This retribution-for-killing-Jesus-who-was-one-of-them theory is popping up a lot—and I know it was included in an earlier, presumably far stupider draft of the script—but how about this for a more plausible explanation:

Rapace's character doesn't think the Engineers are gods, or that their existence disproves god.  When her husband (or whatever) suggests as much, because they apparently created humans, she replies "Then who created them?"

Rapace's character doesn't think the Engineers are gods, or that their existence disproves god.  When her husband (or whatever) suggests as much, because they apparently created humans, she replies "Then who created them?"

And he can explain the awkward jerkiness of the image as "unprecedented realism".

And he can explain the awkward jerkiness of the image as "unprecedented realism".

Yup, not to mention all the Ivans and Josephs.  Latin America is like a big beach that the 20th Century just washed up on.

Yup, not to mention all the Ivans and Josephs.  Latin America is like a big beach that the 20th Century just washed up on.

Now that's what I call a fair point.  OhthePossibilities FTW.

Now that's what I call a fair point.  OhthePossibilities FTW.

That's a fair point, but I still think you shouldn't be so down on people who just like watching an exciting, beautifully crafted movie without worrying whether everything in it is rationally consistent.  I've got some problems with the plot of Prometheus, but for a 3-D movie about spaceships and alien monsters it…

That's a fair point, but I still think you shouldn't be so down on people who just like watching an exciting, beautifully crafted movie without worrying whether everything in it is rationally consistent.  I've got some problems with the plot of Prometheus, but for a 3-D movie about spaceships and alien monsters it…

I didn't think her disappointment at what she found on the planet was nearly as ridiculous as her insane optimism about what she might find on the Engineer homeworld.

I didn't think her disappointment at what she found on the planet was nearly as ridiculous as her insane optimism about what she might find on the Engineer homeworld.

Thanks, Mythagoras.

Thanks, Mythagoras.

Thank you.  To hell with the plot, that casting decision struck me as far and away the most incomprehensible element of the movie.

Thank you.  To hell with the plot, that casting decision struck me as far and away the most incomprehensible element of the movie.

I like your wife's interpretation, Darker Loaf —David does show flickers of human emotion here and there, as do the androids in the Alien films, so maybe he's experiencing something like love and jealousy—but I think promethewii is basically correct.  David's just experimenting.

I like your wife's interpretation, Darker Loaf —David does show flickers of human emotion here and there, as do the androids in the Alien films, so maybe he's experiencing something like love and jealousy—but I think promethewii is basically correct.  David's just experimenting.

How about The 1/2 Hour News Hour, Fox News' infamously disasterous attempt to replicate The Daily Show in a conservative format?