Prometheus -- the Alien Mythology

Science fiction is the mythology of our times. What I mean by "mythology" is an attempt to explain some aspect of human experience through a story. The ancient Prometheus story, for example, explains the invention of fire as a possession of the Greek gods that was stolen and brought to earth.  In our times, many people think we are too sophisticated for such simple explanations as the gods or God, so we turn to scientific ideas to explain things.

The movie Prometheus is one example of this mythology of science.  It is based around the idea that human beings and all life on earth evolved from alien DNA.  This kernel of a "scientific" idea, though, isn't the main thrust of the movie M and I just saw.  If alien DNA is responsible for life on earth, as some scientists may believe, it most likely didn't come to earth in the form of a giant spaceship -- as it appears to in the beginning of the movie.

Instead, the movie takes this kernel of an idea, along with other standard elements of science fiction -- space travel, androids, and the attempt to cheat death through technology -- and weaves them into the universe described by the earlier Alien movies. It's interesting to see how this universe itself has "evolved" over time. The backstory behind the movies that is woven into this movie is more interesting by far than the backstory behind the Star Wars movies (which was made into Stars Wars Episode I, II, and III). It's also more nightmarish and horrifying than Star Wars. M and I squirmed in our seats and averted our eyes several times during the horror sequences, but we were definitely invested in the fate of these characters, thanks to some excellent filmmaking from Ridley Scott.  We debated the source of the horrors the characters face with a friend after the movie ended, which to me is a good sign for a movie. The myth that Ridley Scott has created for us does give us reason to think -- not just about human origins or what it means to be human but also about whether what we consider "alien" is really another version of ourselves. The story is useful in that sense, and the movie is gripping and powerful.