MovieChat Forums > Childhood's End (2015) Discussion > CE is cruel story. <spoilers>

CE is cruel story. <spoilers>

posted 9 years ago by celluloid_devil
8 replies | jump to latest

For those defending the will of the Overmind/actions of the Overlord, you do so in direct arbitration of the survival of your species.

Everyone says the Overlords were merely assisting us as the evolution took place so ensure that when it did, it didn't disrupt the collective mind of the Overmind and all the 2.0 species ('Children of God') it had round up.

So why leave humanity in the dark until the very end? That is where the cruelty lies. And that is where the frantic, fearful people(#theFreedomLeague) actually had validity in their distrust. I know Corellan told the ambassador that they needed to wait until everyone was ready with certain facts, but there was SO much deception in that. Total long con. Corellan only really came forward with the plan once the final stage was in motion and doom was certain. What a jerk.

All the Overmind wanted was the freaky omen kid birthed and her followers to fly away and shed their humanity, the flaw is why did man pay the final price for this? Couldnt this have occured and humanity kept going? I'm not happy with the short answer of no, because I believe the Overmind/Overlords were feeding us a line in the explanation. The Overmind comes off like a real selfish bitch. So very little is explained, and humans(and the viewers) are to accept the hand theyre dealt. Milo seems to be the only Earthling who isnt complacent.

It also isnt explained that Earth would be destroyed otherwise. Even if sterility killed off humans, what about Earth/biology? Actually, at the very end, Earth's core energy is absorbed by Jennifer (side note, did she not age in 80s years?) which probably wasnt good for the planet. Thanks, bitch, guess that was apart of your evolution.

Maybe the religious overtone wasnt in the original novel, but the TV movie had it. The religious groups were right all along, the Overlords were here pretending to make things better only to deceive for about 20 years to carry out the Overmind's plan. Which was destroy Earth/humanity so it can have a new member on it's telepathic counsel. About 20 years of "golden age of man" is all they needed. I do not believe the Overmind was "God", but rather a highly evolved cosmic the Blob. Going across the universe absorbing species into it's collective and excreting the developing planet they came from.

To paraphrase the religious nut's quote: "but they give us ice cream so no one complains". The Overlords successfully sculpted humanity in a very short time frame, into docile lazy sheep. OK, no suffering, but no art, culture, or jobs/economy (except for the novel island New Athens). They ended world hunger, cleaned the environment, gave us peace/a single government, all in theory to make the world a better place where we prosper for a long time, while really they were just buttering us up so they could carry out their plan. They metaphorically put humanity in a really nice old folk's home.

For those still saying "the evolution was going to happen anyway, they were cosmic midwives!!" Were those drones not altering something inside the mother to give the Overmind Jennifer? That mother was born before the aliens arrived, so we know she was chosen for genetic modification. What about the high tec Quija board telegraph? "Let it awaken inside you!!" Total deception. And generally when one deceives, it's.. deceitful. Not for a greater good, but to manipulate.

The evolution was tailored completely, which is why is wasnt really a good thing, definitely not a natural process. They got in and got out, and we're supposed to buy that this was going to happen anyway. The Overlords probably tell all the species that line before exploiting their genome and destroying them.

^ Whatever helps you die, since the Overmind has gotten what it wanted now. ^

[–] sfmar 9 years ago

Read the book.

[–] passthebeernuts 9 years ago

The Overmind found a solution to the question, "If the super-evolved humans exist, why are there still humans?"

[–] nyarlath 9 years ago

The Overmind found a solution to the question, "If the super-evolved humans exist, why are there still humans?"

Sounds like its a creationist dum dum.

[–] darkness_surroundz 9 years ago

remember we OWN bodies, but we are NOT bodies we are collective and or individual souls (i am not an Xtian)

[–] Dejay 9 years ago

There is no soul except as a concept, only brain matter.

Praise the God of Meat!

[–] undisputed72 9 years ago

I really enjoyed your explanation, I had similar thoughts to this as well. We're expected to simply accept this, when to me, it all seemed like one giant ruse for the overmind to add to its 'rolodex.' ... Like a collector/hunter adding yet another trophy to the wall. The entire ordeal just seems completely self-serving for the overmind. IMO humans are just the prey, and the overlords are merely pawns, doing the overman's dirty work, only because they've been told they can't drink the kool-aid and "ascend." Like another poster mentioned on the board, that seems pretty convenient for the overmind to keep the overlords around when it needs "mid-wives" to facilitate this "ascension process."

As a proud human of our species' achievement, I'd have preferred we ascend on our own terms, and if that would've jeopardized our chances at ascension then so be it. But the way the story played out was totally condescending at best.

The statement from Karellen that struck me the most was when he said (paraphrasing) "your species was on the verge of interstellar travel, you are dealing with forces you cannot control" .... umm screw you, pal.

[–] nyarlath 9 years ago

The entire ordeal just seems completely self-serving for the overmind. IMO humans are just the prey, and the overlords are merely pawns, doing the overman's dirty work, only because they've been told they can't drink the kool-aid and "ascend."

From what I've read of the TV business this is the highest a production executive can think when it comes to imagining a 'higher' evolution. The wolf cannot become a sheep.

[–] Dejay 9 years ago

Yeah I feel the same way. I think part of the problem is that the story is old and either the author didn't know how evolution actually works or this kind of "sudden evolution" did work once but not anymore today. So the result is that we know the evolution wasn't inevitable, the change probably manipulated by the overlords and the destruction of earth not needed.

The plausibility changed, and that changes the story and the meaning of it. You can suspend disbelief for movies like X-Men, but when it's an manipulating overlord telling you, you can't stop thinking this is just BS and deception.