Forbidden Planet is a wonderful movie. It predated Star Trek, Alien, and other popular science fiction tales, and it set the stage for the direction they would take. As it turns out, it also established an important precedent in the way its story unfolds. You see, it’s a chiasmus, just like Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and the entire Alien Trilogy. That means that its first half mirrors its second half perfectly.

This Cinematic Chiasmus is special. It’s the latest one recommended by my friend Jordan, who has previously been right about Tron, Escape from New York, Dreamscape, Akira, Conan the Barbarian, Scream, Goldfinger, Revenge of the Sith, X2: X-Men United, and The Running Man. That’s an impressive streak.

Let’s add another feather to his cap by uncovering the symmetrical story of the classic film Forbidden Planet.

The Chiasmus

This chiasmus is shorter than one might expect, but everything matches up perfectly.

A. The crew of the starship C-57D approaches the planet Altair IV to look for survivors of a previous mission after going into bright-blue beams to protect them
 B. Dr. Edward Morbius contacts Commander John J. Adams and warns him not to land on Altair IV, knowing his whole crew could die
  C. The C-57D lands safely on Altair IV, and the crew is kindly greeted by Robby the Robot who is only trying to help
   D. Dr. Morbius demonstrates that Robby can’t hurt a human by giving him an order that makes the robot malfunction
    E. Dr. Morbius closes and opens the security doors around his house and explains how his Bellerophon shipmates were killed by a monster years ago
     F. Dr. Morbius’s daughter Altaira is introduced, and she gets the wrong impression that Commander Adams is a bad man she shouldn’t trust
      G. The C-57D crew begins construction on a transmitter with help from Dr. Morphius’s creation Robby
       H. A simple-minded cook asks Robby to deliberately create bourbon in giant quantities
        I. Altaira is kissed by Lieutenant Farman and gets criticized by Commander Adams for letting a man get so close to her after he sends Farman away
         J. Altaira asks Robby to make her a new dress that adheres to Commander Adams’ wishes
          K. An invisible monster enters the C-57D and damages equipment to make it hard to communicate with Earth
           L. Altaira kisses Commander Adams and awakens new feelings inside her. A tiger attacks her, and Adams shoots it with his laser gun to stop it. The tiger disappears in the blast
            M. Dr. Morbius recounts the ancient Krell race and their downfall to Commander Adams
             N. Dr. Morbius showcases Krell technology, such as an IQ booster and an infinite power supply, to Commander Adams
              O. A perimeter fence is turned on around the C-57D, but it’s briefly turned off to allow the cook through to abandon his duty and safely meet up with Dr. Morbius’s creation Robby
              O. Despite being on, the perimeter fence is penetrated by an invisible monster (subconsciously created by Dr. Morbius) that enters the C-57D and kills an on-duty member of the crew
             N. Commander Adams suggests he might need to use the IQ booster after seeing evidence of an impossible creature
            M. Dr. Morbius predicts that the attack is just the beginning of the downfall of Commander Adams’ crew
           L. Altaira has a nightmare and awakens her father. A monster had been attacking the C-57D, and it couldn’t be stopped by laser guns. The monster disappears when Dr. Morbius awakes
          K. Commanders Adams says the invisible monster will return, and he orders his men to prepare to leave the planet
         J. Altaira orders Robby to let Commander Adams into her home against her father’s wishes
        I. Altaira is lovingly held by Commander Adams and encouraged to leave the planet with him before realizing that the doctor has gotten away from them
       H. A super-intelligent doctor tells Commander Adams about an indeliberate creation of Robby’s inventor called monsters from the Id
      G. Commander Adams explains to Dr. Morbius that the Krell could create things by mere thought
     F. Dr. Morbius’s monster from the Id gets closer, and he has the wrong impression that it’s an external threat, not trusting Commander Adams’ word
    E. Dr. Morbius closes the security doors around his house as Commander Adams explains that the monster is breaking through to kill his daughter now
   D. Dr. Morbius demonstrates that he’s trying to kill his own daughter by giving Robby an order that makes the robot malfunction
  C. Dr. Morbius admits he destroyed the Bellerophon as it tried to leave Altair IV, and he’s trying to kill the C-57D crew with his angry subconscious
 B. Dr. Morbius warns Commander Adams to leave Altair IV because it will explode soon, and then he dies
A. The crew of the C-57D leave Altair IV with two other survivors and watch the planet explode in a bright-blue fireball that could have killed them

Planned or Not?

It’s always a wonder to behold a Cinematic Chiasmus unfold. I’ve been asked many times if I think that things like this happen by accident or if they’re planned. I think most filmmakers, like Dr. Morbius, do things like this subconsciously. But they lead to much better results than what his Id did.

Let’s go through some of my favorite points from the chiasmus.

Isn’t it fascinating how Robby the Robot malfunctions in exactly the same way at D? Dr. Morbius gives him a command that he can’t obey without harming a human. Thus, his programming begins to destroy itself. The first E is a great foreshadowing of exactly what takes place at the second E . Dr. Morbius’s story of the downfall of the Krell turns into a prophecy of the destruction of the current inhabitants of Altair IV at M.

Then there’s the turning point at O. This is where things turn deadly serious. Someone gets outside the perimeter fence while it’s turned off, and something gets inside the perimeter fence while it’s turned on. The cook is safe, even though he’s outside the crew’s defenses, but Quinn is killed, even though he’s inside the crew’s defenses. Robby is the conscious byproduct of Dr. Morbius’s expanded mind, while the monster from the Id is the unconscious byproduct of Dr. Morbius’s expanded mind, given form by limitless Krell technology.

If Forbidden Planet’s chiasmus wasn’t planned, it adds another layer to the already-astonishing depth of this film. It becomes almost meta at that point. A story about the unconscious creation of one man was itself unconsciously created in a symmetrical fashion.

There’s a lot going on beneath the surface of this story. As Jordan pointed out to me, others have compared it to Shakespearian works like The Tempest. I offer my humble analysis above as proof that this film is in good company beyond such lofty literary works.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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