Forbidden Planet

As the first science fiction film set completely in space, Forbidden Planet illustrates an adventure of human space travel and the encountering of self-proclaimed recluse, Dr. Edward Morbius, his trusty robot, Robby, and daughter, Alta. Forbidden Planet is also the first sci-fi film to present humans pictured traveling in an alien-esque spaceship or starship.

Robby, the creation of "tinkering," provides a clearly utilitarian purpose as an aide to Dr. Morbius. Robby, created with the inability to harm humans even with direct orders, will however on command, place itself in precarious situations.

As gathered from my research, reminiscent of Shakespeare's The Tempest, there are arguable correlations between Prospero (and daughter, Miranda) and Dr. Morbius (and daughter, Alta). Prospero uses magic to control his own
island, whereas Dr. Morbius uses technology to control his own planet (Altaira IV). Dr. Morbius is a prime example of the consequences of technology running rampant without human control or mediation. I think the biggest, most important argument represented in both bodies of work, are that man cannot control technology without first learning how to control himself, e.g. the demise of the Krell, as described by Dr. Morbius.

Both stories feature monsters, in Forbidden Planet the monster represents the subconscious id (the elementary basis on the subconscious mind). The monster is created by meer thought -- a mindless primitive -- which represents the power of all the Krell subconsciouses and in the end. Dr. Morbius'. When asked to kill the monster Robby cannot, after all, he cannot harm humans or representations of their subconscious.

Created with an all-electronic musical score, Forbidden Planet's soundscape paints a futuristic story of space travel and discovery. Robby's personal sound effects present to viewers/listeners a real divergence from traditional "can-like" robotic sound effects. As an observation of sound, I am intrigued by the relationship between the space crew, the planet (and monster) and the audience -- one crew member hears a rumbling sound but sees nothing, while no one else hears a breathing sound. We as viewers do not hear the breathing at first. It is only leading up to the monster entering the spaceship that we as viewers become aware of its sound and presence. This is an interesting introduction to the fact that we, as viewers, are outside of the film environment, and then we, as viewers, become more immersed into the film environment along with the space crew. At the point that the singular crew member looses consciousness, we, the viewers, become more aware an conscious.

Questions:

• If Robby is created as a robot, why even discuss its gender?
• What purpose does it serve to even discuss gender relative to an A-sexual robot?
• Why sexualize Alta as opposed to further discussing her ability to communicate with animals?