Prometheus - Combatant Pantheism

Ridley Scott made only two Sci-Fi films, but they became mighty works in the Dystopian genre and Space Horror, casting an everlasting influence on later Sci-Fi works. Although such long days have passed since the first release of Blade Runner and Alien, his influence on the Sci-Fi genre is more than just tangible. Ridley Scott has become an ‘Engineer’ of the SF genre.

After decades of absence, the engineer has returned with new Sci-Fi work, Prometheus. This masterpiece is certainly made by a genius who has been standing the test of time. Comparing it to his previous works, it has some apparent flaws. Too many characters in the movie die for no proper reason. The narrative structure where all extras get slaughtered, and only one female character survives is another instance of the old cliche of horror films. Most of all, Scott’s ambition, ‘showing new images deviated from the style of HR Giger,’ doesn’t seem to be accomplished. The images of HR Giger in the film keep him from building a distinctive aesthetic image for Prometheus. Nevertheless, Prometheus deserves to be placed into the same category as Scott’s other critically acclaimed filmography successes.

'Alien' was released in 1979, and audiences were terrified by the mysterious monster, making carnage in the depth of the dark space. Ridley Scott, unlike most people, was fascinated by Space Jackie, the dead alien that appears at the beginning of the film. Prometheus is the story about him, the alien that was killed by xenomorphs. However, unlike Alien, which concentrated on cosmic horror images to solidify the genre's foundation, Prometheus mobilizes mythical images on top of the space horror genre. On the strength of this fascinating combination, Scott weaves a challenging discourse about religion into this peculiar space horror film.

Way before Prometheus, Scott has been pursuing the restoration of the spirituality of humankind, denying doctrinaire religions that have become tyrant political systems. Indeed, Scott's point of view was a bit non-directional and abstract in The Kingdom of Haven. The discourse remained a bit ambiguous and didn’t develop itself further than being simple rhetorics. However, with the repeated creator-creature structure and thoroughly placed imageries, Prometheus successfully introduces Spinoza’s idea, aiming at the shadow of religion cast on humanity. Since this work is the first part of Thrillogy that Scott is planning, it has quite mysteries that remain unsolved even after the movie's end. However, while Prometheus is the giant puzzle piece, it completes the perfect form of the philosophical discourse on its own.

The film shows its theme in a bit of a shocking tone from the beginning. A spaceship lands on the nascent, lifeless Earth, and one engineer drinks a black liquid, dissolving himself into DNA units that become Life of the Earth shortly after. By death, the engineer deconstructs himself, resulting in a significant narrative structure; All the life forms on the Earth are the engineer himself, and all the creatures created by their creator become the creator itself. Consequently, we all have our divinity. Life is sacred as itself and becomes perpetual through death and life. This is a sophisticated visualization of Spinoza's philosophical construct: 'Aach individual has their divinity, so God permeates the universe.’ Spinoza's saying, "We experience our eternity and feel it." is woven into the powerful introduction of the movie.

As it has been observed so far, Prometheus spirals around the pantheism of Spinoza and his monistic ontology. Pantheism itself had long been before Spinoza was born. Upanishad of India and the Great Spirit of American Natives are also kinds of pantheism. However, Spinoza's pantheism was a post-modernistic philosophical attempt in modern times, meticulously designed structure to heal the violent breach in the subject-hood of humanity that Christianity once shattered into pieces. In fact, in western philosophy, all humanitarian philosophies share some portion of Spinoza's construct. It was never exaggerated for Deleuze to say that "Every philosopher has two kinds of philosophies. One is of Spinoza's, and one is of themselves." Most of the film's narrative is dedicated to salvaging the ritual aspect of humanity with the pantheistic discourse. As he tried in his former films, Scott also tries to create a discourse, 'A religion deviated from religion' through this project. Therefore, from the beginning of the narrative, the film continuously displays a series of sarcological images and attempts to break down the authority and delusion of monotheistic ritual discourse.

The main character, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, and her husband Charlie find a mural of the constellation in the old cave, which is suspected of coordinating the mysterious planet, LV-223. Weyland Corporation builds the spaceship 'Prometheus' and sends an expedition team on the journey to the planet. During the voyage to the LV-223, humanoid David peeps into the dream of Dr. Shaw. The conversation between young Shaw and her dad during the funeral march of an African tribe is a core of the film's discourse. This scene indicates that religion is a product that humanity produced to understand how nature works on them. In this context, religions can’t decode how the universe works, and as Shaw’s dad said, it is nothing but a reflection of our wish for heaven or eternal life.

As the narrative goes on, Scott's sneer at religions becomes intense. The scene where the expedition team explores the spaceship of Engineer shows a severe level of sacrilege that makes me wonder how the Vatican put up with them without making any announcements. In the scene where the biologist and geologist find the snake-shaped alien creature, an apple of Eve is embodied in the image of the alien creature. Without a proper observation, the biologist concludes the creature is female, and shortly after, he gets killed by the creature. Its blood melts his spacesuit, and its fruit-shaped head chocks his mouth. Even the mural that Dr. Shaw found during the expedition displays a xenomorph on the cross in the posture of Jesus Christ.

