# 2001: A Space Odyssey **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997 "2008-11-16T14:45:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/102 "2018-06-22T17:41:38Z")
Hotel desk clerks do more than just check people in and out. You still need someone to answer guest questions, and take room service orders, and schedule wake-up calls, and so on. And then you might as well put that person’s desk near the entrance, so they can also do check-in and check-out. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/103 "2018-06-22T18:25:59Z")
I saw this in Tempe this week. Charitably, it is “deliberately” paced… The special effects are still pretty darn good, but modern movies are better. I thought it was ironic that the Moon is a photographic image, while the Earth was a Matte. Note to future directors: Don’t use front-projection with cats! (Causes their eyes to glow). The computer graphics were about as good as could be expected for the time, but why would anyone display equations on the screen? Results, please! Bowman seemed unnaturally calm and un-hurried when he went to rescue Poole. I think it would have helped to have a short scene where HAL mentions that Poole’s communications have been lost - nothing too serious, but something to get Bowman outside. The whole end of the movie, from the space-tunnel to the Star child is incomprehensible. Or, rather, so understated that it’s unstated. I don’t remember if the book fleshes it out, but what the hell is going on? Where did Bowman go? What created the Star Child? Is it his DNA? What’s the Star Child doing at the end, looking at Earth? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/104 "2018-06-22T19:46:23Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > …The whole end of the movie, from the space-tunnel to the Star child is incomprehensible. Or, rather, so understated that it’s unstated. I don’t remember if the book fleshes it out, but what the hell is going on? Where did Bowman go? What created the Star Child? Is it his DNA? What’s the Star Child doing at the end, looking at Earth? The book does flesh it out, but tells the story a bit differently than the movie, and there are still many fan theories about exactly what happened. My take on it: Bowman passed through the aliens’ artificial wormhole-like passageway to another, far distant region of space - we don’t know how far, exactly. Once there, he found living quarters designed by the aliens to put him at ease. He either dozed off there at the end of a single day, or lived out the rest of his life in those quarters. He was then transformed by the aliens into the Star Child, representing the next stage of human evolution (just as the aggressive, carnivorous apes millions of years earlier were another step, again guided by the aliens). They presumably did use his DNA. He then returned to Earth (if you accept _2010_, book or movie, as canon, just nine or so years later), to go back to his homeworld, relive some formative memories and say his goodbyes, including to his dying mother. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/105 "2018-06-22T20:11:08Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My take on it: Bowman passed through the aliens’ artificial wormhole-like passageway to another, far distant region of space - we don’t know how far, exactly. Once there, he found living quarters designed by the aliens to put him at ease. He either dozed off there at the end of a single day, or lived out the rest of his life in those quarters. I don’t think he just lived out his natural lifespan in that room. As I recall, that sequence is very carefully shot; usually the camera is from Dave’s POV when he sees another, older Dave, implying that both of them overlap for a few seconds. I think there is a shot, though, over the shoulder of Spacesuit Dave when he sees Eating-Dinner Dave, so they are both there, briefly. I think it’s clear that the aliens are accelerating Dave through the stages of his life, and beyond. > [@](#): > > He was then transformed by the aliens into the Star Child, representing the next stage of human evolution (just as the aggressive, carnivorous apes millions of years earlier were another step, again guided by the aliens). They presumably did use his DNA. He then returned to Earth (if you accept _2010_, book or movie, as canon, just nine or so years later), to go back to his homeworld, relive some formative memories and say his goodbyes, including to his dying mother. If you remember the scene where he visits his wife, that’s Mary Jo Deschanel, mother of Zooey and Emily. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/106 "2018-06-22T20:38:10Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > That wasn’t the desk clerk for the Hilton, but security for the entire station. I assume she does something else when no ships are expected… I meant [this guy](https://stupidpussens.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/screen-shot-2011-06-17-at-1-56-25-pm.png), sitting behind the Hilton window. I agree with most of your other points, but I disagree with the velcro on the Aires. It was bigger than the Orion. Unknown is how long did it take to get to the moon? How fast was it? Can’t keep paying passengers straped into their seats for three days, even in zero g. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/107 "2018-06-22T20:48:57Z")
