What's the deal with the monoliths in 2001 and what does the ending mean?!
Question: What's the deal with the monoliths in 2001 and what does the ending mean!?
did he go to a higher dimension and see god!?Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
The monoliths signify a sort of heightening of a species (ie:the cave people started using weapons)and the ending is when he [the astronaut] gets stuck in the other dimension!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Most of the previous answers are right on the money!. The monolith represents an abrupt change in the course of a species, i!.e!., the advancement of technology and the creation of tools (the bone)!. The entire movie symbolizes the growing achievements of man and man's role in the vastness of the universe!. It praises the birth of this new technology but also warns us against it, by showing that if we allow technology to rule our lives too much, we stand to lose everything!. All in all, it celebrates the human element of space travel, and glorifies the beauty of space!. The Star Child at the end represents the birth of mankind's new role!.
Kubrick and Clarke have stated that the film is open to interpretation!. Therefore, a simpler answer is that it means whatever you want it to mean!. This is, however, what it means to me!. 2001 is the liquid essence of all science-fiction: an SF piece put through a strainer and deprived of the fluff, the melodrama, and the cheese!. It is simply a painting, a backdrop, that shows us very plainly that the universe of which we are a part is a beautiful thing, but seeking to conquer this so-called "final frontier" is not without its risks and sacrifices!. This is the core message of most similar movies, but I feel 2001 is the most pure, untainted, example; and, perhaps paradoxically, the most baffling!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Kubrick and Clarke have stated that the film is open to interpretation!. Therefore, a simpler answer is that it means whatever you want it to mean!. This is, however, what it means to me!. 2001 is the liquid essence of all science-fiction: an SF piece put through a strainer and deprived of the fluff, the melodrama, and the cheese!. It is simply a painting, a backdrop, that shows us very plainly that the universe of which we are a part is a beautiful thing, but seeking to conquer this so-called "final frontier" is not without its risks and sacrifices!. This is the core message of most similar movies, but I feel 2001 is the most pure, untainted, example; and, perhaps paradoxically, the most baffling!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
The monoliths symbolize a dramatic change in evolution (when they apes saw the monolith, they were able to use bones as weapons), and the ending is a change in evolution (a new species is born the "star child"!.)Www@Enter-QA@Com
Perhaps!. not to be vague, but the book was just as nebulous on this matter!. I feel he went beyondWww@Enter-QA@Com