Movie Crush Monday: CT & The Martian
Ooooookay everyone, so we had a bit of a family crisis this week that necessitated an unplanned trip to Colorado for me. So this post is going to be short and sweet. We're following Jeff Daniels, one of my all time favorite actors, from Pleasantville over to The Martian.
For some (stupid) reason, The Martian got a ton of hate. Was it the genre-bending amount of comedy in this hard science fiction piece? Was it beceause Matt Damon is one of those actors who can't keep his mouth shut about stupid stuff long enough for us to love him? Anything is possible. The point is that I felt the opposite. I loved The Martian and here's why:
First of all, I thought both the movie and the book were hilarious. I was skeptical about Damon at first because I just didn't believe that he could hit the very specific tone of Mark Watney in the book. And that tone is key because Watney has to be one of my favorite characters ever. I expected the book to be dry and hard to get through (like lots of first-person narrative in a sciencey, technical book), but Watney had so much personality right away that I couldn't help but fall in love.
And that brings us to point number two about this book. The Martian is about an event that is horrific, but it maintains both a sense of humor and a sense of hope throughout. Early on, Watney decides out loud that he's not going to die on Mars, that by whatever means necessary he's going to make it. And that's that. It's a story about what's possible if you choose not to give it, to face every challenge with a "What are we going to do next?" attitude. Yes, it's almost quippy to a fault, but it was such a breath of fresh air to read science fiction that wasn't doom and gloom. It was hopeful about who we are as humans.
Alright guys that's all I have in me tonight. I'm running on zero sleep and cafeteria coffee, so it's time for a little nap.
Happy Monday, all!
CT
For some (stupid) reason, The Martian got a ton of hate. Was it the genre-bending amount of comedy in this hard science fiction piece? Was it beceause Matt Damon is one of those actors who can't keep his mouth shut about stupid stuff long enough for us to love him? Anything is possible. The point is that I felt the opposite. I loved The Martian and here's why:
First of all, I thought both the movie and the book were hilarious. I was skeptical about Damon at first because I just didn't believe that he could hit the very specific tone of Mark Watney in the book. And that tone is key because Watney has to be one of my favorite characters ever. I expected the book to be dry and hard to get through (like lots of first-person narrative in a sciencey, technical book), but Watney had so much personality right away that I couldn't help but fall in love.
And that brings us to point number two about this book. The Martian is about an event that is horrific, but it maintains both a sense of humor and a sense of hope throughout. Early on, Watney decides out loud that he's not going to die on Mars, that by whatever means necessary he's going to make it. And that's that. It's a story about what's possible if you choose not to give it, to face every challenge with a "What are we going to do next?" attitude. Yes, it's almost quippy to a fault, but it was such a breath of fresh air to read science fiction that wasn't doom and gloom. It was hopeful about who we are as humans.
Alright guys that's all I have in me tonight. I'm running on zero sleep and cafeteria coffee, so it's time for a little nap.
Happy Monday, all!
CT
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