MovieChat Forums > The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Discussion > Be non-violent -- or I'll kill you.

Be non-violent -- or I'll kill you.

posted 18 years ago by mynameiskenny
97 replies | jump to latest

God, I just fuggin' hated Klaatu from the moment he opened his mouth. Every smug, condescending word made me want to punch him more. And when he got to his solution, I just knew it was coming, because that's the kind of movie this is, I could tell. Other threads on here have posted on what a horrible message, what a balls-out terrifying solution Klaatu's solution is, so I don't feel the need to explain it. If I was an Earthling in this movie, my immediate course of action would be to start searching for a way to kill the robots before our all-powerful android overlords come down to destroy us all if we misbehaved.

And I want to believe that maybe the filmmakers realized this, realized what a true horror Klaatu is. But I really doubt it. Every scene, with the petty and stupid humans daring to disagree and have conflict, and distrust the alien invader, is set up to make them look like idiots. The only people who aren't made to look grubby and disgusting are the woman and the professor sucking up to Michael Rennie. Then there are the Jesus parallels, and his final scene, where he smiles benevolently upon society and the woman looks up beatifically at him. This movie is so stupid. If it brings up interesting questions, it does so entirely by accident.

[–] atlantadouble 15 years ago

Wow, I check this board once every two years and the same question still comes up. Most folks ignore the key part of the message, which did not threaten violence if we confined our hostilities to our own planet. Step off the planet with hostilities and Gort comes back. Simple.

However, if we wanted to do this, all we need do is have a sure fire way to destroy Gort, then we could propagate hostilities.

Like Kirk, one must change the rules to win a no-win delema.

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[–] life4all 15 years ago

As I read the headlines each day, the less confidence I have in us ever learning "the ways of peace” without some help. We are no longer waging wars with sticks and stones. Some religions say that if God does not force peace upon us, we will use our technology to destroy most every living thing on earth. I believe in individual freedom but freedom never comes without responsibility. As a species we tend to loathe responsibility. I don’t know if I really want to defend myself by any means necessary if it means the end of everything! We are essentially the same cavemen we always were but now we have ICBMs! We have come to a crossroad in human history. We either put away childish assumptions (i.e. I can do whatever the f__k I want) or face annihilation (and by our own hand)! If we truly wish to explore the Universe (or even survive here on earth) we may have to actually stop thinking like spoiled brats! Perhaps Klaatu has given us the only solution possible and we would rather die than listen to it.

[–] todd-parnell 14 years ago

I think a lot of people forget that Klaatu was from a much more advanced race which has perfected interstellar travel and has the power to destroy entire worlds. My guess is they view us as amusing and extremely backwards. We might have our charms, but we haven't grown up enough to possess the kind of weapons we are developing and that makes us dangerous to other planets.

I suppose they would look at us the way I look at flies. So long as they are outside doing their thing, I am fine with them. Once they come in the house, they get the flyswatter.

Todd

[–] McQualude 14 years ago

I'm glad that people are starting to wake up and see that this movie has a deeply flawed message. Overall, the writing is really quite childish by today's standards.

|Statistics show that 100% of people bitten by a snake were close to it.|

[–] WhoToTrust 14 years ago

Then again, some feel that the storys' genius lies in it's simplicity. What good would it do to put forth a message in a form that could only be understood by the most intelligent, especially when it's the less mature who are usually the cause of problems?

No, the lowest common denominator also has to be addressed, the ironic part being that a message delivered in such simple form still get's misunderstood by some who claim to be among the more intelligent.

[–] heelmaster2000 14 years ago

You know I did find it kind of funny that the choice to be non violent was only to enforced when violence was issued. I didn't so much find this bad writing, but instead a bad way of representing what the director and writer were trying to get across to the audience.

[–] Errington_92 14 years ago

You're missing the point. I am a very peaceful guy, but if my neighbor started doing something that threatened the life and welfare of my family and home, I would have no problem theatening them in order to get them to stop. Klaatu did the same thing.

Very true, Klaatu wasn't being hypocritical when he warned of the possiable destruction of Earth. All he did was give the population of Earth a chance to change its ways.

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".

[–] WhoToTrust 13 years ago

by The_Razzatron - Very true, Klaatu wasn't being hypocritical when he warned of the possiable destruction of Earth. All he did was give the population of Earth a chance to change its ways.

That's certainly one interpretation. Another would be that it wasn't Klaatu who was doing the threatening. He was merely informing the people of Earth what would happen.

In the instance above with the neighbor for example, the peaceful guy is himself doing the threatening rather than calling the police. Klaatu DID NOT do the same thing. In the arrangement with Klaatu and GORT, GORT was the police.

[–] Forever_Knight 13 years ago

This thread clearly demonstrates Klaatu's point.
Humans are so alien to reason they cant even comprehend a simple message.
Klaatu spent most of his time just getting humans to shut up long enough to listen to him.
His message was simple "We are peaceful. You are welcome to join us, or not. If you threaten us we WILL kill you."
Sounds reasonable to me.

[–] nikkp 12 years ago

We are peaceful, We will kill you?

What? `

[–] WhoToTrust 12 years ago

by rogerdottin - This thread clearly demonstrates Klaatu's point.
Humans are so alien to reason they cant even comprehend a simple message.
Klaatu spent most of his time just getting humans to shut up long enough to listen to him.
His message was simple "We are peaceful. You are welcome to join us, or not. If you threaten us we WILL kill you."

by nikkp - We are peaceful, We will kill you?

What?

I agree nikkp, the irony is sometimes palpable.

To be accurate, shouldn't the line have read...

"...His message was simple "We are peaceful. You are welcome to join us, or not. If you threaten us, your own actions will result in GORT killing you."

Sad that after this long, people STILL seem compelled to always blame the messenger for their own inability to understand the message.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Alek_Hidell 11 years ago

Be non-violent -- or I'll kill you.

What's so unusual about this message? It's been the policy of the NYPD and LAPD for years now.

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I'm just a patsy!

[–] alserrano 11 years ago

Already mentioned in this thread: Klaatu's solution mirrors the imperialistic USA's solution with other countries: be peaceful, do what we want, or we will destroy you. And that was the point.

Funny how people blame on the filmmakers what they do not understand themselves. And I thought the movie message is quite clear.

[–] lthrsmith 10 years ago

I agree. One needs to see the film in its context. The filmmakers took the original story and added a political dimension and moral finger-pointing. Lots of leftist spin in there, but they also depicted Klaatu as Jesus, Gort as God and Gort's destructive infinity as the wrath of God unleashed on immoral fools (the superpowers fighting in Korea), so they could gain the moral high ground and preach their message you so beautifully debunked:

"NO VIOLENCE or we'll kill you."

So ridiculous it is unintentionally funny. Klaatu is the wet dream of every liberal f*g.

[–] westal_sage 10 years ago

No, he openly stated that we can be just as violent as we want to be - amongst ourselves. So it's more like "Keep your petty violence to yourself, or I'll vaporize you."

[–] bastasch8647 10 years ago

Exactly. The alien oonfederation could not care less if earth people turned their own planet into a "burned out cinder".

Their only concern is earth taking its violence and weaponry into outer space. It is surprising how many people seem to miss this core concept.