I took the hotel room scene to be that the aliens were deprogramming him, as it were. Removing him of his accumulated human baggage. Cleansing him of his biases and emotional detritus. Only then he is ready to learn.\* And so, he becomes the Star Child, the next step in human evolution. I guess at that point the aliens left him alone. It’s a good thing HAL didn’t kill everyone. Otherwise, the aliens’ whole effort would have been put on hold for a while longer. If more than just one went through, would the aliens have star childed all of them? Do you think the aliens are still there? Or was this all automated processes, waiting for activation? In my opinion, I think they are not monitoring it any more. \*this sound suspiciously to me like I’m quoting Clarke. If it is from the novelization, then I guess it made an impression on me! If not, I claim full credit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/108 "2018-06-22T21:06:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I meant [this guy](https://stupidpussens.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/screen-shot-2011-06-17-at-1-56-25-pm.png), sitting behind the Hilton window. > > I agree with most of your other points, but I disagree with the velcro on the Aires. It was bigger than the Orion. Unknown is how long did it take to get to the moon? How fast was it? Can’t keep paying passengers straped into their seats for three days, even in zero g. Ah, that guy. Got it. I don’t even know he is a desk clerk and not someone reading the paper. Or he might be the desk clerk/manager. But it opens up a whole bunch of questions about how big that hotel is, which depends on how expensive it is to get to the station. I mean, how many people visit to use the zero-g _ahem_ exercise _ahem_ rooms in the hub of the station. Oh, if Kubrick had made this after “Eyes Wide Shut.” And is the desk clerk’s name Fawlty? As for the Aries, we see Floyd standing in front of the bathroom reading instructions, so we know he isn’t strapped in. I’d figure they still take three days or so to get there. Do they have cabins or do the seats go down like in first or business class on international flights? But you’d want to keep the passengers on the floor, and probably flight attendants too. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/109 "2018-06-22T21:11:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Do you think the aliens are still there? Or was this all automated processes, waiting for activation? In my opinion, I think they are not monitoring it any more. The laughter and odd sounds from Ligeti’s “Adventures” always has seemed to me to represent the aliens, who have moved beyond bodies. They are not on the moon or around Jupiter, those are indeed automated. In 3001, though, Clarke screws everything up. Some works should not have sequels. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/110 "2018-06-22T21:17:11Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > As for the Aries, we see Floyd standing in front of the bathroom reading instructions, so we know he isn’t strapped in. Which is purely for the audience. I mean, how many trips has he made to the Moon already? Did he “hold it” all those times? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/111 "2018-06-22T21:50:03Z")
To me 2001 and the Opera the magic flute have something in common Both are quite long, and both I tend to start watching rather late at night. As a result both have a place I can’t stay awake during, no matter how hard I try. In the magic flute its the[prelude to passing through the final trial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSDN09bA76Y) and basically has two men standing on stage singing this duet that never seems to end. In 2001 it’s the [star gate sequence.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou6JNQwPWE0) If these happened near the beginning I might be able to handle it. But after watching for over 2 hours, I’ve never been able to keep my eyes open through either of these. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/112 "2018-06-22T22:03:56Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > [Warner Bros. is planning a 50th anniversary 4K release of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey](http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/012918-1800) Looks like they missed their April release target. [According to Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/2001-SPACE-ODYSSEY-UHDBD-Blu-ray/dp/B07B12HNJW/), the 4K Ultra HD release of _2001: A Space Odyssey_ is currently due out on October 30th. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/113 "2018-06-23T01:42:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …I think it’s clear that the aliens are accelerating Dave through the stages of his life, and beyond… Also quite possible, although who knows how they’re just (perhaps entirely benignly) messing with his perception of reality? > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …If you remember the scene where he visits his wife, that’s Mary Jo Deschanel, mother of Zooey and Emily. Ah, I didn’t know that! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/114 "2018-06-23T07:02:06Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Which is purely for the audience. > I mean, how many trips has he made to the Moon already? Did he “hold it” all those times? Clarke said it was the only intentional joke in the movie. [Here](http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/zg.html) are the instructions, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/115 "2018-06-25T14:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=Just Asking Questions;21039540What does the desk clerk for the Hilton do all day? It isn’t like there are ships coming in every hour. He could be replaced with a computer terminal. 