Saturday Memory
October 25, 2025

I woke up this morning remembering my favorite movie. It was accompanied by a feeling of needing to watch it again (I watch it most every year) and say something about this film and why it is a necessary film to see in our contemporary period of arrogant authoritarianism. This film is about the stupidity of the political need to block the message of the other. The central figure of the film is Klaatu. Michael Rennie plays him. He is an alien other who arrives not as a threat but as a messenger. But human blindness sees the other only as a threat, only as a menace, only as evil. Human shortsightedness keeps the message unheard, even in the face of the overwhelming power Klaatu can bring to bear. Klaatu sees the futility of appealing to politicians. He conveys knowledge to a scientist who recognizes its value. Klaatu appeals to the scientists to bring humanity to its senses before it is too late. The film ends in a limbo of uncertainty about the future of humanity. The film first appeared in 1951, 74 years ago. I saw it as a teenager just after my 13th birthday. It impacted me in powerful ways and shaped how I see things, even today. Collectively, we have not learned the lesson but have fallen deeper into the abyss. The film is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here is the link on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh8P4MIaZBA

Watch it.

Russ