K-PAX
K-PAX is the name of the first novel in the K-PAX series by Gene Brewer and a film based on the series:
- K-PAX (1995)
- K-PAX (2001)— film
- K-PAX II: On a Beam of Light (2001)
- K-PAX III: Worlds of Prot (2002)
- K-PAX IV: A New Visitor From The Constellation Lyra (2007)
The books deal with the experiences on Earth of a man named "prot" (rhymes with "goat", and is not capitalised). prot claims to be from a far away planet called K-PAX, where sex is considered unpleasant, raw veganism or fruitarianism is preferred, eating meat is never considered, and there are no laws, governments, or schools (see anarchism).
Although fictional, the story is presented as based on real events. It is written in the first person from the point of view of prot's psychiatrist, who shares his name with the author; the psychiatrist's wife is Karen, the name of the author's wife.
The 2001 film K-PAX was directed by Iain Softley and is based on the first book in this series. Kevin Spacey portrays prot, and Jeff Bridges plays the psychiatrist. There are some very significant differences between the film and the book, however, not merely in detail but also in terms of prot's overall "message".
K-PAX
A white male is picked up by the New York Police after being found bending over the victim of a mugging at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. Having responded to the police questions with somewhat strange answers, he is transferred to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation. Although not physically ill, he is found to harbour a strange delusion: that he is from a planet called K-PAX in the constellation of Lyra. The patient, who calls himself "prot", is eventually transferred to the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute (MPI), where he becomes the patient of Dr. Gene Brewer.
Dr. Brewer, with the help of a journalist Giselle, discovers that prot may simply be an alter ego (the result of Multiple Personality Disorder) of Robert Porter, whose life has been devastated by the murder of his wife and child and his subsequent killing of the perpetrator.
When prot returns to his own planet, Robert Porter is left in a catatonic state. However, Bess (another patient prot had promised to take with him) disappears along with a box of souvenirs prot has been collecting.
prot promises to return in "about five of your years". Template:Cleanup-remainder
Between the main story about the beings Brewer, Giselle, the psychological patients of the wards, Robert plus prot; Gene Brewer have several discussions about K-PAX and the society of K-PAX as the doctor/psychiatrist thinks robert just imagined this near-perfect world. The novel has a foundation from the ideas and informations of science (Albert Einstein), green politics, the five people Gandhi, Goodall, Lennon, Schweitzer, Thoreau and the spiritual teachers Buddha, Jesus Christ and some philosophers like Schopenhauer, too.
K-PAXians
K-PAXians are a fictional community of beings from Gene Brewer's novels K-PAX, K-PAX II, K-PAX III and K-PAX IV.
Prot sees himself as a (living) being, "I'm a being", not as a person, "I'm not a person".
The K-PAXians are a seemingly infinitly advanced community on the planet K-PAX. All knowledge of K-PAX and its attendant species came from the individual known as prot (rhymes with goat, K-PAXians only capitalize the names of planets and stars and other celestial bodies). prot was interviewed extensively by psychologist Gene Brewer who was of the opinion that prot was simply an "alter"; a second personality of the human Robert Porter. Prot notes for Brewer (the doc, not the writer, of course) and Gizelle that Jane Goodall, John Lennon, Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) and Albert Schweitzer are the most K-PAXian-like human beings of the Earth. The planet is much older with it's big variety of life and species inhabiting it. The age of the planet's life (K-PAX) consists of 2 billion and squashed years after prot sayings, whereas humanity only reached twenty thousand and some squashed years yet. K-PAX and our Neptun have similar seize (!), Earth is smaller (how does the gravity thing goes?). Dremers' forefathers were something like worms and lived in the ground whereas humans' forefathers were fishes and other aquatic beings. Prot pointed out that paleaontology have to do with upbringing everything.
