Alphaville

Alphaville

I was listening to "Forever Young" this afternoon and remembered how much I loved this movie. I think watching it is as important as reading Orwell's 1984. For example, look at Alpha-60's sermon...

MEMORY IS SO-CALLED BECAUSE OF THE PRIMARY ROLE IT PLAYS IN THE LOGICAL ORGANIZATION OF ALPHA-60. NO ONE HAS LIVED IN THE PAST. NO ONE WILL LIVE IN THE FUTURE. THE PRESENT IS THE ONLY FORM OF LIFE. IT IS A STATE OF EXISTENCE WHICH IS INDESTRUCTIBLE. TIME IS LIKE A CIRCLE, ENDLESSLY TURNING. THE ARC THAT DESCENDS IS THE PAST. THAT WHICH RISES IS THE FUTURE. ALL HAS BEEN SAID, UNLESS WORDS CHANGE THEIR MEANINGS AND MEANINGS THEIR WORDS. IS IT NOT OBVIOUS THAT SOMEONE IN THE ORDINARY COURSE OF LIFE, LIVING ON ONE EDGE OF PAIN, SHOULD DEMAND
A DIFFERENT KIND OF RELIGION FROM THAT DEMANDED BY SOMEONE WHO IN THE ORDINARY COURSE OF LIFE LIVES ON THE OTHER EDGE? BEFORE WE WERE HERE, THERE WAS NOTHING, NO ONE. WE ARE TOTALLY ALONE HERE. WE ARE UNIQUE HERE...TERRIFYINGLY UNIQUE. THE MEANING OF WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS IS NO LONGER UNDERSTOOD. AN ISOLATED WORD OR AN ISOLATED DETAIL IN A DRAWING CAN BE GRASPED, BUT THE MEANING OF THE WHOLE ESCAPES US. ONCE WE KNOW ONE, WE THINK THAT WE KNOW TWO, BECAUSE ONE PLUS ONE EQUALS TWO. WE FORGET THAT WE MUST FIRST KNOW WHAT PLUS IS. MEN, BY THEIR OWN ACTIONS OVER THE CENTURIES, WILL GRADUALLY BE DESTROYED.
I, ALPHA-60, AM ONLY THE LOGICAL MEANS OF THAT DESTRUCTION.