Jul 6, 2009

Born (Again) on the Fourth of July

Var and I spent Independence Day out on Hood Canal (in MASON county), an appropriate venue for this most Masonic of holidays - the celebration of Ego over Id - the Fall. As the evening progressed, private fireworks displays from dozens of waterfront manors lit up the sky, and eventually a haze of smoke covered the water, partially obscuring the full moon reigning above.

The fireworks reminded us of Ewoks celebrating the destruction of the second Death Star (another "small moon") in Star Wars, that earlier Great Rebellion. 'Independence Day' - the hugely successful alien invasion movie of 1996, is yet another brilliant metaphor of the Ego's struggle with the Id, and I dare say that ALL alien invasion movies represent the same thing: the Ego's illusory fear of death. A local church reader board shared these words of wisdom:

"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance"

The strain appears to be showing. Another great alien invasion movie - Invasion of the Body Snatchers - has people falling victim to Ego destroying alien spores as soon as they fall asleep, and as we all know, sleep is the gateway to the Dreaming Mind - the Id. I am as locked in my Egoic "fortress of solitude" as anyone, but even still, I have hope. Perhaps the alien invader will find a way of rescue...

"They're here already! You're next!"

3 comments:

Devin said...

Thats a fascinating thought Michael-I had never thought of those movies like that-great thoughts as always and best to you and Var!!

Unknown said...

I love how Independence Day begins with the song "It's the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine."

I've been thinking about body snatcher type movies lately as a possible story for the "48-Hour Film Festival" and this has given me a new angle on it. Awake-Asleep-ReAwakening, like the 1-0-1 stargate theme. Waking up to "Alien intelligence" ("cosmic enlightenment") sure is a scary thing.

Michael said...

Hi V, thanks for visiting. I'd not read your 101 post until now. Extremely insightful. I suspect that most of these films are Egoic representations of its (inevitable) destruction by the Id. Enlightenment is only scary to the illusionary sense of "self" - not to our true "Being".

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