Physiology
On Earth, prot appeared to be a light-skinned (Caucasian) human male who constantly wore sunglasses. When questioned as to why K-PAXians appeared to be human, prot responded, "Why is a soap bubble round?", meaning K-PAXians appear human because the humanoid form is the most efficient shape. They wear sunglasses due to the brighter environment of Earth. K-PAX, which orbits twin suns K-MON and K-RIL, experiences no night but rather eternal dusk. As a result of this, prot (and presumably other K-PAXians) are capable of detecting wavelengths beyond those detectable by humans, namely UV light. This adds credence to prot's claim that he is not in fact human. The K-PAXian method of reproduction, unlike the human one, is considered extremely unpleasant, due to intense feelings of pain and horrible smells, amongst other unpleasant sensations. Prot wonders how sex can be any pleasent for humans whereas many other species in the galaxy (even in the universe) don't sense sex as pleasant at all as the human species does. As such, each K-PAXian may sire one or two children during their lifetime and the crime of rape is presumably non-existent. Prot can age to thousand years like his parents which are actually in their late six-hundreds, prot is 337 years old in the first novel. prot also displayed an immense empathy for other beings, especially species other than humans. prot had an immense intellect and had specialized knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and the physical sciences. It is not certain if this is biologically ingrained or a result of K-PAXian society. Prot proclaimed to be of the dremer species, as in much a species category exist on K-PAX but not the atrocities which could steam of speciesism or even racism like on Earth. Different beings occupy the planet: rulis (cow-like beings), amps (little elephant-like beings), dremers (prot's ominous, maybe humanoid species), seven different progenitors/forefathering species to the dremer species. Their naked physiology is most time seen as on K-PAX weather is dependable and warm, at some point of every 27 years it's getting colder and the beings wear a bit of clothing.
Society
In K-PAXian society where sex is considered unpleasant, raw veganism or fruitarianism is preferred, eating meat is never considered and there are no laws, governments, or schools (in other words - anarchy). The anarchy on K-PAX is a non-destructive, non-violent and peaceful one, it's a self-harmonizing, ordered anarchy. The beings reason out with the being(s) which go too far with destructive or wrong behaviour. All living beings from worm-beings to the more humanoid dremers (prot's exact species) are regarded as civilized part of the planet's community. Some readers view this as a more advanced society, or utopia/eutopia, with individuals living in peace and harmony with each other without the need for law. K-PAXians have no fixed abode and instead live a sort of nomadic life drifting between certain settlements/villages where food, clothing, and other things are stored. The work of cleaning, infrastructure maintenance, harvesting food, etc. is performed by all K-PAXians when it needs to be done; K-PAXians do not have a set occupation. Children may or may not know their parents, but this is unimportant as they are raised by their society as a whole. K-PAXians do not develop strong interpersonal bonds but rather consider all beings with compassion. Despite a lack of major cities, K-PAX does feature a number of large library type structures for the dissemination of knowledge; K-PAXians are far more technologically advanced than humans. K-PAXian society seems very similar to that described by Sir Thomas More in his novel Utopia. It seemes that truth, with it's absolute nature, is very desireable for prot. Readers can suggest that truth has something like a divine state for the K-PAXian society, when the readers consider prot's vast knowledge, scientific aptitude and admire for the arts. In this light truth becomes as important to prot as it was for Mohandas Gandhi. Besides truth's honourated state in K-PAXian society, God/god is seen as an illusive notion and false conformity. The idea of god was kicked out of K-PAXian society. K-PAX society doesn't have a need for jokes or games, because life (on K-PAX) is fun and interesting(!). Prot even says that humans dont have a (good) sense of humor; games and jokes are seen as obsolete on K-PAX and even as mindless by prot. K-PAXian enjoy time with meditative walks in the woods, community needs, the arts (sculpturing, painting, music, henceforth), scientific observations, conservation about ideas and informations and journeys to other planetes. The whole civilization of K-PAX despises and doesn't use any kind of punishment or ostracizment, as prot stated that the mystery of life contains in non-violence. K-PAXians don't domesticate each other(for example dremers domesticating ruli or amps doemsticating the worm beings, etc.).
Technology
Despite living a fairly agrarian lifestyle K-PAXians are highly technologically advanced. Most notable is their ability to travel faster than the speed of light both around a planet and between planets. K-PAXians have developed computers with complete holography. These computers generate events of history (of K-PAX or other hospited planets, Earth) which occupy all senses. K-PAXian villages contain laboratories in which the different ingredients of herbs and other plants are analyzed for medicine for cure of every ailment which ever occurred. K-PAXian usually don't synthesize different elements to new things as they have mastered chemistrytypos to gain directly any needed substance from the plants. They don't have the need to create something new with genetics (like blue trees) like humankind. K-PAXian use two types of solar energy for the libraries. In the past times they used bacterial decay, gravital energy and muscle force as energy. prot warned Gene Brewer about nuclear fission as it would create too much/dangerous garbage to handle even.