Mrs.Regnier Sci-fi and fantasy lit. April 28, 2017 2001: a space opera? The movie “2001: a space odyssey”directed by Stanley Kubrick is a movie unlike any I have ever seen before. Not to say I haven't seen sci-fi movies but that 2001: a space odyssey challenges the meaning of a lot of different aspects of life, but an analysis of the meaning of the movie will be left for another time. 2001 beyond other things is not space opera. 2001 does not demonstrate the key characteristics of a space opera. Space operas must generally include a giant object in space, a group of rebels or people “against the system”, revisit of old battle sites, multiple types of weapons/ships etc. 2001: a space odysseyshows only few of those characteristics but not enough. A giant object in space seems to be the only characteristic that is an obvious fit, the others are quite a stretch. Someone could say the space station between the earth and the moon was the giant object in space, especially for how long they show the outside of the station, but the more likely object would be the monolith. The monolith is a constant throughout a very confusing and inconsistent movie. The scale to represent the size of the monolith was inconsistent but while the monolith was in space you are unable to determine its actual size because that's what the vacuum of space does . This may fit our need for a giant object in space but other characteristics don't fit.
