site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1737 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 27, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Recently saw Hail Mary and enjoyed it a bunch. Sped through the book and came to the conclusion that, just like The Martian, the film is a far better film than the book is a book (joining the likes of Jurassic Park and The Godfather, also arguably Silence of the Lambs); the author's writing style is very positive and optimistic but also very IAmVerySmart and I Fucking Love Science and generally gave me Reddit vibes.

So, because I apparently love checking in on the progress of cancer like I'm some kind of internet oncologist, I go to Reddit and poke around. The stuff at the top is mainly resentment that the author is "conservative" and a misogynist and did an interview with noted elite misogynist The Critical Drinker. And some grumbling that the author/viewpoint character used "He" pronouns for the hermaphroditic alien and assumed they's mate was female by calling thim "Adrian." (Because Rock Alien=Rocky, so Rock Alien's mate = Adrian). Such oppressive heteronormativity is proof that the author is a bad person. Also something something mediocre white man.

So yeah, reddit gonna reddit. It gave me a chuckle when years ago I would be disappointed and annoyed.

I'm surprised actually arrrr slash movies generally seemed to love the movie from what I saw.

This was an aside, but:

the film is a far better film than the book is a book (joining the likes of Jurassic Park

I wouldn't call the Jurassic Park movie much better than the book. They are pretty different (the movie has a much stronger sensawunda and plays like a typical summer blockbuster, while the book is more cynical and reads like a technothriller), but each is good in its own way. My 10th grade English teacher made us read the novel as a compare and contrast to Frankenstein, and I loved it. The little fractals at the start of each chapter were a nice touch, and I still remember Ian Malcolm's excellent introduction:

Shortly before midnight, be stepped on the plane at the Dallas airport, a tall, thin, balding man of thirty-five, dressed entirely in black: black shirt, black trousers, black socks, black sneakers.

...

Humid Dallas air drifted through the open door. Ellie said, "Isn't it a little warm for black?"

"You're extremely pretty, Dr. Sattler," he said. "I could look at your legs all day. But no, as a matter of fact, black is an excellent color for heat. If you remember your black-body radiation, black is actually best in heat. Efficient radiation. In any case, I wear only two colors, black and gray."

Ellie was staring at him, her mouth open. "These colors are appropriate for any occasion," Malcolm continued, and they go well together, should I mistakenly put on a pair of gray socks with my black trousers."

"But don't you find it boring to wear only two colors?"

"Not at all. I find it liberating. I believe my life has value, and I don't want to waste it thinking about clothing," Malcolm said. "I don't want to think about what I will wear in the morning. Truly, can you imagine anything more boring than fashion? Professional sports, perhaps. Grown men swatting little balls, while the rest of the world pays money to applaud. But, on the whole, I find fashion even more tedious than sports."

"Dr. Malcolm," Hammond explained, "is a man of strong opinions."

"And mad as a hatter," Malcolm said cheerfully.

Seconding this. I enjoyed the book more than the movie (but might have gone the other way if I had been old enough to catch the movie in a theater).

That list should start with A Clockwork Orange.

Im soured on technothrillers in general and michael chritchton in particular, and Jurassic Park as a film is way more influential and significant, and way more of a human achievement, than a sour old man pontificating via a self-indulgent sockpuppet. I think the 10th-grade part is key for your enjoyment, it's a mind-blower when you're 16. Ian Malcolm as an adult reads a lot stronger as IAmVerySmart. I guess back then shitting on sports as a concept was far more stunning and brave.

I successfully avoided any spoilers for the book and saw it last night.

Was not expecting that. At all.

  • What I thought it would be - Saving the world with the power of science: The Martian crossed with Seveneves.
  • What it actually was - Saving the world with the power of friendship: E.T. crossed with Sunshine and The Iron Giant

A few stunning visual sequences that I'm still thinking about. Soundtrack worked well - fit with the "Hail Mary" theme. Also, character's name is "Grace".

Maybe I'm too reddit-brained, but I kind of wanted a bit more explanation of the science. There's a a critical moment in the film that is the core emotional climax the entire plot has been building toward, and the logistics of it are not even handwaved. They're just not explained. I was just like "okay, that's great. nailed the emotional beat, but .. how tf??". A minor gripe. Still liked it.

There's much much more "power of science" stuff in the book, which they (tragically but wisely IMHO) cut from the film (or at best alluded to in the film, in five second bits showing the solutions to problems that took minutes to hours of thinking or days to weeks of trial-and-error), to make room in an otherwise-too-long-for-a-movie story for the more emotionally central themes related to your spoilered point.

The book is still not as good in that respect as The Martian, but it's way closer than the movies were.

Haven't seen the movie yet, but I just finished the book. I had the same thought- the writing style is positive enough to be enjoyable, but it's also very cringe. It's the sort of thing that would have absolutely dominated Reddit upvotes 10 years ago but would now get mass downvotes for being insufficiently woke (even though it's still quite woke and internationalist). Definitely some cool ideas though, so great fodder for the professional screenwriters to work with. It also seems to be written for a very specific audience of sci-fi fans- like, it glosses over relativity because it can assume they already know all the important stuff about that since it shows up in sci fi all the time, but painstakingly explains the physics of pendulums in case they forgot that from high school physics class.

Didn't the movie gloss over much of the science from the book?

Not to the point that, without explaining it, I was objecting to the science presented as nonsense. But I do have a degree in zoology, so I may be a bad sample.

Same. I bought The Martian back in the day, so I bought Artemis and Hail Mary shortly after release. Never imagined either one could be adapted to a movie. Andy Weir definitely likes his protagonists to be a bit Reddit, but I dig his methodical, well-researched but creative plots and the characters are at least not one-dimensional. I watched that interview with Critical Drinker and it was actually quite interesting. He was pretty candid about his writing process and how the industry works.

ETA: Best-looking space movie since Interstellar at least, and more relatable characters. I really like a sci fi story where the moral is not about the hubris of man or the cruelty of the xenos.

Andy Weir definitely likes his protagonists to be a bit Reddit, but I dig his methodical, well-researched but creative plots and the characters are at least not one-dimensional.

His protagonists are all the same; Jazz is Mark Watney with tits, and Ryland Grace is Mark Watney as a teacher. But I like Mark Watney, and characters have always been a secondary concern in hard science-fiction, so it's alright. It's no different from Heinlein self-inserting as Lazarus Long/Jubal Harshaw/Hugh Farnham.

RTA, perhaps this is a type of genre as an analogue to the police procedural, the science procedural, and I enjoy both.

Saw it Monday and also enjoyed it. Read th book beforehand, and had a positive opinion of it as well.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats