Post by The Ferret on Oct 22, 2004 6:00:48 GMT -5
PREMISE
“Truth changes time by time” – Writer.
Points of view. It seems that all the three lead characters in 'STALKER' (there aren’t many others, and that’s an eufemism you must forgive) represent different keys of meaning when coming to the origin of the Zone. Of course, The Serpent embodies the positive supernatural meaning; Writer embraces Serpent’s faith, but only taking the worst aspects of it as lead and predominant criteria; Professor truly represents the “realism” or what is left of it in the greater scheme of the things.
EXISTENCE OF THE ZONE
The Zone exists, that’s for sure. You can see it; it’s true. It’s a physical place set in an unknown territory; a geographical factor. And yes, it is still a very pivotal place, where something enigmatic HAPPENED in the past, as evidenced. The somehow futuristic army – employed in need to protect the Zone and discourage everyone who wants to venture in it – is also a reality. It suggests us that something happened there, many years before. If memory doesn’t play ugly games to me, the Serpent was just a kid when the tanks stationed at the village station, aimed at the place. And give me a break, the molten, almost liquefied tanks are reality.
Finally, the Stalkers themselves are a reality. The wife acted as his husband wasn’t the only one: keep in mind her final monologue. Throughout the movie there are many references, to the point you can’t deny that the Serpent belongs to a greater elite of some sort and he’s just not a lonely lunatic.
Then, what’s the big deal?
Ah, yes. What is the Zone?
THE PROFESSOR’s SECRET
According to the Professor, the meteor theory is a dud (“every attempt to detect it proved to be useless --- of course”; I don’t remember his correct words, even) and from the beginning it’s pretty clear he knows something we all ignore. Good.
In the end, when all the three characters face the chance to enter in the Room, and thus realize their secret wishes (if they are either conscious or unconscious, it shouldn’t bother us), the Professor comes out and estabilishes an undeniable fact.
Twenty years before, when the Zone “shaped”, he belonged to a research team whose ultimate purpose was territorial examination. The research team was not strictly connected to the Zone’s origin (if the Professor isn’t lying, of course).
The Professor also describes the Zone as a “natural” phenomenon.
At that time, 20 years before, neither him nor his collegues would have suspected the Zone would gain such “terrible” powers in the years following their departure; Two decades after, the Professor is not interested in the fullfillment of his wishes (he doesn’t even believe in the Room) he just wants to destroy the Zone through the terrible detonation of a 20 kilotones bomb (even if it appears as a quite “personal” act of revenge, and not like a prevention from evil, since the gesture would upset a former research team collegue, now a Zone believer, who had a love affair with Professor’s wife).
THE “EVENT” (A THEORY BASED ON PROFESSOR’s TRUTH)
Much likely, the touristic place - which lately became known as the 'Zone' - was attacked with conventional weapons/chemical gas/low-powered thermical devices (nuclear?) by some unspecified enemies. I’m talking about a terrorist attack. The place was annihilated; the irradiated heat melted the tanks and something poisoned and killed everyone who tried to escape. Was the touristic place also a disguised, top-secret military outpost? We’re not given any clue. Was it really a terrorist attack, or simply some nuclear missiles storage in the undergroud blew-up?
Whatever the reason was, in the end the place must have been resembled a wasteland, doomed to be a barren location forever... and that’s where the big mystery began.
The soil spread to new life, and so the Zone “has” estabilished itself. Maybe it was a spontaneous anomaly. Bottom line: no meteor impact, no alien landship, no mysterious wish-maker energy.
That’s in Professor’s eyes.
So every previous theory about the Zone’s origins, including the legend of the Room, COULD BE just gimmicks, a great cover-up in order to hide the sad evidence of an attack/uncharted incident. That implies that the Stalkers COULD HAVE BEEN allowed to “believe” in a specular image which just didn’t match the real origin of the Zone. They are genuine believers, of course... but MAYBE their Idol is fake and there’s no a 'Room' to begin with; there’s no traps scattered along the way, and the Zone’s presence is the only unconstrained fact.
CONCLUSION: WHY THE PROFESSOR IS PARTIALLY WRONG
Of course, I’m not saying the legend surrounding the Room has to be necessarely fake. The whole cover-up theory is just what it declares to be: a mere THEORY, not a fact.
In conclusion, both the opposite lines – Stalker’s and Professor’s – could merge into one.
I strongly believe in the Zone, in the Room and in the Stalkers. Maybe it was REALLY a meteor crash or an alien landship, and simply it took a vast amount of years before the mysterious energy/radiation would have turned the Room in a "wish machine". Probably, the scientists supposed they were just experiencing a “natural phenomenon”, following a man-induced disaster. After their demise, when they quitted the job, someone enough naive realized how much the Zone was special, and so the legend arose...
There are several evidences about the Zone’s psychic and physical anomalies...
One of them is dealing with the Professor. In the first place, how did he manage to call his “enemy” and the Laboratory 9 if the phone was worn-out left-over of the building?
Ask that... to the Stalker.
