Messianism, Utopianism and Imperialism in Stanley Kubrick’s Film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968

Abstract

Movies were the prime battleground for the ideological conflict between Liberalism and Communism during the Cold War era. A period in which ideas became weapons. This struggle led to the technological conflict between USA and USSR in Space. In an effort to better understand this, our dissertation purports to evaluate the concepts of Messianism, Utopianism and Imperialism through the medium of film “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Kubrick shows the world position of USA as the leader of humanity, and acknowledges the movie’s importance as a tool of communication. For our dissertation, we have appealed to Karl Mannheim’s “Ideology and Utopia” (1949). Mannheim asserts that one’s ideology is influenced by the historical context and the social group to which he belongs. Kubrick’s ideas in the film were influenced by the Cold War era and the environment in which they were produced. In fact, these ideas reflected the American Ideology. We came to the conclusion that firstly, the film contains a spiritual aspect. Secondly, USA used film industry to present space as a perfect place to reach the utopian dream. Finally, the movie is used for the American political and technological purposes.