An disproven but interesting fact

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2008)

So much has been said of this great piece that I find it would be monotonous to add another opinion concerning the aesthetics or plot structure (or the ending...) to this board. So, I wish to add something I found rather interesting instead, and hopefully you will too. Kuberick makes some statements about human evolution that he derived from a book that I believe is called "African Genesis", I may be wrong, it's been a while. This text was written in the 30's or 40's and concerned, well a lot more than, but included the findings of a skeleton of a primitive human that had a fractured skull. Upon further analysis it was determined that the skull fracture may have been caused by trauma induced via the femoral bone of an animal (a yak or something). And they put two and two together, these scientists, anthro/paleontologists, to conclude that this bludgeoning of our old ancestor was a murder. The book then goes on to use this fact to point to one of it's underlying theories, that mankind's mental evolution was started by the realization that a bone could be used as a tool, but that's the second thought actually. The first was that this bone could be used as a weapon and this implies that mankind's mental faculty was born from violence. This is exactly what Kuberick is positing in the beginning of this film. We see these "gorrilaz" or primitive men just trying to survive. The shots show expansive and impressive landscapes, cut to a slow and meditative pace, which I think is to capture this pre-cognitive state of mankind's existence and to show a slower time in the world in general. And this expression continues through the actions of the apes as we become more acquainted with them. Conflict is established, the world is a dangerous place and these apes don't seem to have any connection with what they will become - until - the monolith's eerie and sudden appearance. Then these apes listen to classical music and smash bones with bones having made this violent realization that "bone smash!" We see the first somewhat pre-meditated murder and gang rumble and then this bone club is tossed into the sky and we skip past all that boring stuff we've already known about, to go to the future - the evolution of man, the next stage of his existence. And this was all made possible by, yep, mankind's violent nature. Our intelligence and capacity have been a bi-product of our nature, but they wouldn't be possible without some bloody realizations. This theory has been disproven, I believe in the 70's when they discovered some primitive tools that dated back before the murdered man, the head-trauma victim. Plus, there wasn't much data supporting the claim as it's a bit too assumptive. But I find it interesting to know what Kuberick was reading and studying. He no doubt, found "African Genesis" a stimulating and apocalyptic theory. I say apocalyptic because the idea that a violent act caused mental development, our mental development, really changes the face of humanity when it comes down to it. Although, I suppose it wouldn't be the most shocking of revelations - given our consistent rate of fighting/warring. And as a last note, you gotta love Bowman's actual evolution into the Ubermensche, tied with "Thus Sprach Zarathustra" being the ever-famous song over this event. It's a really good song if you think about what it's supposed to mean. I think it nails it in terms of how sensational man's evolution should be to us. I mean, the idea of our violent nature as one theme and then Nietzsche as another, just goes together rather beautifully. Life is a cold existence. And if you want to survive, carry a yak femur with you, where ever you go.