HELP! James Cameron's The Abyss Paper...

[hì'ia tuté]

So I'm writing a paper for my Intro to Cinema class and the movie I have to write about is James Cameron's The Abyss (1989... the one with the water tentacle alien thing)... and one of the questions I need to answer is this:

What is the value of this film to our society? Try to go beyond that of entertainment value. Explore the idea of the film being a mirror to our society; what will it have to say about the time in which it was created? For example, if we look at the films of Disney, the earlier works showed the princess waiting for somebody to rescue her vs. the more recent films when the princess either rescues herself or the prince.

So far, I have determined the theme of the movie to be 'The Human Will to Survive' but I cannot for the life of me find any sort of research, quotes, or other such articles to help me answer the question of cultural significance/value to our society...

This paper is due tomorrow, so I really need to get it done soon... I just need somebody to be like a sounding board and maybe help get the ideas flowing... hopefully somebody who has seen the movie...

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I have also already mentioned the Technological advancements made by ILM for this movie earlier in my paper...

[Alyara Arati]

In the end, though, it is because of Bud's willingness to sacrifice himself for an ideal that the aliens choose to reveal themselves.  That's a good closing paragraph in itself, I think.
I hope that helps, even though it deviates from "the human will to survive".  The human curiosity and capacity for awe also play a big part in influencing the aliens to explore us, in return.

[hì'ia tuté]

aye... but what I'm struggling with is what value it brings to society... I'm not sure how to answer that question... (I've been having a really hard time looking at this movie from an analytical point of view, rather than an audience/critic point of view because I really did not enjoy this movie, but my teacher is not looking for our personal opinion on the movie from a review/critic stand point but rather an analytical point of view about the theme, the cultural significance, and how the title relates to the theme.)

[Niri Te]

 The aliens are well aware of what a nuclear warhead is, they know that we are constantly on the hairy edge of nuclear war, and if that isn't enough, to them, we REALLY don't seem to like this life support system, the Earth, very much, because we seem to be constantly trying to murder it in the name of profit.
Like in the movie with Keanu Reeves and the nanobots, ONE PERSONS selfless act suspends judgement upon the planet.
Niri Te

[hì'ia tuté]

so... this was made during the cold war right? because the Navy SEALS were worried about the Russians getting their hands on the Nuclear Warheads... so... the cultural significance would be the pressures of the cold war? and the value to society would be... um... like... don't blow crap up?  (I was 3 when this movie came out so I have no idea what was happening globally beyond Disney and Cartoons)