Saviors from Space

I'm a big SCI-FI geek and rarely miss an opportunity to catch the latest movie at the theater. Science fiction movies usually do pretty well at the box office. Probably the most noteworthy, oldie-but-goodie, is The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), adapted from the 1940 short story "Farewell to the Master" written by Harry Bates. Like so many movies of the era, their storylines were often set against the backdrop of the Cold War. The Day the Earth Stood Still is no exception. But there is another element that is often missed by moviegoers. There's a great deal of religion mixed in. Probably the most overt example can be found in the Star Wars movies and its use of the Force. George Lucas admitted that he "put the Force into the movie in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people. . . . I think there is a God. What that God is and what we know about God, I'm not sure."

There's a more subtle expression of religion in The Day the Earth Stood Still in addition to Klaatu's stated belief in "the Almighty Spirit":

Scriptwriter Edmund H. North transformed the alien emissary Klaatu into a Christ-figure, implying that extra-terrestrials would be the true saviors of mankind. He did this in a subtle manner, having Klaatu adopt the earth name Carpenter and through the alien’s death and resurrection. North considered it his "private little joke" hoping "the Christ comparison would be subliminal."

In your spare time, sit down to watch Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, and Billy Gray, who played "Bud" in Father Knows Best, and see how many New Testament, Christ-like allusions you can find in The Day the Earth Stood Still.