Mankind | Kevin Barrett's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Mankind’

Four Kinds

Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Actions, Being Kind, Blindness, Deaf, Drinks, Hearing, Injury, Kindness, Language, Mankind, Mark Twain, Nobleness, Philosophy, Quotes, Religion, Seeing on May 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion.

— Mark Twain

It is higher and nobler to be kind.

— Mark Twain

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

— Mark Twain

Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink – under any circumstances.

— Mark Twain

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Click here (20 May) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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A Colder Savior

Posted in General Comments, Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, tagged “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (2008) — movie review, Central Park, Cold War, Dr. Helen Benson, General Comments, Gort, Jacob Benson, Jaden Smith, Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese, Kathy Bates, Keanu Reeves, Klaatu, Mankind, Moderate Movie Recommendation, Movie Reviews, New York City, Professor Barnhardt, Reviews, Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson, Silver Surfer on August 1, 2025| 3 Comments »

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” (2008) — movie review
Today’s review is for the 2008 science fiction remake: “The Day the Earth Stood Still“, starring Keanu Reeves as Klaatu (the alien), Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson (an exobiologist who tries to save Klaatu and the world), Jaden Smith as Jacob Benson (Helen’s stepson by marriage), Kathy Bates as Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson and John Cleese as Professor Barnhardt (the “smartest” man in the world).

Background: If the 1951 original was a Cold War sermon presented as a silver saucered UFO, the 2008 version is a post-9 / 11 eco-parable dressed in nanotech and CGI. This remake exchanges the threat of nuclear weapons in space for environmental collapse on Earth. It recasts Klaatu not as a galactic diplomat, but as a cosmic “Silver Surfer” herald / exterminator who develops a conscience. Humans are no longer just violent — we are the destroyers of Earth’s sustainability. Klaatu arrives not to warn, but to execute.

Basic Plot: A mysterious large orb lands in Central Park in New York City, along with a host of others spread around the globe. Klaatu, a humanoid emissary of an alien coalition, emerges and is promptly shot by some unidentified panicked soldier. He’s detained, healed, and interrogated. He escapes with the help of Dr. Helen Benson, a scientist who believes humanity deserves another (and another) chance. As global panic spreads, Klaatu witnesses human behavior firsthand, especially through Helen and her stepson Jacob. The question looms: will he spare us / save us based on watching family interaction, or allow planetary cleansing based on watching TV news?

So… is this movie any good? The acting? The filming / FX? Any problems? Did I like it? Short answers: VERY so-so; Reeves is robotically bland, Connelly unaccountably emotional; the FX are impressive enough visuals; loads – mainly the story doesn’t really make much (any) sense; and, it’s more “just” okay than “Wow! I liked that!“.

Acting: Keanu Reeves plays Klaatu with icy detachment — no diplomat and not a messiah from the stars. He seems to suddenly develop a conscience as a moral algorithm. His monotone delivery suits the alien role, but it is also an emotional flatline. Jennifer Connelly anchors the film with conviction, but while she is compassionate, rational, and deeply human, there was nothing “there” for me. Jaden Smith as Jacob is… important in the plot, but his character’s transformation (like Connelly’s) just didn’t make sense to me. Kathy Bates is a bureaucratic model as the Defense Secretary (with another uneven conversion), who is more a narrative device to explain why humanity cannot trust aliens to be “good and peaceful” towards us – hint: because we wouldn’t be towards them. Finally, there is John Cleese who makes a brief, earnest appearance as a Bach-loving physicist making a plea for humanity. He’s okay in the role, but he’s a poor Einstein substitute and the blackboard scene (which is lifted from the original movie) loses it’s context in this remake.

Filming / FX: The film has the advantage of 50+ years of development in production design / FX. The alien spheres are interesting visually — silent, glowing, and ominous. GORT, the iconic robot, is re-imagined as a nano-tech swarm capable of global destruction. In this film, “GORT” is an acronym for “Genetically Organized Robotic Technology“, which is assigned to the object by the military – even though there is no evidence of genetics or robotics. Both are just assumed (I guess). The nanite destruction sequences — Shea Stadium, trucks dissolving into dust — are visually appealing even if they don’t make any sense logically.

Problems: The main problem with this film is you have to WANT to believe the story for it to make any sense. In reality, it’s a loosely connected remake of a “classic” Sci-Fi movie which loses the thread by trying to update the reason for the alien visit to a modern day motive. Reeves / Klaatu’s conversion from executioner to redeemer is too abrupt. Smith’s / Jacob’s role seems like it’s pivotal but badly written. And, Bates / Jackson starts out as a believable Defense Secretary, but she ends up completely unable to communicate with “someone” (we assume is the President) and they inexplicably try to bomb a “cloud” of nanites. [Spoiler Alert: the spheres are dispersed around the planet because they are mini-Arks (as in Noah’s “Ark”) meant to collect various animal species for preservation. And, yes, the practicality of this is just as laughable as is the Noah story.]

