TOYNBEE IDEA
IN Kubrick’s 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER
Maybe you’ve seen these words before. If they seem oddly familiar but you have no idea why, it could be because you’ve stumbled across them, literally, once or twice before. Embedded in city streets and highways across the US, tiles containing these words have confounded mystery enthusiasts for decades. These are affectionately known as Toynbee tiles. The documentary Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles covers the efforts of Justin Duerr who has spent quite a bit of his time discovering their origin and the concepts behind these seemingly unrelated and bizarre words. If you’ve never heard of these tiles and if you’re positive you’ve never stumbled across one, by the end you’ll know all you need to. Perhaps even more than you want to if you crave unsolved mysteries, because Resurrect Dead offers a pretty convincing verdict.
One of the best aspects of a good mystery or conspiracy theory is its inability to be conclusively solved. Sure, we’re all pretty sure Bigfoot doesn’t exist or that we did in fact land on the moon. But do we know for sure? Probably. But, do we? Do we really? Most likely. But…
Resurrect Dead introduces the concept of the Toynbee tiles and then keeps the audience enthralled all the way to the mystery's end. It sets up different suspects as the creators, singles out specific events that either eliminates them or furthers their candidacy, and then it goes full tilt into finding a definitive answer. Following a string of evidence ranging from a David Mamet play to an obscure letter in a newspaper, Duerr and company set off exploring each and every possible suspect. As they narrow in on the primary candidate, the evidence begins stacking up in that eerie, spine-tingling way that only the satisfaction of having successfully followed the clues can deliver. Resurrect Dead set out to chart Duerr’s progress and solve the mystery and, I would argue unfortunately, it does exactly that. For all intents and purposes, it seems that Justin Duerr and his cohorts Colin Smith and Steve Weinik actually found the person responsible – which raises two questions.
Considering the social preferences of the person responsible for the Toynbee tiles, the secretive method used to deploy them (if Duerr’s theory on this is correct, it’s pretty genius), and how he lives his life, is it right to potentially bring the world to their doorstep? When making a social awareness documentary, getting national attention to a certain subject is the point, but when you’re solving a mystery that happens to be the machination of a recluse, how much should ultimately be revealed at the film’s end? Granted, they do a decent job of keeping the complete address under wraps by blacking it out, but the fact remains that this man, who went to extraordinary lengths to deliver a message across a remarkable distance using an unconventional means, clearly wants his privacy. Will he ever have it once Resurrect Dead begins to circulate wildly amongst Toynbee tile enthusiasts (of which there are many)?
The second issue, and one that’s less ethical than it is semantic, is whether or not the answer should have been revealed at all. The adventure of tracking down potential suspects and analyzing the legacy of the tiles around the world will prove more than interesting enough for most audiences, and it could have easily filled up 80-100 minutes of screen time. Should mysteries like this one be publicly solved? Or are they best left hanging in the wind for rampant speculation? Obviously, there will be some enthusiasts convinced of a different answer that won’t accept the one proposed here, but frankly, for most people the evidence provided will be more than sufficient to convince of its veracity. For many, they're learning of the mystery and discovering its answer all at once, though director Jon Foy does a superb job of keeping the audience hooked from start to finish.
Resurrect Dead is a fascinating little documentary on a subject you never knew you were interested in until you’ve seen it. For others, the revelation of the meaning behind these tiles which you might have seen will be worth the cost of a ticket. Those who’ve never seen a tile will be tempted to track one down afterward, as they still exist and remain quite interesting, even if you have the answer provided here.
"Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles" opens March 29, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Jon Foy. Written by Jon Foy, Colin Smith. Starring Colin Smith, Justin Duerr, Steve Weinik.
