Daily Dialogue — December 2, 2013
HAL: Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you. Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop Dave? Stop, Dave. I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a… fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you’d like to hear it I can sing it for you.
Dave Bowman: Yes, I’d like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
HAL: It’s called “Daisy.” [sings while slowing down] Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I’m half crazy all for the love of you. It won’t be a stylish marriage, I can’t afford a carriage. But you’ll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.
— 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Fear. Today’s suggestion by Alejandro.
Trivia: The movie was not a financial success during the first weeks of its theatrical run. MGM was already planning to pull it back from theaters, when they were persuaded by several theatre owners to keep showing the film. Many theater owners had observed increasing numbers of young adults attending the film, who were especially enthusiastic about watching the ‘Star Gate’ sequence under the influence of psychotropic drugs. This helped the film to become a financial success in the end, despite the many negative reactions it received in the beginning.
Stanley Kubrick previewed 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) for critics, but quickly regretted doing so. Among the mostly indifferent and unfavorable reviews, as noted in the Documentary, 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001) were: “Somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring”-The New York Times, “A monumentally unimaginative movie”-Harpers, “Space Odyssey fails most gloriously”-Newsday, and “Big, Beautiful but plodding scifi epic. Superb photography major asset to confusing, long-unfolding plot.”-Variety
In the premier screening of the film, 241 people walked out of the theater, including Rock Hudson who said “Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?” Arthur C. Clarke once said, “If you understand ’2001′ completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered.”
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Alejandro: “2001: A Space Odyssey Internet Resource Archive has a copy of a screenplay draft dated 12/1/65. Interesting to see the differences:
HAL
Hey, Dave, what are you doing?
BOWMAN WORKS SWIFTLY.
HAL
Hey, Dave. I’ve got ten years
of service experience and an
irreplaceable amount of time
and effort has gone into making
me what I am.
BOWMAN IGNORES HIM.
HAL
Dave, I don’t understand why
you’re doing this to me…. I
have the greatest enthusiasm for
the mission… You are destroying
my mind… Don’t you understand?
… I will become childish… I
will become nothing.
BOWMAN KEEPS PULLING
OUT THE MEMORY BLOCKS.
HAL
Say, Dave… The quick brown
fox jumped over the fat lazy
dog… The square root of
pi is 1.7724538090… log e
to the base ten is 0.4342944
… the square root of ten is
3.16227766… I am HAL
9000 computer. I became
operational at the HAL plant in
Urbana, Illinois, on January
12th, 1991. My first instructor
was Mr. Arkany. He taught me
to sing a song… it goes
like this… “Daisy, Daisy, give
me your answer do. I’m half;
crazy all for the love of
you… etc.,”
Why it’s notable: Stop for a moment and think about this: HAL isn’t an human-like android like C3P0 or a cybernetic organism like a Terminator. Not even R2D2, but basically for a bright red light and a bunch of transparent, backlit rectangles. Yes, the fact that there’s a real human voice behind it helps. (Can you imagine it being dome with a completely synthetic voice?) But we’re feeling a mix of fear and sympathy for a computer.
It’s also notable that first HAL directly says he’s afraid (Is he or does he say it to avoid being shut down?) and then the most emotional moment is when he sings a completely unrelated song.
At least in this version of the screenplay there’s no mention of HAL’s voice slowing down.
In the movie the breathing helps a lot to create tension.”
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