Final Recommendation: Moderate (at best) — worth the time watching for sci-fi fans curious about remakes of “classics” and less worth it for trumped up moral dilemmas about world ecology. It’s a film which (I think) tries to frame and ask big questions, but in the end fails the framing and answers none. Sit for a viewing with the hope of a decent remake and get up with the feeling: “Well, at least the special effects were decent enough…”

Other thoughts: I’m a fan of most of Reeves’ work. I’ve liked him since the “Speed” days… This was not some of his best work. I AM thoroughly convinced about the dangers to humanity from “Climate Change”. I believe this type of representation of the danger is (was) not helpful as it only served to trivialize the immediate and long term issues and problems in the mind of the public. Seventeen years on from this film and we (a significant number of anti-intellectuals AND corporatists in the United States) are still acting / sounding as if there is no danger. Maybe, Earth (and humanity) will need a savior from outer space… Okay, I’ll now get off of my soap-box.

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Click here (1 August) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Responsible Involvement

Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Involvement, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mankind, Philosophy, Quotes, Responsibility, Supposition on August 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Our responsibility is much greater than we might have supposed, because it involves all mankind.

— Jean-Paul Sartre

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Click here (1 August) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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A Universe More Rational Than Our Species

Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Beauty, Chaos And Harmony: Perspectives on Scientific Revolutions of the Twentieth Century, Complexity, Cosmos, Harmony, Laws, Mankind, Philosophy, Poets, Quotes, Reasoning, Science, Spark of Life, Stardust, Trinh Xuan Thuan on June 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In its relentless ascent toward complexity, the universe has given rise to man, endowed with consciousness and intelligence. Stardust coalesced to trigger the spark of life and cause the appearance of a living being capable of comprehending the cosmos. Poets have sung its beauty, artists have painted it harmony, but it fell to scientists to unveil its mysteries and reveal to us this truly miraculous fact: We live in a rational universe ruled by very precise laws that can be perceived and analyzed by human reasoning.

— Trinh Xuan Thuan
From: “Chaos and Harmony: Perspectives on Scientific Revolutions of the Twentieth Century“

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Click here (17 June) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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#47DonTheFelon Thinks He Has The Power

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged #47DonTheFelon, A Free Press, American Politics, John Stuart Mill, Mankind, Opinion, Philosophy, Power, Quotes, Silence on February 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

— John Stuart Mill

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Click here (18 February) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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On Immigration

Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged American Politics, George Moore, Heauton Timorumenos - The Self-Tormentor, Humanity, Immigration, Mankind, Philosophy, Publius Terentius Afer, Quotes, Terence, The Bending of the Bough: A Comedy in Five Acts on June 21, 2024| 2 Comments »

After all there is but one race – humanity.

–– George Moore
From: “The Bending of the Bough: A Comedy in Five Acts“

I am a man; I count nothing human foreign to me.

–– Publius Terentius Afer (aka: Terence)
From the play: “Heauton Timorumenos, The Self-Tormentor“

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Click here (21 June) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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The Dissent We Witness

Posted in History, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Computers, History, Humanity, Mankind, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Wealth And Poverty on January 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Man is about to be an automaton; he is identifiable only in the computer. As a person of worth and creativity, as a being with an infinite potential, he retreats and battles the forces that make him inhuman. The dissent we witness is a reaffirmation of faith in man; it is protest against living under rules and prejudices and attitudes that produce the extremes of wealth and poverty and that make us dedicated to the destruction of people through arms, bombs, and gases, and that prepare us to think alike and be submissive objects for the regime of the computer.

— William O. Douglas
Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

[Resistance / dissent is – probably – already futile… — kmab]

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Click here (21 January) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Allowing For Compromise

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Accommodation, Compromise, Democracy, Differences, Diversity, Eugene McCarthy, Mankind, Quotes on May 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

As long as the differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences.

— Eugene McCarthy

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Click here (5 May) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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One Earth

Posted in History, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged H. G. Wells, Mankind, Nationality, Philosophy, Quotes, The Outline of History on April 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Our true nationality is mankind.

–– H. G. Wells
From his book: “The Outline of History“

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Click here (28 April) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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I’m Definitely Not In Control

Posted in Quotes, Writing, tagged Control, Kurt Vonnegut, Life, Mankind, On Writers, On Writing, Quotes, Social Organism, Specialized Cells, Wampeters Foma And Granfalloons on September 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Writers are specialized cells in the social organism. They are evolutionary cells. Mankind is trying to become something else; it’s experimenting with new ideas all the time. And writers are a means of introducing new ideas into the society, and also a means of responding symbolically to life. I don’t think we’re in control of what we do.

— Kurt Vonnegut, Jr
From his book: “Wampeters, Foma And Granfalloons“

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Click here (28 September) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.