Interstellar

[MythOfProgress]

The Most Dangerous Story Ever Told: Ecological Collapse, Progress, and Human Destiny by John Halstead

was just thinking of this and i came across an article a while back after it came out. John Halstead explains a little about the problematic nature of the movie(moreso in its themes and messaging about environmental damage-what our responses should be to it). i used to like this movie when it came to most "hard" sci-fi films that i had on my list, still good to watch every now and then- but always felt there was something that bugged me about this besides the lackluster theme of "love saving us all" and the deus ex machina asspull plot point of Coop going to the black-hole and being the higher-dimensional entity that ultimately gave his daughter Murph(in basics the second half of the movie)the opportunity for saving the entirety of the human race.

this scene in particular illustrated to me that this movie was not about enlightening it's audience in regards to the perils of space travel-but meant to embolden and tell a tale of hope-it's a movie after all, some liberties are obviously gonna be taken but i still find some problematic philosophies when it comes to what Christopher Nolan has put out in here.

the female teacher in this scene- while she's obviously wrong about the fact that we didn't go to the moon(most folks who think otherwise are most likely disingenuous or ignorant of the work that went into getting there); she's not necessarily wrong about the fact that teaching people tales of leaving this planet for greener pastures with the "advanced" technology is a dangerous way of thinking in terms of how we view our environment, not as something to be cherished or taken care of- but a tool to use and extract before eventually throwing it away. it sucks that the one person who was on to something- has to be painted with a luddite/history revisionist bias.

we can distract ourselves with stories of humanity becoming more advanced and prospering in this society as our reality starts to close in on us, but i do have to wonder if there is a deus ex machina event out there similar to that mysteriously placed black hole by the bulk beings in interstellar- or something entirely different.

[Cyber_Rebel]

Well, I suppose in that case Avatar might unironically do a better job in regard to humanity advancing technologically but not being mature enough to be environmentally conscious. I personally don't view it as a reason not to pursue space travel/colonialization, just a moral lesson while doing so, as to be aware of whatever impact we may have on hypothetical life. Star Trek tends to go into detail about this viewpoint quite often.

Even if we did render this planet uninhabitable, all the more reason to pursue space as an alternative and learn from those mistakes. I'd rather live and grow as a species, even with all the risk involved.

[MythOfProgress]

Well, I suppose in that case Avatar might unironically do a better job in regard to humanity advancing technologically but not being mature enough to be environmentally conscious.

yeah, that other movie with a deus ex machina plot point, except this time as opposed to a black hole/wormhole appearing just in time-it's an entire planet full and lush with resources(unobtainum being the main one). if i was jake, i'd probably have given up everything for some alien booty too- unfortunately haven't seen the second one yet, but i hope it's enjoyable.

I personally don't view it as a reason not to pursue space travel/colonialization, just a moral lesson while doing so, as to be aware of whatever impact we may have on hypothetical life. Star Trek tends to go into detail about this viewpoint quite often.

right, because we can have our cake and eat it too, it sucks that octavia butler never really got to finish her third book before her untimely demise- i'm sure she'd have touched on this subject of planetary escape and realizing that we are our own worst enemies.

Even if we did render this planet uninhabitable, all the more reason to pursue space as an alternative and learn from those mistakes. I'd rather live and grow as a species, even with all the risk involved.

to be fair, growth is the reason why we're in this mess in the first place, but if there's a method of being able to survive for extended periods of time alongside being able to manufacture and sustain ecosystems in space with no continous shipments/resources from earth- maybe i'll take a ride on a ship- that is if our elite masters allow us to. other than that, good luck living in a tomb.