I thought that the current “remake” of  The Day the Earth Stood Still should occasion a look at the original science fiction classic. I had not seen it for many years, perhaps going back to childhood. It is the story of a man from space who comes to Earth to preach peace in the face of the nuclear arms race. It takes its title from a scene in which he stops all machinery on Earth for one half hour as a demonstration of his power. The film holds up surprisingly well, despite some flaws regarding the incredible naivete of the characters. In all, I found it to be as engrossing now as in 1951.

The story can be looked at from several perspectives: as a morality play on the evils of war and the arms race, as a religious parable, as a personal story of a fatherless family, and as a personification of a powerful unconscious fantasy that we all share. Continue reading The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951): Using Paternal Awe to Stop the Arms Race

“Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.”

Goya   Continue reading The Monsters are always there: an appreciation of Cronenberg’s “History of Violence” by Bennett Roth, Ph. D.