I must have seen the classic The Day The Earth Stood Still well over a dozen times by now. And it remains a classic thanks to the fact that, the more times I see it, the more I get from it with each viewing. When I first saw it as a boy, it was just another fun and goofy SF flick from the 1950s that had a really cool robot in the form of Gort. But with each viewing of the film, the older I got, The Day The Earth Stood Still became a much different--and much better--movie for me, thanks to its deeper message. Take the most basic, the warning that Klaatu (superbly played by Michael Rennie) gives to the human race: you must end your tribalistic feuds if you wish to be a part of the greater intergalactic community. I recall being incensed by this preaching when I was a boy--yet when you see the paranoia of the average citizens, which is so well displayed by Director Robert Wise, you realize that Klaatu really has a point. Perhaps humans are too warlike and narcissistic--to the point that we would be considered a threat to the rest of the universe.
But take another look at the film and you can also see parallels to the anti-communist witch-hunt atmosphere of the early 1950s. As Klaatu sits with the other residents during breakfast at their boarding house, there’s an announcer on the radio who’s advocating hunting down and killing the fugitive spaceman--which in turn only stirs up the fear and paranoia of the boarding house residents; a reflection of the effect that the McCarthy Hearings had on the populace during that era. The fact that Klaatu is eventually hunted down by army troops and shot is also a parallel to the McCarthy witch-hunt, which needlessly destroyed many lives just so a select few could make themselves look good. Aside from the McCarthy era, the 1950s were, by and large, the Age of Conformity. The government was the big protector who knew what was best for you, and so you followed along, and never made waves, and you certainly never questioned authority.
And along comes Klaatu, who basically tries to tell the people that there’s something seriously wrong, here. There was someone else in human history who tried to do the same thing: Jesus. Let’s look at the parallels here, shall we? When Klaatu seeks shelter at the boarding house, he takes the name of Carpenter. Jesus worked as a carpenter before he received a higher calling. And Klaatu is revived from the dead after being killed by US army troops, just as Jesus was resurrected after being killed by Roman Centurions. The 1950s would thankfully give way to the 1960s, the Age Of Questioning Everything. And while Wise and his fellow filmmakers could not have seen this development, it does appear that Klaatu was the vanguard for a generation who would express their freedom of speech in the truest way possible: holding their leaders accountable for their actions by questioning everything that went on. But, hey, wait a minute…this is just supposed to be a silly little sci-fi flick, right? Right?
--SF
