I noticed my group mates showing a general appreciation for the messages in “The Comet” and I have to agree. Especially given the time in which the story was written the message that humanity is more important than racial distinctions is important and profound. As for the end of the world anxiety or appreciation I found it a little hard to share in those feelings, my thoughts constantly wandering back to Armageddon or something similar and it was difficult to take seriously.
As for the thoughts on The Thing I also must agree that the book has deeper meaning and is both more serious and thoughtful than the movie which is a fairly cheesy horror flick. A lot of the underlying messages and psychological aspects of the story are lost in the movie which takes a much more simplistic approach to the story. However I’m not entirely inclined to say that the Movie is worse, for its time and what the movie in particular was trying to do I think it is a classic example of sci-fi horror. Not really my favorite sub-genre or movie but I can at least appreciate what it was trying to do. It is certainly far better than many other sci-fi horror movies that were produced around that time or earlier.
It’s interesting to hear you say that the movie The Thing takes away many of the underlying meanings of “Who Goes There.” I’ve been thinking about it in opposite terms. I’d argue that the movie tackles more themes directly—specifically, race comes to mind. Also the ending of the movie is much more ambiguous, leaving room for multiple interpretations, something the short story definitely does not do.