Kubrick Faked the Moon Landing

I absolutely love conspiracy theories. The notion that one of man’s greatest feats didn’t happen has interested me ever since my first encounter with its proposal; in 8^th grade science class. As the years went on, my interest in film expanded and my introduction to the cinematic lexicon of Stanley Kubrick occurred sometime during high school. Yet it was only within the last year that I became savvy to a connection between the two. And believe me, I would love for it to be true.

Kubrick, if anything, was likely a veritable genius. And, if the metaphor rings true, likely a madman as well. The pictures of the artist towards the end of his life see his face covered with a thick beard, only exaggerating the intensity of his eyes. Something is going on behind them. Thus, of any renowned and talented filmmaker, Kubrick would be the one to help the National Aeronautics and Space Administration achieve the goal of landing on the moon. Or at least convincing everyone they had done so. And while I would love, very much, to believe such a tale, I would also like to think that we did put human beings on a celestial rock other than our own.

Thus, Jay Weidner’s series of passionate and fascinating articles add a degree of plausibility to the idea. I will not re-iterate the articles here because Weidner goes into enough depth without making the articles laborious or massive. The first, How Stanley Kubrick Fake The Apollo Moon Landings discusses both the cinematic techniques that might have been used and the political negotiations Kubrick would have employed to ensure a lasting film career. Next, Secrets of the Shining explores the ways in which Kubrick admits his involvement and perhaps guilt in being involved in what could be the largest conspiracy ever. A few aspects of this article can be seen as far-fetched but remains intriguing nonetheless. Lastly, Weidner discusses his belief that 2001 is the best film ever created in Alchemical Kubrick 2001, a more taxing read yet passionate.

Weidner’s writings, factuality aside, are incredibly thought provoking and help cement the social, political, and personal importance of film and film education. Did one of the foremost filmmakers to have lived and died have his hand in falsifying great technological advancement? And did he later carefully admit it by adapting and tweaking another artist’s story? The fact that Kubrick is dead only adds to the mystery; we can never truly know. All (A11) that we are left with are interpretations and musings about the great filmmaker and his place in the social sphere. I hope to talk about this more as time goes on.