MovieChat Forums > Solaris (2002) Discussion > Solaris Felt Threatened?

Solaris Felt Threatened?

posted 10 years ago by MaxOcean4
9 replies | jump to latest

Our presence in its territory. I'm sure humans would feel pretty nervous if an alien force camped itself right outside Earth's orbit. Solaris was probably feeling uneasy at the presence of an alien life form trying to probe it. Don't forget the comment that Dr. Gordon made to Clooney's character early in the movie...it went something like this: "I was tasked to find out whether Solaris was a viable commercial or energy source". So obviously our intentions were selfish, trying to exploit its resources. And Solaris did not take to kindly to that. So it responded and established contact the only way it knew how. It was not a humanoid alien, the entire planet was an alien in and of itself, the Ocean. It probed the humans back, getting into their heads and learning what their agenda was, down to the individual. And that's why it tormented those that came there for selfish reasons; (Gordon):For seeking energy sources, (Gibarian): For abandoning his son/not being too keen on having him in the first place/putting the mission before his son and (Snow): for being narcissistic. (Kelvin): was the only one who was rewarded in the end because Solaris sensed his longing for Rheya and that his goal was to be with her, not exploit Solaris or advance the interests of the mission. The best way Solaris knew how to reward at least. By giving him a simulated world that matched his blissful fantasy. ?

[–] reno_turkff7 10 years ago

Nice job completely ignoring the point of the movie and trying to ascribe human characteristics and motivations to the planet.

[–] MaxOcean4 10 years ago

It's just a hypothesis. Lem did in fact say that the novel meant to convey the impossibility of communicating with an alien life form and that humanity puts too many humanoid elements on aliens.

That being said, Solaris' method of contact was anything but human. It's quite ego centric to think that certain emotions or feelings are wholly human or terrestrial characteristics.

Solaris was after all a sentient being, the Ocean itself was one giant brain.

[–] normkerr123 10 years ago

as with the impossibility of communicating, it is also impossible to guess at its intentions or its motives behind its actions

Those we introduce based on our own biases.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

May be ... may be not.🐭

[–] Thrillseeker303 9 years ago

Interesting hypothesis.
But remember Gibarian's words "Why do you think it has to want something? There are no answers, only choices."

It's so typical of us to label something we don't understand with "human" emotions and motivations.
We fear what we can't understand, so we give it a "human" touch.
Isn't that why we created "God" in the first place?

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[–] bigBang8 9 years ago

Right. Why can't it just be a random planet that messes with your brain. I doubt any of the visitors were actually there. As far as we know theyre all lying on the floor drooling this nonsense.

The increase in human knowledge is the cause of the decline of religions.

[–] gmoxie 9 years ago

I like how you tried to look at this from the planet's point of view rather than it being all about the humans' point of view.

Okay, maybe we could think of the planet as something that was a non-thinking mechanical process -- people in its presence being tantamount to pushing a button on a machine, like a fan that suddenly starts blowing their hair around. Or maybe this was about humans with problems who have gone to a sort of purgatory to face and work out their issues.

On the other hand, we could think of the planet as a sentient alien, in which case it would have some kind of thinking or emotional reaction to foreign objects entering its vicinity. Sentience means the planet feels or perceives things. Although the movie does not answer why the planet does what it does, I think it's fine to speculate about the "why" like you have done. Maybe it felt threatened. Or maybe it was curious. Maybe it decided to conduct research. Maybe the probing (by the humans) felt good (that would be a twist). Maybe it was just trying to establish communication.

[–] HughConway3133 9 years ago

Maybe all of the above. But in the book I believe Solaris is thought of as a sentient alien.

So it was definitely reacting to human presence in its orbit.

And in the 2002 version you could see how the Planet changed colors from blue, to purple, to pink/red in the end. The more the humans kept probing the more it changed colors. That could have been a reaction of some sort.

[–] hipsterdylan 9 years ago

Ha ha, anytime White Americans show up uninvited on my doorstep, I'd feel threatened too!