| THX-1138 | Serpinski Seed Egg | Blade Runner |
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The Serpinski Seed/Egg contains within it infinite possibilities. It sits at the center of the Four Directions, four commentaries on Emergence. The North-South poles mirror each other as do the East-West poles.
North Pole - The Glass Bead Game represents the Humanities and Creativity.
In the same way, the North-South pair reflect each other in distorting mirrors. The world of the Glass Bead Game is an environment for contemplation of man's greatest achievements and for the creation of exquisite mind games. The world of Brazil is that of a mad, decaying, monolithic dictatorship. What is common to all four of these worlds is their inability to sustain the human spirit, forcing those capable of it into Emergence. First, as it must always be, is Emergence of the mind from its conditioned world view, then Emergence of the body into an unknown future of infinite possibilities. East and West poles leave that possible future a question mark.
The South Pole, Brazil, closes the door to future possibilities with a retreat into dreams, the only escape allowed, other than death. The North Pole, The Glass Bead Game, climaxes Emergence with death and transcendence. Thus the North Pole represents the highest achievement of which the human is capable. -- Connie McClellan |
The East-West pair turn on its head the Western dichotomy of light - good, dark - evil. They force us to confront our notions of good vs. evil as embodied in order, which we seek, and chaos, which we fear. THX1138 is a well-lit, orderly world of utter sterility. Blade Runner is a world of darkness and decay, but also a seed-bed of vitality and liveliness.