Carl Sagan and the Alien

One of Kubrick’s most famous films is 2001: A Space Odyssey, and one particular problem dominated Kubrick’s time while making the film: How to show an alien. In Kubrick’s mind, it had to be something extremely abstract and as non-human in form as possible, so he consulted Carl Sagan for help.

Sagan ultimately talked Kubrick into only suggesting the presence of aliens instead of outright showing them, pointing out that any human design would be compromised by the artistic limits and vision of what humans could imagine.