ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

(I started this as a new thread because it takes so long to load The Time Machine thread, with all those pictures.)



They're crude, they're blue, and they're ugly. They have very nasty eating habits, they don't like the light, but they're partial to blonds. In fact, they can't get enough of 'em.

But other than that, what do we really know about the Morlocks? They operate machines, they use tools, and they build underground habitats. But we'd all like to know the answers to the following questions — and many others!

1. How many other Morlock communities were there worldwide?

2. What was the social structure like? (Were there ranks, job assignments, bosses and subordinates?)

3. Did they have a language? (We heard them grunt, but they must be able to communicate if they have machines and tools, right?)

4. Where were all the female and young Morlocks? ("Hi, honey, I'm home. What's for dinner? Ha-ha, just kidding!")

5. Did they mate with the Eloi? (You know, dinner and sex — only not in that order.)

6. Were there Morlock-Eloi hybrids? (Morloi? Elocks?)

7. Were there any good Morlocks? ("We really shouldn't eat those nice people. Let's raise sheep instead.")

And finally, there's this puzzling item.

8. Are the two Morlocks shown below the direct descendants of Paul Williams and that Muppet, or is it just a fluke of evolution?

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Throw out a few answers, and add a few questions, folks. Let's get to know our distant relatives, the Morlocks!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

And don't forget their distant cousins, the Leslocks!
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Pye-Rate]

No! That's Deslock!

[Bud Brewster]

Damn, Pye-rate, it took me a whole day to figure out that Butch meant Less-Locks (the opposite of Morlocks). Now I'll have to work on what Deslocks are!


This is a thoroughly predictable joke, but I'll say it anyway. We all know what THESE guys were.



The Dreadlocks . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[johnnybear]

The new versions Morlocks were good and pretty scary with their big muscles but I think I still prefer Rod Taylor's Morlocks down in the caves under the Sphinx! They looked a bit odd but due to eight hundred thousand years of living underground so might your descendants too!
JB

[Gord Green]

Considering that H G Wells meant the story to be a moral allegory showing the possibility of human nature to evolve into two divergent species your questions (Although quite realistic extrapolations of the concept.) are beyond the original intention.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Gord, I never feel bound by anybody's "original intent". Why should any of us? I just enjoy taking a concept and expanding on it. It's as simple as that.

Larry Niven calls it "playing with ideas".

I'm sure H.G. Wells would approve of that attitude.

Here's a quote from a site called From Science Fiction Writers.
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Writing in a period when New Wave contemporaries like Samuel R. Delaney and Harlan Ellison are dazzling their readers with verbal pyrotechnics, Niven eschews stylistic innovations; and, in prose notable for its deliberate simplicity and utility, he seeks, as he puts it, "to train my readers to play with ideas for the sheer joy of it."

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Seriously, NONE of the questions peaked your interest?


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Oh, yes, ALL of the questions piqued my interest and echoed many of the ones I thought too!

Like, what kind of luck the Timetraveler landed right where the Eloi happened to be. Where there many tribes of Eloi roaming this future Earth? Where there colonies of Morlocks lurking in caves and deep wells all over? Or was this a localized group? That the Eloi were basicly "farm animals" was true, but how did the Morlocks function? I would think that they were pretty much a throwback to the Neanderthal type of primitive human with limited speech and social culture.

I think a sequel to THE TIME MACHINE would be very possible where the Timetraveler goes to another area of future Earth.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Custer]

There is a kinda "prequel" to The Time Machine - set in 2032, when the regular surface-dwellers are getting a bit laid-back (Sandra Bullock as the toughest cop on the force?), and those who dwell below are outside the law... Demolition Man. I see that Wikipedia mentions that it tips its hat to Brave New World - with Ms Bullock's character, Lieutenant Lenina Huxley, named after author Aldous Huxley and a character in that book, Lenina Crowne. The film mentions Arnold Schwarzenegger having served as President of the United States... and a decade later, he did, at least, become governor of California...

[Bud Brewster]

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Gentlemen, those are two excellent replies!

Custer, I like Demolition Man and I love your comparison of the two future social systems. Great job.

Gord, your questions are excellent! NOW you're "thinkin' like a writer"!