🙂 “HIL, open the room door. HIL.” “I’m sorry, Dr. Floyd, I can’t do that.”[/QUOTE] In Japan’s [Love Hotels](https://youtu.be/RnQXCvHvInI?t=139) you can select, pay for, enter, and depart a room without meeting anybody human. There is a reason for this. I would imagine there is someone on hand to take care of things if something goes worng… goes worng… (to say nothing of cleaning up afterward) but your typical client does not interact with them. Hell, they’d be embarrassed if they bumped into someone in the hallway whether they knew them or not. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/116 "2018-06-30T03:52:07Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The computer graphics were about as good as could be expected for the time, but why would anyone display equations on the screen? Results, please! I’m reading Benson’s book in 2001, and there are no computer graphics. Those things are animations done at record speed in the studio, with a lot of those diagrams taken from various books and journals. There were projectors behind the screens each of which had a film reel showing the screens. It was not easy to get them all at the same brightness. The first time they ran them while rotating the carousel all the film reels slipped out when sideways, and they had to figure out how to restrain them. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/117 "2018-06-30T03:54:39Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > Since this thread got bumped anyway, I thought I would throw in a recommendation for _[Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece](https://www.amazon.com/Space-Odyssey-Stanley-Kubrick-Masterpiece-ebook/dp/B074ZP9S44/)_ by Michael Benson (this was published a couple of months ago, but last week I finally made it to the top of the library waiting list). I thought I knew a lot about _2001_, but this book contains tons of surprises (surprises to me, anyway). > > If you love _2001_, I guarantee you will enjoy this book. Halfway through now, and it is the best book on 2001 I’ve read, and I’ve read lots. Agel’s book affected me more, but books on the making of movies were pretty rare back then, and even getting one was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/118 "2018-06-30T03:57:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The ferris wheel living bay is, however pretty cool. I think it’s too small, though. You’d get motion sickness moving around because your feet are going at too great a different speed than your head. > > Also, the Discovery sphere is obviously much bigger on the inside than the outside. There’s no way that all fits. You are right that the inside was too small, but that was not from an oversight by Kubrick. What they built was the biggest structure that would fit within the soundstage. Benson says as an aside that it would have been bigger if that was possible. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/119 "2018-07-06T00:51:45Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If you remember the scene where he visits his wife, that’s Mary Jo Deschanel, mother of Zooey and Emily. Boy, talk about giving an incredibly famous Cinematographer the short shrift. Their father is [Caleb Deschanel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_Deschanel). Sheeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/120 "2018-07-06T02:17:36Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Boy, talk about giving an incredibly famous Cinematographer the short shrift. Their father is [Caleb Deschanel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_Deschanel). > > Sheeesh. A very talented family, I know. But someone mentioned _2010_ and he didn’t work on that film, so I didn’t mention him. It was a bit of a hijack just to mention Mary Jo. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997/121 "2018-07-22T13:14:37Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Halfway through now, and it is the best book on 2001 I’ve read, and I’ve read lots. Agel’s book affected me more, but books on the making of movies were pretty rare back then, and even getting one was awesome. Bumping this, having just finished Benson’s book and feeling it’s also worth weighing in with a recommendation of it. To me, it was obvious even from a flick-through that most of the plentiful photos were previously unpublished and it’s almost worth it for those alone. The surprise is then still that there’s still so much new that can be said about a topic that’s already had a good few (and often good) books written on it. Okay, some of this is about the tensions and frequently bitter disputes that got passed over while the likes of Kubrick and Clarke were still alive, but much of it is just the wonderfully nerdy details. If there’s a key moment for me, it’s the story amidst the long saga of the choice of music. Spending about a year or two talking himself into using existing pieces, there’s the point where, struggling with the cheesiness of the “Blue Danube”, Kubrick muses to an assistant about using it: “Would that be an act of genius or an act of folly?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2001-a-space-odyssey/472997.md?page=7)