Over the weekend I saw Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey the way it should be watched — in a movie theater. It was the first time I'd seen this incredible film on the big screen, and now I see why it's considered one of the all time greats.
But I'm not here to review this 1968 sci-fi masterpiece. Instead, I just wanted to point out one of the scenes that stood out from the rest of the film: when Dr. Heywood Floyd calls his six-year-old daughter on the "videophone." The cute, wiggly, earthbound child, who Floyd refers to as "Squirt," amusingly wants a telephone and a bush baby for her birthday. And her humanness creates a stark contrast from the rest of the characters' unwavering, controlled emotions and sparse dialog throughout the film. This momentary blast of humanity that has entered the spacecraft is a great juxtaposition to the otherwise sterile and detached environment that dominates the rest of the film.
Not a Space Odyssey buff, I didn't know the young actress was Stanley Kubrick's daughter, Vivian Kubrick, until after I left the theater and looked her up. And, although she worked a lot with her father on various projects, including directing a documentary on the making of The Shining, the two reportedly stopped speaking to each other during the making of Eyes Wide Shut, after she had joined Scientology. (See video of the scene below, posted by imaucblog.)
Darn it. If you're still reading, this is what else I found about Vivian Kubrick, from the Daily Beast: Stanley Kubrick's Daughter Is a Far-Right Proud Boys and QAnon Fanatic