*“Why do you think your people made me?”*
*“Because we could.”*

These inauspicious sacrilegious images do not just stay on criticizing Christianity or showing Scott's feminism that has been spotted through his filmography ever since Alien. As David builds the Creator-creature structure, Scott's discourse edges toward something more profound and complicated. David, as a creature of humans, shows how religious suppression worked on humanity. Significantly, the way engineers treat humankind parallels the way human treats David. Fugacious truth becomes evident after a magnificent secret of creation is lifted. Engineers created humankind just because they could, like humans created David' because they could'. On top of this, Charlie's line "There hasn't been a mystery of the creation of mankind at all" tugs down humanity to the position of a creature, side-by-side with David.

With this structure, Scott tries to deconstruct a western monotheistic ontology. In fact, unlike most people's beliefs, that religion is merely a fairytale was never a problem to Scott. Even in The Kingdom of Heaven, he admitted that religion works as ethos-creating power. What bothers Scott is how religions, primarily monotheistic systems, create a violent hierarchy at the ontological level. For example, from the heart of European philosophy, a hierarchical ontology spreads worldwide through Christianity and imperialism. This powerful idea presumed that a great purpose was endowed to the Christians ever since the creation. Therefore, a divine purpose in history placed European culture at the top of the hierarchy. The ontological violence justified the atrocities under the name of proselytization and enlightenment. Other kinds, Asian, Black, Natives, and whoever wasn't Christian, were regarded as the hominid species, inferior to the white Christians. The diverse beings in the world were slaughtered for the divine cause.

Peter Weyland, the creator of David, embodies those villainies done by ontological violence, hand in hand with Christianity. He boarded the Prometheus to evade death with an automatic surgery machine that is one of only 5 in the world. With David, he makes a creator-creature structure similar to the engineers-humankind and secures his place at the top of the ontological hierarchy. As Christianity graded and ruled humankind with various concepts and discourses, Peter Wayland degraded David to a mere machine, arguing he was without genuine emotion. As monotheistic religion named itself on the ethereal throne on the dead body of the abjected from 'History' (Hegel. F), Wayland secures his place on the high castle by stepping on his creature.

*“Doesn't everyone want their parents dead?”*

However, one should remember that Derrida revealed that binary opposition is an artificial structure choreographed by the dominant discourses of the time. Unlike what Peter Wayland insists, the delicate performance of Michael Pasvinder shows that David has emotion and a desire to be a creator. He consistently makes attempts to be liberated from his father. By creating life and analyzing the creator (Engineer) of his creator (Wayland), he tries to seize the authority of the creator. Considering what he has done, David is a living specimen proving binary opposition can't help accompanying internal discord in its construct. As he says, 'all children want their parents dead'.

As the narrative continues, the binary opposition of creator-creature keeps getting challenged by flagrant images. In the scene where David approaches the hibernaculum of the engineers and the scene where Dr. Shaw enters Wayland's cabin, the spacesuits of the two species are standing in a similar position. This insinuates that the two creators are nothing but organisms breathing air, relying their lives on spacesuits. Furthermore, like an engineer staggers up from his hibernaculum, Wayland is helped up by doctors from his capsule. These scenes tear down the hierarchical boundary between creator and creature. Like David says, when an engineer's severed head (the head was severed 2000 years ago, having far-reaching implications) explodes, they are not immortal but a life form like humans.

In the wake of the deconstruction of binary opposition, the creator has become equal to the creature. The pantheism of Spinoza evokes what was insinuated to come in the early part of the movie. Humankind that was born through the engineer's death is God itself, and whoever created Engineers (Dr. Shaw asks who made Engineers) humankind is also equal to the creator of Engineers. All things in the universe are the creator and creatures of each other. All things incubate God within it, so none is superior to anything.

Eventually, David’s attempt to create life, which set out from the pregnancy of Dr. Shaw, creates even more sacrilegious images. The engineer used the black liquid to dissolve himself, making life in the earth, and the earthworm turned into the snake shape monster after being exposed to it. Considering the black liquid creates and transforms life, one can indeed say the black liquid codifies the holy spirit. The pregnancy of Elizabeth Shaw, who is infertile, is so evident that even those who haven’t read the bible can quickly figure out that it’s a metaphor for the immaculate conception. Now, Chalie can be put into the place of Joseph, but to fulfill the legend where a virgin woman gets pregnant, he should be eliminated. The ascension of Josep is not allowed in the film. Scott is not that kind to let this loose-fitting concept escape from the discourse but cruel enough to depict it horribly.

The barren woman got pregnant, and her husband evasively ascended. Now there is one more thing that should be done before the birth of HIM. Since the father, son and spirit is the one entity, our God, an engineer, should join in the process. The trinity is complete, with the engineer becoming a host of the octopus monster born from the barren woman. The big story that has allowed Christianity to wield enormous power, Jesus Christ, is born as ‘a queen xenomorph.’

