"the discovery of the orient" by marco polo

The ‘ discovery’ of ‘ the Orient’ by Marco Polo and the new world by explorers such as Las Casas and Christopher Colombus laid the foundations for the way in which Europe came to ‘ know’ the other, this is evident particularly in Colombus’ writing who, on arrival to the Carribean – inspired by travel journals of Marco Polo – appeared to write idealized accounts of his encounters with the ‘ natives’ population within a pre-supposed narrative construct of his own imagination. The discursive construct of the new world or Orient become inextricably linked to the appropriation of colonial power and it is argued, manifested itself in a number of binary relations wherein – it is claimed by a number of postcolonial critics – at the end of one pole lay the European: masculine, superior, controlled, innovative, and advancing; and on the other end the Other: feminine, inferior, instinctual, stagnating, and static.

Said believes that the other to Europe’s self is the Orient which even in postcolonial times. Still ‘ compromises a set of loose “ realities” reinforced in political speeches, newspaper accounts, television shows and films’ wherein Moore Gilbert states that ‘ the Orient is still tacitly seen as being irrational, abberant, backward, crude, despotic, inferior, inauthentic, passive, feminine, and sexually corrupt. It contributes to the construction of a “ saturating hegemonic system” designed. Consciously or unconsciously to dominate, restructure and have authority over the Orient’.

This movie depicts the form of past colonization mainly in the form of exploration, there are many form of colonization and one of the first is exploration. John is exoticing ‘ Mars’ in the first part of his journal read by Edgar, similar with how the European exoticing the ‘ new lands’ through the first and other exploration which appears to be similar with other literary text which embrace orientalism notion, in explaining the exotical land of orient.

At the beginning of the story, he lost all the possession he had as he back from war; the wife and his daughter. Upon losing purpose on what to protect, John start his journey searching a gold cave with enough curiosity and desire on owning a cave gold. Later revealed that the cave he’s been searching for would brig him into something greater than only a gold cave, something bigger to possessed. The bravery mingling with curiosity and a little bit desire of possession brought him to the far away place called Barzoom which later revealed as Mars. Far ahead he will meet upon much more discoveries, and then made him realized of something greater to ‘ protect’.

At the moment, he is not doing a physical colonization, but more into an exploration colonization. He is already attached with the idea of exploration, when he got more than what he wanted at first which is gold, instead he also got the glory beside the gold and everything that matter. When the moment he is back to earth, he also makes a thorough plan regarding his departure to Mars and make sure he does not need to comeback to earth anymore. This colonization often happened back when western countries with the intention of explore the world and discover unknown places and islands, they end up colonize the place where they discover.