Very off topic Close Encounters

Movies Forum

Yesterday I watched Close Encounters for the gazillionth time. Still a great movie, and for me, not dated at all.

However, I have the same questions I had back in 1977 and I hoped someone wouldn't mind my asking off topic about it. If it is against the rules (This is my first forum experience, be gentle), just let me know and I won't do it again.

OK--

1. Was the return of the abductees a goodwill gesture or a
swap agreement?

2. Who were all those other people in orange and how come
the aliens didn't take them? Were they part of an original
swap agreement? How come they only took Neary?

3. How did the government know that the abductees from
WW11 were coming back? They had a board with their
pictures that they marked off as they came off the ship.

4. What was the relationship between the big spindley alien
that got off the ship first and the little ones that came to get
Neary?

5. How come we were so happy to see the aliens since they
had been abducting us for all those years? And why weren't
we scared?

6. If they were coming down to see us, why did they abduct the
kid Gary at the last minute?

7. Was Neary going to be studied and returned? Did he go to
live with them?


Well, I told you it was off topic!

erewhon the confused

erewhon,
they probably won't delete your thread, but they might move it over to another section of the forum.

I saw Close Encounters again about 2 months ago, but I don't have any answers.

There is a Simpsons episode where two aliens kidnap Homer Simpson and they explain to him that they have "reached the limits of what anal probing can teach them."

The aliens in C.E. must have reached the limits of whatever they were looking for. They seemed to kidnap humans they could relate to telepathically.

Perhaps, they were looking to see if we were hostile or friendly, so they abducted across the spectrum.

Thank you Whidden--I feel better knowing that the ending was puzzling and it wasn't just my lack of insight or paying attention.

erewhon the relieved

I'll try to answer those questions for you erewhon. I was enthralled with CEOTTK as well after watching it and I've seen it countless times since then. I don't know how accurate they're but they're just my opinions :

1) It was probably a goodwill gesture. There was no way to communicate with the aliens before the end scene so I don't think they made any agreement, although they were somehow told of the coordinates of the final rendezvous. Note that even those people abducted from WW2 still hadn't aged much, a possible reason being if they travelled at light speed, then clocks on their ship would slow down. Which means 40 years on earth could equate with 40 days on their ship.

2) Those people clad in orange uniform were those who had volunteered to go on board, presumably in the name of 'scientific exploration'. And I think they did go on board the ship. I think they comprised of scientists, military personnel, lay people and so on. They could be seen attending a religious ceremony prior to leaving, possibly since when they return (or if they return), everyone that they knew on earth would either be very old or dead.

3) I guess the authorities sort of suspected that they were abducted, given the circumstances of their disappearance and also in light of new information about UFO sightings revealed in the film.

4) Possibly alien adult vs alien children? Alien children would presumably seem to be more welcoming and less threatening to humans.

5) I saw it as humility and relief in the face of all that advanced technology. Everyone was so relieved that the aliens had no hostile intentions and were returning everyone that they took unharmed.

6) Curiosity perhaps? I think they wanted to study adults and children alike.

7) Your guess is as good as anyone's. Even if he was returned, everyone that he knew would probably be dead, given the time differential.

Hope that helps. Just my thoughts though!

The_Rebel

Yes, it helps a lot, Rebel. Thank you for taking time to respond.

1. I agree with your points. Probably a goodwill gesture, and you are right. Probably only 40 days for the abductees.

2. Yes, that is who they were. I did not see them get on board?

3. Yes, they probably got the hint that they would be returned when they found the planes and ships.

4. I wondered that too. But you wouldn't catch me on an interstellar journey with that many children on board.

5. Humility and relief sound right. At first the people back away when the ship door opened (except for the French guy), but they do come forward again when the spindley alien comes out and looks so gentle.

6. Maybe curiosity. It just seems funny they would do it so close to the time they were going to establish contact.

7. Yes, that is true. And the movie did not imply that an alien stayed behind to teach humanity anything about their culture or technology.


I thank you both, Whidden and Rebel, for going off on this with me. Probably I should go to the general movie forum with questions like this. But I really felt like I needed Matrix attuned minds to tackle these issues!

erewhon the grateful

"close encounters of the third kind" relates quite easily to the storylines and philosophies in the "matrix." there are many issues of choice, there is a path that the chosen one must follow to find the truth, and there's even a train station linking two characters who finally connect on a cerebral and spiritual level. but to elaborate on the above questions:

1. the abductees were only perceived as having been abducted in the humans' eyes, because they knew nothing about the aliens' intentions. the aliens viewed these events as an invitation for humans to see the beautiful existence of life beyond earth. we witness one of these 'abductions' in the case of gary, and it is portrayed as a violent and horrific act towards a reluctant species. in hindsight, the implication here is that there is no other way this feat could have been accomplished, since humans are basically scared, distrusting, and insulated on this little planet.

it can be related to birth, in that the process itself is frightening, confusing, and painful, but an ultimately edifying and necessary component of growth. ironically, it can also be likened to the freeing of a mind from the matrix, in that there is a truth to which we are blind, but to attain this truth, we must endure suffering and tribulation which does not readily manifest the benefit of our greater good.

