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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.

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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.

I thought Artemis was noticeably worse than the other 2, curious if others agree

It was not a science procedural, it was more of a techno-thriller set on the Moon. It's my least favorite but I chalk that up more to taste than quality. Andy Weir conceded in that CD interview that he probably made the main character a bit too much of an asshole.

Just bothered me that she was a man in a woman suit.

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.