In the 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, The Day the Earth Stood Still, the kinder gentler alien Klattu (Michael Rennie), and his interstellar bodyguard Gort, land in Washington, DC, in an attempt to bring peace to our planet..It all goes wrong, of course. The earthlings misunderstand the gesture to save the human race and lots of high drama ensues..As a child, the musical score of the film by Bernard Herrmann, terrified me, and the robot, Gort scared me to death. Could these things actually exist I wondered?.The words, “Gort, klattu, barada, nikto” issued by Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) fascinated me to no end..That and the power of Gort as well as the concept of a galactic policeman..There was a remake in 2008, but it pales in comparison..Having revisited the film recently, I wondered: Could Gort bring peace to our planet? Is it even possible?.We are so warlike, even in the year 2023. In fact, it seems to be a flaw in our political systems..Terrible evil leaders, such as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping, somehow rise to the top, threatening our societies and the world itself..As a professional military & security analyst, I can tell you, having visited AUSA in Washington, DC, and Eurosatory in Paris — the preeminent military shows on the planet — the business of war is massive and it’s not going to stop anytime soon..Sales of arms and military services by the world's 100 biggest defence companies rose 1.9% to US$592B in 2021, despite supply chain issues that held up shipments of critical components, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).John F. Kennedy tried to turn that ship around, offering an olive branch to the Soviets — the fear of a nuclear war being ever-present..That did not go over well with Curtis LeMay and the Joint Chiefs.. President Dwight EisenhowerSometimes life imitates art: In 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned in his farewell address about the "acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." .It really doesn’t matter who killed JFK or why. In the end, he would pay with his life and the generals would get their war..Ironically, US President Joe Biden would visit Vietnam just last week, to establish new relations with the country in an effort to halt Chinese ambitions in the South China Sea..Getting back to our pal Gort, a tall metallic fellow who seems not to have much of a sense of humour. (Lock Martin, the doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater, was cast because of his nearly seven-foot height.).Also, I doubt the guy eats or sleeps and I’m not sure what his power source is. Something advanced and mysterious..His major thing is his menacing appearance..A silently dangerous robot of incomprehensible power..You would never invite him to your daughter’s wedding. The in-laws would be horrified..At the company Christmas party he would probably sit with the boring accountants, opening his laser-powered eyes occasionally, to look at the time..But seriously....could Gort bring peace to the world? An enforced peace. Behave or else, you bastards. Halt your nuclear ambitions..But are we so messed up that we are beyond help?.My friend Joyce in Antwerp, a COO for a Belgian law firm, once told me: “Dave, Europe is still 1939...it hasn’t changed.”.I hate to say it, but she’s right. Nothing has really changed..And then there is my friend Fahad Al Masri, Syria’s exiled opposition leader, who is now living with his family and a cat called Snow in Paris, France..He is calling for peace with Israel, through his 'roadmap for peace,' an effort which sparked immediate condemnation from both the Syrian media and President Bashar Hafez al-Assad himself..Could a few words be said to Gort to take care of that situation? To end decades of war and suffering in Syria?.Obviously, the big guy would have a lot on his big metal pie-plate hands..So then, is Gort the equivalent of the famed Ark of the Covenant featured in Raiders of the Lost Ark?.The latter was a gold-plated wooden chest that, in Jewish and Christian tradition, houses the two tablets bearing the Ten Commandments..It was said that, when activated the Ark would release the wrath of God, to part the sea and wipe away all those unfortunate enough to stand in its way..Kinda like Gort..But one problem remains, that which was found by a study in the early 1960s, by the Rand Corporation, which basically said that primitive cultures don’t fare well when encountering advanced cultures..It always goes bad..Aliens visiting earth, would likely be a Type II or Type III civilization, as per the (Nikolai) Kardashev scale..Type II civilizations have control over more than one stellar system, and/or theoretically are able to harness all the power available in a single star..A Type III civilization is able to capture all the energy emitted by its galaxy, including energy from any objects in that galaxy, such as every star, black holes, etc..Alas, NASA scientists say the Earth will not become a Type 1 civilization until the year 2371, at the earliest..A paper published online and supported by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory states that to reach even the basic level of a “Kardashev Type 1 civilization” we must do two things:.Develop more advanced technology and share it with all responsible nations and make renewable energy accessible to all parts of the world..In the end, perhaps not even Gort could solve our problems..And so, some movie trivia from IMDB.com:.Neal admitted in interviews that she was completely unaware during the filming that it would turn out so well and become one of the great science-fiction classics of all time..The Army refused to cooperate after reading the script..The studio then approached the National Guard, which had no qualms about seeing the Army depicted in a less-than-flattering light and gladly offered their cooperation..One of the reasons Rennie was cast as Klaatu was that he was generally unknown to American audiences and would be more readily accepted as an "alien" than a more recognizable actor..Herrmann, a master of unconventional orchestrations, used two Theremins to create his eerie music, one pitched higher, the other lower, cementing the early electronic instrument's association with science fiction..The film was based on the short story Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates in Astounding Science-Fiction Magazine (October 1940)..The spaceship was made of wood, wire and Plaster of Paris..Klaatu says he's from a planet 250 million miles away, but he never does name it..The spaceship lands on The Ellipse, a large open space south of the White House and north of the Washington monument..Klaatu tells Professor Barnhardt that once the Earth brings nuclear weapons into space it becomes a threat to the other planets — a situation that is now happening..Perhaps it is time for another visit?