Regardless of what message the movie intends to send to the viewer, they had to keep it relatively simple to tell a clear story in just 90 minutes. But they did a fine job and made a movie that invites us to expand on the concepts — which you did very well!

I remember writing a post on this subject years ago on the 2007 - 2014 board before Randy helped me create this newest version. My post proposed the idea that the Morlocks actually raised the Eloi children in a facility many miles away from the adult Eloi community we see, and this "child community" is run by adult Eloi women who were raised and trained by the Morlocks to become caretakers for the Eloi babies, toddlers, and preteens.

When an Eloi girl in the community Weena lived in becomes pregnant, she is taken away at night by these caretakers and moved to the community where the children are raised. Years later, when a child becomes old enough, they are taken back to the community we see in the movie.

The mother of the child is kept alive long enough to breast feed the baby, after which . . . well, we all know about the Morlocks' preferred diet.





These caretakers are middle aged and older, and they function mostly without Morlock supervision, although they're trained and conditioned from birth to do what the Morlocks order them to do.

These same caretakers are responsible for setting the tables in the community area under the dome, while the pampered Eloi are somewhere else, playing and swimming.





The Eloi never see the caretakers set the tables or clean up the area later, after the Eloi go to wherever they sleep at night.





That's why Weena tells George that there are no old people.

In the children's community, a few older Eloi men have been trained to enforce the Morlocks' orders and punish disobedience. They also serve as guards to prevent any Eloi (young and old) from escaping.

In addition to raising the children, the caretakers also train the children from an early age to respond when the siren goes off.





They're taught to move slowly and silently towards the sphinx, and the Eloi guards move along with them to deliver harsh punish with whips, just like we see the Morlocks do in the cave scene.





I think this idea answers the questions we all had for years about how the Morlocks managed to raise the Eloi as docile food animals while providing them with what appears to be a life in paradise! The movie made it obvious that the clueless Eloi required a lot of nurturing to survive, and it all seemed to be done "behind scenes" without the Eloi even being aware of it.

When George asks one of the Eloi where the food comes from, the boy just said, "It grows. It always grows."





I just remembered that the thread for this movie on the older board contained a spirited discussion about a sequel, and it included a debate about the "three books" George took back to the future at the end of the film.

I was convinced that George needed three very practical "how to" books which would help him teach the Eloi how to do things like render first aid and treat illness, construct houses and furniture, and begin farming so they cold stop being dependent on the wild fruit from the local trees!

All these things would be vital to a growing population of Eloi in a community that struggled with the basics of survival. After all, the Morlocks aren't around anymore to take care of them!

My opponents in the debate insisted that any books that dealt with subjects like medicine, construction, and agriculture would be "too outdated" to be the least bit of help!

I countered by pointing out that people in 1900 weren't totally ignorant about any of these subjects, and since George is basically trying to turn naive children into reasonably competent "colonists" who are trying to surviving long enough to establish a self-sufficient community.

But we do see moments that indicate the Eloi can learn to stand up for themselves and fight for their survival. Remember the scene when George fought the Morlocks, and one of the Eloi boys saved George from being choked to death?





That kid really kicked the Morlock's big blue ass!





George gave his savior a manly handshake afterwards, and right then the Eloi knew that George was 'Da Man from that day forward. And he already had his 2nd in command all picked out!



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[johnnybear]

The Morlocks must be intelligent due to the fact that they make the clothes that the Eloi wear and supply the food that they eat! You can't leave that to nature can you?
JB

[Bud Brewster]

[Gord Green]

AND....Bud, perhaps this group is the REAL dominant inhabitants of future-Earth. They control all....even the Morlocks really work for them. They remain in the shadows and use both the Eloi and the Moorlocks to achieve their needs. THEY are the brains and manipulators of this future world.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Seriously? And the Eloi leaders let the Morlocks eat the dumber Eloi?

Good lord, Gord, how did you come up with THAT idea!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

It's a third group, neither Eloi or Morlock obviously.
Or, why would it be unusual....or outside of human nature....to think IT is above the rest? Nazis, Klansmen etc.
Besides, this vast planet could hold a variety of isolated groups.




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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.