-------------------------------------------------------->>>>
“Truth changes time by time” – Writer.
Points of view. It seems that all the three lead characters in 'STALKER' (there aren’t many others, and that’s an eufemism you must forgive) represent different keys of meaning when coming to the origin of the Zone. Of course, The Serpent embodies the positive supernatural meaning; Writer embraces Serpent’s faith, but only taking the worst aspects of it as lead and predominant criteria; Professor truly represents the “realism” or what is left of it in the greater scheme of the things.
EXISTENCE OF THE ZONE
The Zone exists, that’s for sure. You can see it; it’s true. It’s a physical place set in an unknown territory; a geographical factor. And yes, it is still a very pivotal place, where something enigmatic HAPPENED in the past, as evidenced. The somehow futuristic army – employed in need to protect the Zone and discourage everyone who wants to venture in it – is also a reality. It suggests us that something happened there, many years before. If memory doesn’t play ugly games to me, the Serpent was just a kid when the tanks stationed at the village station, aimed at the place. And give me a break, the molten, almost liquefied tanks are reality.
Finally, the Stalkers themselves are a reality. The wife acted as his husband wasn’t the only one: keep in mind her final monologue. Throughout the movie there are many references, to the point you can’t deny that the Serpent belongs to a greater elite of some sort and he’s just not a lonely lunatic.
Then, what’s the big deal?
Ah, yes. What is the Zone?
THE PROFESSOR’s SECRET
According to the Professor, the meteor theory is a dud (“every attempt to detect it proved to be useless --- of course”; I don’t remember his correct words, even) and from the beginning it’s pretty clear he knows something we all ignore. Good.
In the end, when all the three characters face the chance to enter in the Room, and thus realize their secret wishes (if they are either conscious or unconscious, it shouldn’t bother us), the Professor comes out and estabilishes an undeniable fact.
Twenty years before, when the Zone “shaped”, he belonged to a research team whose ultimate purpose was territorial examination. The research team was not strictly connected to the Zone’s origin (if the Professor isn’t lying, of course).
The Professor also describes the Zone as a “natural” phenomenon.
At that time, 20 years before, neither him nor his collegues would have suspected the Zone would gain such “terrible” powers in the years following their departure; Two decades after, the Professor is not interested in the fullfillment of his wishes (he doesn’t even believe in the Room) he just wants to destroy the Zone through the terrible detonation of a 20 kilotones bomb (even if it appears as a quite “personal” act of revenge, and not like a prevention from evil, since the gesture would upset a former research team collegue, now a Zone believer, who had a love affair with Professor’s wife).
THE “EVENT” (A THEORY BASED ON PROFESSOR’s TRUTH)
Much likely, the touristic place - which lately became known as the 'Zone' - was attacked with conventional weapons/chemical gas/low-powered thermical devices (nuclear?) by some unspecified enemies. I’m talking about a terrorist attack. The place was annihilated; the irradiated heat melted the tanks and something poisoned and killed everyone who tried to escape. Was the touristic place also a disguised, top-secret military outpost? We’re not given any clue. Was it really a terrorist attack, or simply some nuclear missiles storage in the undergroud blew-up?
Whatever the reason was, in the end the place must have been resembled a wasteland, doomed to be a barren location forever... and that’s where the big mystery began.
The soil spread to new life, and so the Zone “has” estabilished itself. Maybe it was a spontaneous anomaly. Bottom line: no meteor impact, no alien landship, no mysterious wish-maker energy.
That’s in Professor’s eyes.
So every previous theory about the Zone’s origins, including the legend of the Room, COULD BE just gimmicks, a great cover-up in order to hide the sad evidence of an attack/uncharted incident. That implies that the Stalkers COULD HAVE BEEN allowed to “believe” in a specular image which just didn’t match the real origin of the Zone. They are genuine believers, of course... but MAYBE their Idol is fake and there’s no a 'Room' to begin with; there’s no traps scattered along the way, and the Zone’s presence is the only unconstrained fact.
CONCLUSION: WHY THE PROFESSOR IS PARTIALLY WRONG
Of course, I’m not saying the legend surrounding the Room has to be necessarely fake. The whole cover-up theory is just what it declares to be: a mere THEORY, not a fact.
In conclusion, both the opposite lines – Stalker’s and Professor’s – could merge into one.
I strongly believe in the Zone, in the Room and in the Stalkers. Maybe it was REALLY a meteor crash or an alien landship, and simply it took a vast amount of years before the mysterious energy/radiation would have turned the Room in a "wish machine". Probably, the scientists supposed they were just experiencing a “natural phenomenon”, following a man-induced disaster. After their demise, when they quitted the job, someone enough naive realized how much the Zone was special, and so the legend arose...
There are several evidences about the Zone’s psychic and physical anomalies...
One of them is dealing with the Professor. In the first place, how did he manage to call his “enemy” and the Laboratory 9 if the phone was worn-out left-over of the building?
Ask that... to the Stalker.
-------------------------------------------------------->>>>