2. the people in orange were the designated representatives and ambassadors of earth selected by the government to go with the aliens. they do not go, however, because roy was among a few who were specifically chosen long before the government realized what was going on. this is evident in the visions of devil's tower he and jillian receive before the government even gets the coordinate data. as lacombe correctly ruminates, "zey belong here more zan we."

3. after mint condition planes from a 30 year old war were found in mexico and the cotopaxi was found in the gobi desert, the military drew a logical conclusion and came to the rendezvous prepared for anything.

4. just as the humans designated representatives, so did the aliens. the big one was presumably the duly designated ambassador who initially presents the open arm peace offering, allowing the childlike little ones (they were actually students from an elementary school in mobile, alabama) to safely come out and select roy as their guest. no evidence in the film suggests any sort of familial relation, but then, it could also be that they are one big family, that things there are different from what they are here.

5. we are happy to learn the truth of whether or not we are alone, and that the aliens are peaceful and want to share this peace with us. we are happy because our loved ones have come home safely. we are happy because we realize that they weren't really abducted to begin with, "they were invited". we are happy because life elsewhere is full of beauty, love, and wonder. and we are happy we now know these things.

6. as should be obvious at this point, gary was not abducted, he was invited in order to facilitate the journey jillian must make to the rendezvous. notice that when she and roy finally see each other at the train station, they embrace and immediately realize that their paths will lead them to the same resolution together. she even quips that the police "asked me if i'd seen any strangers in the neighborhood."

7. roy left earth willingly, knowing he wasn't coming back, even if he was offered the choice. he will not be studied, probed, or tested. he will live in peace where he belongs.



there's a lot of "matrix" in "close encounters". or rather, there's a lot of "close encounters" in the "matrix."


best line in the movie:

after being asked about a sketch of devil's tower, roy states, "yeah, i got one just like it in my living room."

I know the Rebel holds both whidden's and your opinions in high regard, spjk2k, so I feel especially fortunate to have input from all three of you. Thank you.

1. I would have to say that Gary's reaction to the alien's leaving backs up your premise that the "abductions" were invitations to see something beyond ourselves. He cried and said good-bye implying the benevolence of the alien's intentions. The returned adults, however, looked rather confused. Harder for adults to adjust? Because they were from a different era?

2. Yes, and Lacombe also says about Roy, "He was invited." So did the government just presume that the aliens would take our designated representatives with them do you think?

3. I agree.

4. Well, it is possible these kids were on a field trip, but maybe also the two represented two species of sentient beings?
5. You and Rebel both see relief in the humans that this encounter is not going to turn into something like War of the Worlds. I agree. It all did seem so one sided didn't it? They were the teachers and we were the children. We thought we were in control and actually we were in control of nothing.

6. So maybe losing Gary was kind of like Neo losing Trinity?

7. Aside from Jillian, Roy certainly had been alienated from everyone else--his family--his neighbors--his government--as if he had to make a break with this world in order to explore another.

Well, this thread has helped me with many further insights and ideas. I will enjoy seeing the movie again sometime holding all of this in mind.

The portrayal of the government in this movie was much like the portrayal in ET.

Thanks again for a great discussion.

erewhon the edified

1. harder for them to adjust because, as in the matrix, the mind has trouble letting go after a certain age.

2. given the facts at hand, the government acted in a typically misinformed and ignorant fashion; they militarized the project and lied to the public, leaving lacombe and laughlin as the sole voices of reason. this is a common thread in almost every alien movie ever made. as if we mere humans had some modicum of input about this "event sociological."

4. no evidence suggests that either. in all candor, there are no concrete conclusions that can be made about the relational aspects of the various aliens. but this is typical of the artistic license taken in a spielbergian fairy tale. be thankful it didn't end with the aliens from "ai."

6. yes, it was an integral part of her journey. as morpheus says, "no, what happened happened, and couldn't have happened any other way."

7. yes, that was all an integral part of his journey. he didn't belong here. this movie is, among other things, a masterfully portrayed account of a textbook character arc.

four stars.

spjk2k
4. no evidence suggests that either. in all candor, there are no concrete conclusions that can be made about the relational aspects of the various aliens. but this is typical of the artistic license taken in a spielbergian fairy tale. be thankful it didn't end with the aliens from "ai."

I am!


erewhon

"ai" was excrement. poorly realized. spielberg dropped the ball with that idiotic ending. perhaps it's time for his pinnochio
fetish to take a back seat so he can get on with the business of making good movies. while there is no better infusion of this classic theme than the ambiguous references in "close encounters," it gets old having to sit through a pile of "ai"s just to get to one "minority report."