The creator, Peter Weyland, whose power rests on binary opposition, cannot get away with Scott's criticism either. As David ushers him into the spaceship bridge, Wayland professes to be a god before the engineer, demanding eternal life. He shows the engineer David, his creature, for proof of his divine status.

In the end, the engineer plucks up David's head and bashes Wayland. The creator breathes his last line of resignation. "There's nothing." The pastoral world that lies beyond death that we've imagined wholeheartedly is nothing but the reflection of our fear of death, and that fear created ontological violence and sweet lies of religions. In Level-223, in the absence of God and heaven, no kind shepherd welcomes us, but the cold-blooded creator beats us up to death. Once the curtain of self-hypnosis gets drawn aside, there is only a harsh, at some point cruel, truth. Organism dies, and there is no pleasant guidance beyond death. On top of this, the way of questioning the relation between 'I' and the universe has become a tyrant, armored with lies and fairytales. The gore atmosphere of the film, connecting Prometheus with Alien, is dedicated to reinforcing this irony.

Dr. Shaw cries to the captain of the Prometheus to stop the engineer, saying, 'this is not the place we've imagined.' As Prometheus of titan once granted humanity a fire by sacrificing himself, the spaceship Prometheus collides with the engineer's spaceship, giving salvation to humankind. The pilot and two co-pilots of the ship stand for the magi (white, black, yellow) in the bible, and they cry hurrah to the savior of humanity. Again, Scott twists the magi; the savior they hurrah to is not the mysterious rabbi from 2000 years ago, but the deconstruction of the religion/ontological violence that has nibbled off our subjecthood. Hence, the old titan saves humanity again as he burns himself with God.

*“Why do you not help them?”*
*“They Believe in a different God”*

Although Scott denies theistic religion and shatters its power structure, the ritual images that stand against religions also have been observed throughout Scott's filmography. One should remember that Shaw's dad was a Christian and an anthropologist at the same time. Saying 'religion is a product that humanity created to understand the universe' means there are no theistic gods but also an ethos-creating power (Campbell. J). It was a way for early humanity to question the relation between 'I' and the universe. 'Where do we come from, and where do we go after this?' That's why Shaw's dad said he couldn't help them. To him, believing in different gods doesn't mean serving different doctrines but proving that they are questioning their ways.

Therefore, combined with the scene earlier, the cross necklace passed down to Dr. Shaw from her dad functions as a pantheistic code. With this symbol, she keeps searching for the creator of the creator, revealing the old forgotten fact that the individual's divinity is god itself and permeates the universe. On the other hand, as the film shows throughout the narrative, religion has become a tyrant normative power (Foucault), camouflaging itself as an antidote to the natural fear; 'All organisms die.' That's why Charlie's ring also plays a significant role. From what Charlie says in the movie, "Anybody can create life. All you need is a dash of DNA." his ring, as crucial as Shaw's necklace, can be easily deduced as a metaphor for the rationality of humankind. These two symbols, reversals and somehow similar, are essential to understanding the film's discourse and Scott's attitude toward religion. Scott chose Spinoza’s pantheism not to eradicate groundless belief but to produce the ground of being where one can observe themselves.

While crying alone, Dr. Shaw hears the voice of David, the head severed from his body, and finds him among the wreckage of Prometheus. He tells her that there are many other spaceships on the planet, and he knows how to maneuver them. He offers Shaw a fly her back home, to the earth. Instead of going back home, however, Shaw asks him to take her to the planet of Engineers.

It is clear now what kind of tragedies could be caused by hierarchical ontology. It is scary and sometimes makes us helpless, but one cannot return to where they failed. Scott says there is no place for humanity to dwell in the current religious systems. Then what's left is to face the truth and not to let go of 'myself' within the universe. Pushing an incomprehensible fear into oblivion under the protection of sacrosanctity doesn’t make anything but more fears. Although gods and heavens that we’ve imagined for a long time are not real, each individual has their divinity and is the universe itself. As it’s been witnessed in the dream of Dr. Shaw, humanity has consistently asked themselves spiritual questions about their subjecthood. Throughout that process, an ethos was born, and numerous grounds of being were created. The religion that exuviates religion, the spiritual aspect without hierarchical oppression, should be the lamp of voyagers in space along with human rationality.

Elizabeth Shaw, the lone survivor from the expedition on LV-223 that started on the 25th of December and ended on New Year's Day, carries Charlie's ring along with the cross necklace of her father. One stands for the rationality of humankind that refuses to be a slave of religions, peering through the darkness of mysteries. The other is the ceaseless spiritual attempt of humanity to understand what lies between 'I' and the universe. With two beacons casting light in space, Dr. Shaw leaves LV-223, sailing into the darkness of space. Along with the date when the expedition starts and ends, the last record of Dr. Shaw completes what the film wants to say.

The long-brewed contemplation of the old director dissolves into every line and image of the film. Who could have thought that the philosophy of Spinoza and Deleuze turned into a space horror film? Prometheus is, by any measure, one of the finest Scy-fi classics that Scott has ever made.