It takes us back to our society half a century ago.
As I’ve said repeatedly, the part of the film that requires the most suspension of disbelief is that NASA would ever be sufficiently audacious and cost effective to send someone to Mars.
13 thoughts on “The Martian As Time Travel”
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Mike Watney. [facepalm]
Otherwise a good piece. Strange that our local proggy usual suspects have been so silent on the book/film. Would think the below would have some of them at near head-explosion levels.
No, it’s a world that requires tangible, concrete results, and that’s the most problematic thing of all. You can either do math or you can’t. There are no participation trophies, and if you aren’t the best you need to move along and get out of the way so someone better than you can come along and do the job.
It only seems strange to you because you don’t understand the liberals who comment on this blog. I don’t disagree with any of what you quoted. No, wait, actually, I do: I have to quibble with the word “best.” When I need, say, a new mold for my small business, I certainly do need someone who can do the math, but I don’t need to find the very “best” mold-maker, I just need someone who is good-enough, and can provide what I need at an affordable/sustainable price.
I didn’t say liberals, I used a triggering term; proggy. Finding it strange that they’ve “been so silent on the book/film”. Not mold-makers. The book/film.
My opinion of strangeness is still in place.
When you referred to “our local proggy usual suspects”, who were you talking about?
FWIW, I loved the book (read it twice) and the movie (saw it opening night, hope to see it again). It’s clearly a fantasy, in terms of NASA’s ability to mount such a series of missions anytime in the next fifty years. But the idea that NASA would buy all that infrastructure and still only manage 30 day surface stays every other year, and not have any spare launch capacity for resupply/rescue missions — that aspect seemed sadly realistic.
What I love most about The Martian is the backstory — that an amateur space buff could use his writing talent not only to get rich and famous, but also get to live out every space buff’s fantasy: visiting NASA facilities, talking to rocket and spacecraft designers and mission controllers, meeting astronauts and space industry leaders, etc. Everything except actually going to space, which (as it happens) Weir isn’t interested in.
One small detail I was curious about: in the movie the crew (and later Watney) reach the crew compartment of the MAVs by climbing ladders running up the hollow center of the vehicles. That seems like an awkward and wasteful use of space that would be more naturally occupied by propellant tanks. Still, there has to be some way for the crew to get to the top of the vehicle. Would a real MAV have exterior ladder rungs? A roll-away gantry? Retractable hoist?
reach the crew compartment of the MAVs by climbing ladders running up the hollow center of the vehicles
I agree with you, Jim. But apparently that form factor trades well in some circles – Dreamchaser has the same sort of access tunnel going out of its rear end.
Slightly off topic: saw it last weekend.
Eh. Book was better.
But yes I liked the statement Schlicter made wherein the math problem doesn’t care about your color or gender or inclinations…….
you can either solve it or you cannot.
I cracked up at the notion of a public affairs officer who swears like a sailor behind the scenes, then has to get behind the podium and be the politically correct face of a disaster, but that’s not how Kristen Wiig played the character (or perhaps how the screenplay writers wrote it).
I, like Kurt Schlichter, recognized the role of women and people of color in The Martian – but only because I wasn’t beaten over the head with their presence. It reminded me of my day job. No trigger warnings, no privileges check. Just a group of smart, diligent people working to solve difficult problem.
One nit on Kurt Schlichter review, he never uses the word engineering. He says “applying principles from mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology”. Isn’t the application of scientific principles to solve problems called engineering?
Brings up my one nit of the movie; Weir had Watney with MS degrees in ME and botany, movie gave him single PhD in botany. Wonder if that was at NASA’s direction.
Nothing to see here that most of us don’t already know. Nice to see a confirmation in print.
Maybe we can fund NASA to just send a plaque to Mars. You know something along the lines: ..Here the peoples of Earth, regardless of race, gender, gender-identity, or sexual orientation, struggling to overcome the disadvantages of their exploitative culture and education, together formed a co-operative and with a collective struggle against misogynist mathematics, placed this participatory plaque upon Mars on behalf of all human-kind*.
*Also in kind recognition of the assistance of the Russian & Chinese people.
“Those who can, do. Those who can’t used to teach, but now they get on Twitter and complain…” Well said, Colonel.
“As I’ve said repeatedly, the part of the film that requires the most suspension of disbelief is that NASA would ever be sufficiently audacious and cost effective to send someone to Mars.”
Yes, and I said the same thing when the book came out. But hey, Andy Weir was just setting up a framework for the getting survival details right. Can’t always do everything at once…
I’d say it harkens back a little further than half a century, to 1950 or so. The only book/movie combination that I can compare The Martian to would be The Man Who Sold The Moon/Destination Moon.
In both of these, the bureaucracy is shown as a minor annoyance. The real adversary is the hard, cold realities of nature, and the real hero is the triumph of wit, logic, and reason over that adversary.