Prot And Robert: The Same Person?

While I want to believe him to be human, there is one thing I cannot get past: humans cannot see UV light, prot can. It's not mentioned as a "condition" or a "symptom" but as a fact; a matter of either/or. They way it is expressed by the doctor is that no human can have this ability, therefor prot isn't human. No other explanation is offered. It's unfair to make assumptions and guesses about what might cause UV vision that weren't presented to us.

I agree that the astronomical demonstration isn't proof, compelling though it may be. He could be a savant, as the doctor suggested, and as the knowledge exists but is not widely available, the possibility of him, Robert Porter solving the equation is probably higher than prot being an E.T.

I'm not sure how many people have no response to the powerful drugs he was given. He even downed several ounces of scotch like water. Still not really 'proof' of anything I suppose.

What about his keen intellect? Robert Porter worked in a slaughterhouse and I don't recall any discussion about his education. Yet he displays deep insight into the human psyche, well beyond that of experienced doctors. Why would he have this knowledge as a K-PAXian, since they never want anything or apparently no longer have any such social ills. Can a savant be brilliant in more than one discipline? Astrophysics, math, psychiatry, etc...?

Could the security cameras all go out at the exact moment prot predicted? Sketchy. C'mon.

Did Bess leave with prot? About midway in the movie prot/Robert left for a few days. Either prot beamed out or Robert found a way to sneak out, possibly by disabling the cameras? The same method either way got Bess out.

To me, the filmmakers put just enough 'proof' on both sides of the fence to make the human/alien distinction 50/50. Every time I see it, I pick up a nuance that sways me one way, then back again.

Today, I'm going with the prot is real, Robert is a vessel theory, based on the UV vision and all the other above listed observations happening to one person being way too coincidental. I realize I'm saying it's more likely that he's an alien alien than a smart guy, but it's more than that. Besides, it's a movie, and this is the fun part.


=========
wait for iiiiit...

So personally I feel like Prot was just borrowing Robert's body. I think Prot was a K-Paxian because of the way he shows up in the beginning. He shows up out of nowhere. However, the biggest part of it for me is the UV light part. Prot is highly sensitive to light and can see UV light, but after Prot leaves, Robert doesn't need to wear the glasses. I don't know much about catatonic states, but I'd think his eyes would be closed if exposed to bright light because they would hurt. Him being an astrological wiz kid has already been addressed, it's possible, but I don't buy that personally because the information was new and unpublished, and where did he get the Hubble that would be needed to see k-pax? It's also too much of a coincidence that the security cameras went off and the bright light was in Prot's room at the very moment he predicted. Just too much coincidence for me for Prot not to be from K-Pax. So I think when Robert tried to kill himself, Prot was coming to earth and took over, but maybe somehow their emotions are still tied together (this would explain the sprinkler incident)?

The part I'm most curious about would be Robert and Prot's friendship, and how that all works, but that's only a question if you think that they are different beings I guess. Anyways, a much better film than I was expecting!

To me it is the combination of facts/traits that makes me lean towards Prot being an alien, "lending" Roberts body.

A savant could learn a lot about math and the universe, but being a savant doesn't go well at all with his ability to affect the other patients like Prot did.

He also disappeared from a closed psychiatric ward without a trace, and the way the surveillance camera malfunctioned just in time also was a tad too much for me.

And then you have biology, Prot's ability to see UV (which was addressed as plain impossible), together with his insensitivity to medication.

On a higher level, what Prot really might be doing was to see that Robert was taken properly care of the rest of his life. He placed Robert in the psychiatric ward, and checked whether it was a good place for him. When Prot found it was, he left.


In Cod we trust.