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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.

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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.

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.

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