Meanings: The Search for Meaning in 2001

The following is an edited and revised version of my undergraduate honors thesis at Northwestern University in 1997-1998. Unlike most essays on the film, it does not attempt to find a single interpretation of 2001, instead it looks at the different ways that the film has been interpreted over the last 30 years.

By looking at the film and its impact in this way, I hope to illustrate the ways in which our culture has changed since the 1960s, and the impact of the Information Revolution on the way that we look at the film today.

• Introduction
• The Space Race and the Decline of Hollywood
• Kubrick and Clarke
• Production
• Critical Reactions
• Youth Appeal, Counterculture, 2001 as Satire
• Effect on Baby Boomers
• Authorship and Arthur C Clarke
• Books on 2001, Influence on Other Films, 2001 on Video
• 2010, 2061, and 3001
• Internet Revolution, HAL's "Birthday", and Commercial Co-Option
• AFI Brings it All Together, Conclusion
• Sources

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