Thus Spake Zarathustra is the interpretive key to this film

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2012)

http://lehuguenot.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/2001-space-odyssey-and- ubermensch.html
I went to an old theater to see one of my favourite movies this past weekend: 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was directed by Stanley Kubrick and is based on a book by the same title written by Arthur C. Clarke. It was released in 1968, and it was a movie ahead of its time in terms of the technology it predicted. The movie is extremely philosophical and leaves so many questions unanswered that it is subject to a wide variety of interpretations. Seeing the movie on the big screen along with four hundred other people was an enjoyable experience, and I feel like I finally understand the message the movie is trying to disclose.
I noticed in the closing credits that two scores originally composed by Richard Strauss were included in the movie, the Blue Danube, which many people will know by sound and by name, and a second that less people will know by name, but will know by sound, Thus Spake Zarathustra. Thus spake Zarathustra is played at the opening and closing of the movie.
Thus spake Zarathustra, by Strauss, was inspired by a book by the same name written by Frederick Nietzsche (pron. Knee-Chee). In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche (1844-1900) is famous for popularising the concept that God is dead. Another major feature of Thus spake Zarathustra is the Übermensch, otherwise known as "Superman".
I have surveyed Nietzsche's references to the Übermensch ("Superman") in Thus spake Zarathustra and below are a few samples:
"Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman—a rope over an abyss."
"And it is the great noontide, when man is in the middle of his course between animal and Superman, and celebrateth his advance to the evening as his highest hope: for it is the advance to a new morning."
"I love those who do not first seek a reason beyond the stars for going down and being sacrifices, but sacrifice themselves to the earth, that the earth of the Superman may hereafter arrive."
"Dead are all the gods: Now do we desire the superman to live."
"God hath died: now do we desire—the Superman to live."
"Could ye create a God?—Then, I pray you, be silent about all Gods! But ye could well create the Superman."
"THERE WAS IT ALSO where I picked up from the path the word "Superman," and that man is something that must be surpassed."
"Let the beam of a star shine in your love! Let your hope say: "May I bear the Superman!""
From these references we can gather an understanding of Nietzsche's Übermensch / Superman and supporting theses. The superman was Nietzsche's next stage in biological evolution of which mankind was to strive towards. Death to God and the gods (i.e. religion, and especially Christianity/Judaism), is a step towards creating the superman. The superman surpasses mankind, but in a way is something we can "bear" or resemble of which the protagonist of Nietzsche's tale implores us to do. And to Nietzsche, the superman represents the great hope of mankind in the absence of the living God.
Knowledge of Nietzsche's Übermensch is the key to understanding 2001: A Space Odyssey. The monolith appears on a number of occasions at key points in man's evolution (from apes to humans, on the moon, and before entering Jupiter). In the final ten minutes we see Dr. Dave Bowman rapidly age, die, and re-spawn as the "star-child", which I believe is the Übermensch. It seems to be no coincidence that Strauss' Thus Spoke Zarathustra plays during the star-child sequence.
Another element of this movie is the role of extra terrestrial life in human evolution. Although aliens do not appear during the movie, the monolith is presented as a tool that is used by aliens to evolve mankind into higher states of consciousness. The final ten minutes, at least in Arthur C. Clarke's book, is intended to be an "alien zoo" where they can observe and study humans in a controlled environment. This might explain those strange groans in the background as well.
I hope to write further articles mentioning the link of the Übermensch to the development of eugenics programs across the Anglosphere in the ensuing decades to the release of Thus Spake Zarathustra.
>>>Note: When I say "one of my favourite movies" it is not because I agree or support the theses of the movie, but only because it is philosophical and makes you think, which I enjoy.