Movie

2001: A Space Odyssey

Name: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Released: 1968

1968 • Adventure, Sci-Fi

Woke Score

out of 10

Plot

"2001" is a story of evolution. Sometime in the distant past, someone or something nudged evolution by placing a monolith on Earth (presumably elsewhere throughout the universe as well). Evolution then enabled humankind to reach the moon's surface, where yet another monolith is found, one that signals the monolith placers that humankind has evolved that far. Now a race begins between computers (HAL) and human (Bowman) to reach the monolith placers. The winner will achieve the next step in evolution, whatever that may be.

Overall Series Review

2001: A Space Odyssey is a philosophical epic on the nature of human evolution and technology, which intentionally avoids most conventional narrative elements. The story follows a series of encounters with a mysterious alien monolith, charting humanity's progress from primitive ape-men to space-faring astronauts. The film's core focus is on universal themes of intelligence, technological advancement, and humanity's next leap in consciousness, featuring characters defined by their roles in a grand, existential drama. The plot contains no explicit political or social commentary of the modern era, but its philosophical underpinnings reveal an extremely critical view of human civilization and a rejection of traditional religious frameworks.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The narrative's central conflict is Man versus Machine (HAL) and the next step in human evolution, with characters judged solely on their professional capability in the mission. The main astronaut roles are filled by men whose race is irrelevant to the plot, aligning with a universal meritocracy. The plot does not rely on intersectional hierarchy or identity-based grievances.

Oikophobia8/10

The film suggests that the current species, *homo sapiens*, is fundamentally flawed and savage. Humanity’s first technological leap, triggered by the alien Monolith, results in murder. The narrative concludes with the transformation of the protagonist into the 'Star-Child,' a superior being meant to replace and transcend the 'old race of man.' This theme argues for the deconstruction and replacement of human civilization by an external, alien-guided superior form.

Feminism2/10

Female characters are almost entirely absent from positions of authority on the spaceship and are instead depicted in stereotypical roles like stewardesses or an emotional, worried wife. This is not a 'Girl Boss' narrative, nor does it push anti-natalism; it is simply a reflection of the 1968 setting's social norms, resulting in an exclusion of women from the meritocratic space journey, but it does not contain the specified high-score tropes.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film contains no overt presence of alternative sexual ideologies, centering on the normative structure. Sexual identity is not a factor in any character's motivation or plot development. The subtextual 'queer readings' of the monolith and computer are purely academic interpretations, absent from the explicit narrative and themes.

Anti-Theism9/10

The core plot replaces the traditional, anthropomorphic image of God with a scientific definition of advanced alien beings and technology as the drivers of human evolution. The journey culminates in the creation of the 'Star-Child,' an *Übermensch* who becomes a new, non-traditional 'god,' effectively supplanting religious faith with a materialist, self-made form of transcendence. This actively pushes for a spiritual vacuum by replacing Objective Truth with an evolutionary moral relativism.