3. 2001: A Space Odyssey – HAL is Kubrick’s way of giving IBM the finger.
2001: A Space Odyssey is still considered a revolutionary film in the sense that for it’s time, it explored themes that weren’t normally the stuff of Hollywood movies, and it utilized special effects that moviegoers weren’t aware were possible. The story follows a group of scientists who embark on a quest to discover the origin of an artificial monolith buried deep beneath the lunar surface. Their ship is equipped with an intelligent super-computer called HAL-9000, which ends up killing most of the crew. To this day, I haven’t encountered a screen villain as chilling and original as HAL, and it looks like a very devoted group of fans have taken it upon themselves to explore the underlying nature of his literary origin. What they theorize is not as far-fetched as some of the other theories explored in this article, but it’s odd nonetheless.
The idea is that HAL is representative of IBM, one of the first broad computer technology firms in the world. Sound strange? Well, here is a brief rundown of a few clues (or misnomers, depending on your point of view):
A) HAL is one letter before IBM (H before I, A before B, L before M). This is the clue that touched off the debate. Do with it what you will, or call it a case of curious happenstance.
B) There is a line where a character speaks the line: “I can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong with HAL.” In the very next scene, a character is seen touching a button on the control sleeve of his space suit which is located right next to – you guessed it – the IBM logo.
C) There is a quick scene when Dave (Kier Dullea) is reasoning with HAL from the sub-ship and the letters IBM reflect across his face. Here’s a snapshot of that scene:
Now it’s entirely plausible that Kubrick could have done this intentionally, as associating a large tech company with a murderous computer seems like a legitimate dig, but chances are that Kubrick simply utilized IBM in the story as they were the first company to develop the technology that paved the way for the modern industrial technology complex as a whole. Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke have stated in the past that this theory is totally false. Still, it’s fun to think that Kubrick was that meticulous. Special credit to Cracked for highlighting this theory.
SOURCE: Cracked
