Prometheus and "What is 10.11.12?"

Prometheus received a lot of hype, and opened to relatively mixed reviews. Those who like it sights its striking visuals and inspired performances. Those who don't like it sight is predictable story. But the biggest argument seems to center around the question of whether it's a true prequel to the Alien franchise or not.

Cards on the table: I enjoyed this movie and I believe it is a true prequel.

I thought this was a great looking movie. Amazing sets and sweeping vistas offset the decidedly gray pallet. Granted the environments were not nearly as creepy as the ones in Alien, but that was a very claustrophobic film while this one is much more open. Performances are top notch across the board. Most people single out Michael Fassbender, but I felt the standouts were Idris Elba and Noomi Rapace.

What's interesting about the story is that it's an origin story, and it's a story about origins. Everything in Prometheus speaks to the theme of "where do we come from?" Why create organic life? Why create synthetic life? Prometheus offers no definitive answers, but it gives us a glimpse. I thought this was a strong choice, because - let's be honest - there was no master plan for how it all got started when they set out to make the first Alien. That whole movie was inspired by the grotesque artwork of surrealist H.R. Giger. Making the story about origins justified the need to tell an origin story at all.

Yup, that's the stuff nightmares come from.

But is it a true prequel? Many out there are quick to say "No!" They feel that while the story does take place in the same universe as the Alien franchise, it does not directly influence the events in that first film.

It has no characters from Alien?
That's true. The closest thing to a returning character is we finally get to see Peter Wayland, head of the infamous "Company." But these characters still influence the mythology of Alien.


It's on a different planet?
Yes, the ship from Alien was on planet LV-426 while Prometheus takes place on LV-223. But in Alien the ship was a derelict. It was not from that planet. Now we know where it was from, where it was going, and what it's mission was.

It doesn't show the story of the "Space Jockey?"
Not really. It's not the same Space Jockey that we saw in Alien. But there are certain things we can assume. In Prometheus, David said that there were "many" ships on the planet. If we assume each of those ships has at least one Jockey frozen in cryogenic stasis, then there are many Jockeys. Obviously one wakes up to resume his mission only to fall prey to this new breed of alien that's been created. He dies and crashes onto LV-426. Or maybe he tries to harvest the alien as a weapon. Same result: death and crash. As for what he says about the Jockey being fossilized, fossilization takes place in the ground when minerals replace bone. The Jockey was neither under ground, nor were his bones exposed. Fossilization could not have taken place. Quite simply, Tom Skerritt was wrong.

Obviously, there's still some missing details, but there's enough to go on in order to make sense. What's great about this is it does not succumb to the worst part of all prequels. Remember how disappointing Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was? That's because everyone had their own idea of how or why Anakin Skywalker would turn to the Dark Side. Nothing that movie did could have been as cool as what we imagined ourselves. Prometheus forgoes the details that would doubtlessly leave us underwhelmed, but still gives us enough to understand what happened. I feel the banner headline for this movie is: MEDDLING SCIENTISTS MAKE UNIVERSE WORSE FOR EVERYONE.

What does this mean?

What's really curious though is what happens after the movie. At the very end of the credits, the above image scrolls across the screen. When I saw this, I turned to my friend as said, "What the hell is going to happen in October?" The real question is why are they starting a viral marketing campaign after the film's release? Going to the timeline web address, we see that that's the date Weyland Corp is recognized as a legal entity. Some quick research brings up the site What is 10.11.12. All that's there is some stuff about Nietzsche and a short video of Guy Pearce's Peter Weyland before his TED Talk from the previous viral campaign.

What does all of this have to do with Prometheus or Alien? I have no idea. What is going to happen on 10/11/12? I have no idea. But my interest is certainly peeked. Some are suggesting the bluray release or a sequel announcement. Others wonder if the sequel has already been filmed and we'll see the first teaser. We'll just have to wait and see.

I would recommend Prometheus, especially if you enjoy Sci-fi, but I would preface it with don't expect the same creepy factor that Alien had. Avoid this movie if you don't like gross, slimy things.