🪐👁️ 2001: A Space Odyssey: is this a religious experience with spaceships?

🪐👁️ 2001: A Space Odyssey - is this a movie… or a religious experience with spaceships?
Movie discussion - watch beforehand. No screening.

Short summary
2001 is one of those films people either revere, endure, or secretly resent.
It barely explains itself.
It moves slowly on purpose.
It gives you apes, space stations, classical music, a polite computer, a floating fetus, and somehow expects you to walk out changed.
And honestly? That’s why it’s still worth discussing.
This is not a normal sci-fi movie. It’s a film about evolution, intelligence, technology, loneliness, violence, cosmic mystery, and the awful possibility that humanity is not the center of the story. The BFI describes it as both a revolutionary depiction of the cosmos and a warning about technological advance through HAL-9000 - which is still one of the reasons the film feels alive now.
The funny thing is: a lot of modern sci-fi explains too much.
2001 explains almost nothing.
So the question becomes: is that depth… or is Kubrick messing with us?

Why this one is worth a room
Because people don’t disagree about this movie politely.
Some people think it’s one of the greatest films ever made.
Some think it’s cold, slow, and overrated.
Some people only wake up when HAL starts acting weird.
Some people see the ending and feel like they touched the universe.
Perfect.

The arguments worth having
- Is 2001 emotionally cold, or are we just used to movies telling us what to feel?
- HAL: villain, victim, tool, child, or the most human character in the movie?
- Does the film think technology elevates us… or exposes how primitive we still are?
- Why does the movie use music like it’s making space feel sacred?
- Is the ending profound, ridiculous, terrifying, beautiful, or all of that at once?
- If aliens, gods, or higher intelligence are involved here, does the film make humanity look chosen… or tiny?

What the room will feel like
We’ll start with:
**At what point did you stop trying to “understand” the movie and start just experiencing it?**
Then we’ll talk through the big movements:
the apes, the Moon, HAL, the journey, the final room, and the ending that still refuses to behave like a normal ending.
No film-snob posturing.
If you were bored, say that.
If you were hypnotized, say that too.
Both are useful.

When and where
📅 Sunday, May 31
🕐 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
📍 Central Library, Room will be announced on day of.

Cap 12–15 + waitlist
Small room on purpose. This movie gets worse when people are trying to sound smart and better when they’re honest.