Freeze Frame: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

I worry that we are becoming too disconnected sometimes.

Time and again we isolate ourselves in our own little bubbles, wired in with our own sets of headphones. We get our information from the sources we choose, and ONLY the sources we choose. Day after day it becomes more and more possible to see what we want to see and ignore everything else.

So I wonder what would happen if a spaceship did land in Washington tomorrow. Would we stare with shock at our PDA’s? Post tweets that express how aghast we are? Or perhaps, would we gather together like these people in a foreign city.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is about exactly what it’s title describes: a moment when an alien craft descends to Earth, causing everyone that inhabits the planet to pause with shock and alarm. As it turns out, the beings within the craft are benign…but mankind being as skittish as we are, we automatically fear the worst.

This becomes increasingly clear as a very human looking alien named Klaatu interacts with us in the hopes of completing his mission.

The story is set in the early 1950’s, an age where images like you see above were commonplace. In this time, the only way news could travel fast was if a great number of people were gathered in front of the source – a radio, a television, even a ticker board. Information didn’t get to you, you had to go to it.

In an age of text messaging and push notifications, this whole concept probably seems quaint – probably even exhausting. However, there was a side effect to going to the source to learn about what was going on, and that is that others went as well. The jubilation could be contagious, and the worry could be palpable. Whether we gathered with people we knew, or complete strangers, in these moments we had each other to look to and seek solace.

The image I’ve chosen for THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is hardly unique to this film. Similar shots have been used in similar movies, both before this film was released and after. However, to me it symbolizes so much of what that film was about and so much of what it wanted to teach us. The faces of those six French strangers are full of worry and curiosity. The news they are hearing through that radio seems so unbelievable, and yet it must be true considering the source.

Some of them stare at the radio, as if it were they were looking into the eyes of the newscaster reading the bulletin. Those that do look for reassurance, validation, hoping that somehow the person reading the information can tell them how they should react to the information. Then there are the people in that shot looking at each other. In the scene they share no words, no wisdom, no ideas. However, these glances tell us that in a moment like this there are people who ask questions, and people who offer answers – which leads me to believe that the man on the far left is the sort who usually offers answers.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is a fable about leaving behind our violence and our fear. It underlines, as a wise American once said, that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. It wants to teach us that we can only succeed by coming together.

In an information age, we come together differently than we would have in 1951. We can still be stopped in our tracks by one piece of news. Now though, our furtive glances are virtual, and our consolation electronic. So many more of us can gather around the figurative radio on the table, but one wonders if we will miss being able to look into the eyes of our friends and neighbours for reassurance and validation.

 

Here’s three more from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL for the road…

 

This series of posts is inspired by the “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” series at The Film Experience. Do check out all of the awesome entires in their series so far