Science Fiction and the clash of myths & psychoanalysis amidst Deep Space

Felt like shooting one of Elon Musk’s “Giant Fucking Rockets” at every review I read of Ad Astra where the film critic moaned, groaned, and bitched about frickin’ “daddy issues.” C’mon, people, of COURSE there exist daddy issues. And son issues, too! At least this wasn’t some twisted, incest-addled blood, sand, & sandals Ancient Empires kinda flick set up top in Outer Space! But they did have space pirates on the Moon, and bloodthirsty, psychotic baboons took over a corporate spaceship lab. The cinematography was gorgeous.

Best of all, the movie captured the vast expanse of space with a lush, incandescent magnificence where we teeny tiny, itty bitty bipedal social primates from a small, rock and water planet were overwhelmed with a mix of dread and awe. Drama interplay between top actors including Brad Pitt, Donald Sutherland, and Tommy Lee Jones was accented by short, intense performances by a number of others among the cast including Ruth Negga, LisaGay Hamilton, Greg Bryk, and others. So many people played so many bit parts I was often left wondering more about these characters, wanting to see more, yet mildly irritated as to see more would be a tangle of tangential distractions. Seeing Natasha Lyonne, a star rising once more from later shows as diverse as, Orange is the New Black and Russian Dolls was both a surprise and a delight. She is so goofy, fun, and gnarly!

A few quick observations:

• Ad Astra projects hard science only. No magick or fantasy stuff.
• Religion is for horror. One can be an atheist and feel awe.
• Cosmic vastness swallows you up but the maw of space is so enormous you don’t even feel the wet, slimy, acidic insides as you go down inside the worm tunnel digestive dark hole of your own mind.
• Cinematography is sublime! Wow! Emptiness is beautiful, too! Plus one is deluged with fear, awe, wonder, surrender, and, yes, the brutal, Hobbesian struggle of civilized Earth humans to survive!
• Why are women relegated to the shadows? Especially the protagonist’s wife? Is this to demonstrate the unwoke consequences of masculine purpose when focused to the point of amok toxicity? Do the men portrayed here derail themselves then destroy “the world” to save it in some perversion of the classic Hero’s Journey?

Really enjoyed immersing myself in this film as I watched it play out across the big screen. The one thing I found insufferable, however, more so than the way female actors were cycled around the edges of the narrative as if to stitch the men together, was the theme the entire Universe is empty of life. OMG! I almost blurted out a profusion of profane commentary. Wanted to yell at the screen and throw tomatoes, eggs, and turds and stuff. Well, not really, of course, as to do would be so immature, disrespectful, unsanitary, and just gross. But come ON, people! Really? No life at all out in the whole frakkin UNIVERSE? This conclusion is so DUMB!!!

There’s already powerful evidence Earth has been visited by intelligences from elsewhere. Strong possibilities exist so-called “primitive” life evolves upon the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Also life may possibly abide in regions as diverse as beneath the surface of Mars to the atmosphere of Venus. Not to mention panspermia. Not to mention our huge solar system is but one of many star systems rich with numerous planets and moons existing thruout our galaxy. Indeed, our galaxy is part of a cluster of galaxies within a supercluster of structures within a mega-supercluster. There are other dimensions, times, densities, and even universes. The Multiverse awaits our full, cognitive recognition.

The absurdity and yes, stupidity of brilliant scientists and engineers going all the way to the frontiers of the solar system only to declare the entire Universe is devoid of life is existential horror at its worse. Talkin’ bout species-wide abandonment issues, y’all! Besides, the McBride father-son duo didn’t make it to the true frontier of the Sun. Neptune’s orbit is not even the real frontier as the Kuiper Belt worlds and the Oort Cloud swirl around Sol far, far beyond the last observable planet-planet, Neptune. 

These matters upended the movie for me. Ultimately, tho, I left the theater lost in contemplation and reflection. Felt intoxicated by the immensity of spacetime as portrayed up on the big screen. This awesomeness of Outer Space and the riveting, jarring action scenes generated elements of greatness for Ad Astra. Keeping women in the shadows detracted from the narrative despite strong performances. The Freudian, Greek tragedy jokes critics made in regards to the McBrides are asinine, nut-twistingly stupid. 

The dismissal of all life in the Universe so as to appreciate what we have here on our little planet is crushing, outrageous, and unbelievable. Indeed, if some of those more astute observers are correct, the string of strange sounds at the end of the movie may imply the efforts of intelligent, extrasolarian civilizations to reach us. If true, this would be far more believable and heartening, indeed, liberating as well as mysterious and intriguing. 

So, yes, I recommend this movie.

William Dudley Bass
Monday 23 September 2019
Tuesday 24 December 2019
Tuesday 21 January 2020
Seattle, Washington
Cascadia
Planet Earth
Star Sol
Solar System
Orion-Cygnus Arm
The Milky Way Galaxy
The Local Group
Virgo Supercluster
Laniakea Mega-Supercluster
The Universe
The Multiverse

Copyright © 2019, 2020 by William Dudley Bass. All Rights Reserved by the Author & his Descendants until we Humans establish Wise Stewardship over and for our Earth and Solarian Commons. Thank you.