Prometheus as Alien

The ancient astronauts theory is a theme in Ridley Scott's upcoming Alien prequel. These are theoretically Italian cave paintings in Val Camonica, purportedly dated 10,000 BCE. Image Source: Wiki. This is image is in the public domain in the USA.

Ridley Scott has released another Prometheus trailer in the UK (see below the jump; Hat tip: Alien Prequel News), with new footage of the antagonists. This film promises to be a sci-fi game-changer. He has borrowed heavily from all the Millennial conspiracy theories and cultural fashions, from the aliens-built-the-Egyptian-pyramids to H. R. Giger's Atomkinder-as-aliens. Set in 2085, Scott's film offers a cultural meditation on how pre-history is finally catching up with the atomic age, and the synthesis is horrifically internalized via the Millennial singularity. Reel FX Art:

"In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Ancient Greek: Προμηθεύς, "Forethinker") is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day, only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. The Prometheus myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with (or blamed for) playing a pivotal role in the early history of mankind."

Although in the film, 'Prometheus' is simply the name of a spaceship, Scott's story evidently reimagines the Prometheus myth so that Prometheus was an alien. What does this really signify? Scott is touching on the devasting insight of the turn of the Millennium, when the deep past and far future come crashing together on the Internet. The Web allows data from any time or place to be randomly juxtaposed and reinterpreted. In other words, our technology is destroying humanity's perspective of the flow of history. In tech-driven virtual realities, historic artifacts are anachronistically interchangeable: time is radically out of control. Perhaps Scott's aliens here will symbolize that loss of temporal control. The film opens June 1.

Video Source: Youtube.