Review of Alien: Covenant (2017) by Fernando%20 E — 27 Jun 2017

Ridley Scott's Alien prequels Prometheus and Covenant are an homage to existentialism. On a personal note, I am enjoying this new saga even better than the original films as they are centered on the real issues that matter to humanity.

Covenant starts with an attempt to colonize new planets. A crew of 15 people travel with two thousand fetuses colones who attempt to expand the human race in the universe. As Stephen Hawking and other scientists say, our survival will only be possible if we can figure how to expand to other planets. During the trip to the target planet, the spaceship unexpectedly encounters a new habitable planet and decide to stop there instead to start the new colony. Once there they find evidence of past humanoid colonization but everyone seem to be dead in a Pompeii-like fashion. The classic Aliens are now the new colones. Soon, we discover that David, the cyborg from the Prometheus expedition has been the artifice of this new colonization and has other plans for the human race.

The trip of this spaceship resemble the expeditions of Christopher Columbus, who also encountered unexpectedly a new territory and the Magellian-Elcano first round of the world who suffered several setbacks and suffered multiple calamities. In both, humans are trying to expand in new territories knowledgeable that they won't be able to grow in the same fashion if they stay in their comfort territory.

Covenant is centered in the magnificent interpretation of David the android by Michael Fassbender. His name, according to the film, comes from Michelangelo's David. The film has multiple references to Classical, Renaissance art history themes as well as classical music from Wagner and other interpreters from the time. David was the last android of his series that met his creator. Unlike the more modern android, David met his creator. Unlike David, his creator, a human, does not know his own. David understood his creator will die one day while he will live eternally. David also has the gift of creativity, something that makes him more human. After David, humans became scared of the ability of the new androids to compete with them. Therefore, the new androids have been made without creativity skills. They just follow commands. David however, is invested in using his talent to create life. Perhaps he is competing with his father in an Oedipal manner. He cannot reproduce but he can "create" new aliens, improved and superior to the prior ones in an attempt to replace the human race. David is in conflict. He has human-like consciousness but he is not human. He can love but is not corresponded. He cannot reproduce. Acting out his anger, he wants to destroy his creator. David's conflict raises a very important theme in regards to our own hypothetical behavior in a similar situation. We humans don't know our creator. In several cultures, humans have agreed that we probably have a creator often referred as God. This God is non-representable in some cultures and in other cultures He or She is represented as a light or an old wise man. In some cultures, God has a specific plan for each one of us and in others the relationship with God cannot be defined. The important question is "What would happen if we actually met our creator?" Would we confront him and ask why were we made mortal, why are we limited and why do we have to suffer? Would we act out our anger in an attempt to destroy Him or Her? In this regard David might be just a reflection of our behavior if we encountered our creator. Human beings often feel despair due to the perception of mortality but it is important to think of the alternative, an immortal existence. How would we deal with it? Would we try to die? Is existence rather than mortality the true source of human despair?