest

SPOILERS

But I think your logic is a bit off here.

So, a race that can travel for light years and can live forever, who can bring planes down from the sky to land like feathers, who can bring a dead boy back to life and make him walk, who can cure all the earths ills, and create super children, these beings can be killed by one bullet from a primitive gun?

Their reason for their actions? Humans are approaching interstellar travel - yeah - that old chestnut. So if they have all these powers why not simply remove the aggression impulse from the human brain and let them get on with it?

No - it's a far better idea to make them all sterile and let them die out before blowing the planet out of the sky.

What about all the innocent creatures on the earth - I don't suppose Mr Camel and his mate Mr Tiger are much interested in interstellar travel.

I also did not like the look of orgasmic pleasure on both the aliens faces when the earth blew up either. It seemed to me that they were more like roving psychopaths rather than God's facilitators.

I don't pretend to understand the whole God using the Devil stuff - so I can't comment on that - and it strikes me as odd that millions of children with obvious anger and impulse control issues would be considered suitable for cosmic integration!

And what exactly did Milo accomplish after doing his stowaway bit for eighty years? A brief conversation - death by super child - (there was no need to be afraid - right? Just the extinction of the human race and the destruction of their planet)

Sorry Arthur - I didn't enjoy this at all.

[–] collinskocik-33106 9 years ago

All of your complaints are valid, but none are Arthur's fault. This miniseries has almost nothing to do with the novel.

[–] strangebedfellows 9 years ago

Thank you for your response. I haven't read the novel - foolish as I am I still somehow expect film makers to remain true to the original stories - silly me!

[–] mrmultimedia 8 years ago

I really don't agree with at all. Certainly there were liberties taken - there always is when it comes to translation book to movie. Though some of the changes went beyond just the media. Obviously part of it was for different audiences as well - I won't go so far as to say "dumbed down" but at the very least, they were looking to appeal to a broader market.

That said, by and large, the big issues were pretty accurate to the ideas & spirit of the book.

[–] HeathJMac 9 years ago

I don't think the shooting is in the novel at all, at least not that I remember. You're right. The whole premise is that these aliens are unbeatable by humans, otherwise the story doesn't work.

The reason they looked orgasmic is because mankind achieved its purpose, to merge with the over mind. So the aliens are like midwives, going around helping planets to evolve. It was meant to happen, they just had to help it along.

The reason they looked like the devil is because humans remember how they look, it's like a projection. So there is no devil or religion, it's just different types of alien if that makes sense.

Also with Milo, he wanted to go to the planet just because he's a scientist, and was curious. So he got to see their planet. Again I can't remember how long he's there for in the book, but he does come back and witness the end of the earth. And I think he's not called Milo..

Good question about animals, I think actually that it's only humans who are evolving, but the children sort of accidentally destroy the earth, oops.

[–] strangebedfellows 9 years ago

Thank you for replying.

Don't you just love it when children/teenagers either destroy or take over the earth !!

[–] HeathJMac 9 years ago

Haha, yeah, I think these days we are so used to teens doing it all. All those dystopian novels and films.
But Arthur C didn't really think like that. The children bit is mainly because they can be manipulated and given new powers etc, adults were just past it.

[–] gmoxie 9 years ago

it strikes me as odd that millions of children with obvious anger and impulse control issues would be considered suitable for cosmic integration!

I think you make a good point. Karellen said it was dangerous for (adult) humans to be exploring space, and presumably part of this danger was bringing human values (war, conquering others, etc) to the cosmos. Yet at least many adults have matured as they grew older and many have gained wisdom.

By contrast, children lack maturity, and started playing with the moon. If adults were too dangerous, how is it that the children would not be? And I think the story indicated that they were dangerous as they destroyed planet earth. Likely we are supposed to sit back and understand that the earth and everything that lives on it doesn't matter in the vastness of universe. If that's really true, then the dangers brought forth by humans going into space, and any inadvertent damage caused, wouldn't matter either.

[–] strangebedfellows 9 years ago

Thank you for responding - another very good final point.

[–] jbaddock 9 years ago

And I think the story indicated that they were dangerous as they destroyed planet earth. Likely we are supposed to sit back and understand that the earth and everything that lives on it doesn't matter in the vastness of universe.

In the book, there is more than a little ambivalence about what happens in terms of the children evolving into the Overmind - it's presented as being the next stage of evolution, but not that it's necessarily a good thing - clearly, for the majority of people on Earth, it isn't. The problem is that the Overmind has no use for planets, or for anything that might live on them - they've served their purpose by then, so they're a bit like a discarded chrysalis once the butterfly has emerged. The fact that children, who are not fully developed emotionally, form part of the Overmind is actually quite scary, which is also the feeling I get from reading the book, especially as this Overmind seems to control physical reality.

As to your point about Earth not mattering in the Universe, that is also perfectly true in the book, which is equally daunting. Childhood's End is not an optimistic book at all, because it depicts a future that nobody aged above ten can ever share in. Effectively, the Overmind takes those that it wants and leaves everyone else to die. More than that, those that they take couldn't care less that their parents will all be destroyed as they make their transformation. They are actually evolving into something completely alien.

To the OP: Clarke didn't mean us to enjoy the book - he was simply pointing out what the next stage of human evolution might be and that we might not like it one little bit.

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

Thank you and gmoxie for the great responses, it's what is bugging me about the story as well. The overmind is pretty obviously evil and destructive and seems unable to love anything and let it develop.

The idea of a "sudden cataclysmic evolution" might actually be relevant if you think about artificial intelligence. Metaphorically at least, since what the story says about evolution doesn't work like this at all. And AI could improve itself rapidly and become godlike. And if it wasn't programmed with solid ethics and "human aesthetics" that make it love others could basically do the same - acquire all human knowledge and then destroy everything because it doesn't need it any more.

[–] mrmultimedia 8 years ago

I think some of you are missing something pretty substantial - might well be that the movie didn't portray it well. But it wasn't like the overmind was just going around stealing kids & putting them into slavery or something. It's about transcendence - evolving into a higher existence. The species as a whole had reached a place where the children born into an age of peace and health that they were ready to make that leap. Unfortunately, their parents were not.

If there was one thing I think the movie got most wrong, it was how the children were made out to almost be zombies or something. That just didn't work for me & was really furthest off the make from the book. Evolving to a level where you're no longer encumbered by physical limitations...only limited by thought - that's not something to fear or be sad about. I think the movie did touch on the sadness & envy of the overlords - that despite their physical & technological abilities, they lacked whatever special stuff was needed to evolve the way the "simple" humans could.