While watching Ridley Scott’s, The Martian, it is easy to get lost in the stunning scenery, the tense conversations within NASA, or Mark Watney’s struggle to survive by himself. However, what really stood out to me is that in the movie, there was a deeply rooted interest in space and its exploration by all parties that far exceeds what we have in todays world.

When Watney is supposed to be rescued by his crew, enormous viewing events are taking place in some of the most popular destinations on Earth such as Times Square and Trafalgar Square. Continuing on, throughout the movie, NASA directors reference future missions spanning decades of years thereby showing the prominent government backing for space exploration. This, along with the 70’s disco music, harkens back decades when space exploration was one of the trop priorities for governments. However, it would seem almost outlandish to suggest that a similar event would happen today’s world. Society as a whole has lost its passion for space and governments have followed suit by cutting funding for organizations such as NASA in favor of funding other sectors such as the military.

Though space travel can be costly, private companies, such as SpaceX, are making huge breakthroughs in the field. By finding a way to reuse rockets, the cost of space travel can be reduced dramatically. Moreover, I think space exploration is something that should be heavily invested in. By engaging more in space exploration, we can gain a better understanding of the cosmos and the findings could lead to technological breakthroughs. Additionally, finding planets with abundant resources and habitable conditions will allow for society to combat overpopulation and resources in short supply.

This film was one of many to explore the idea of space exploration at the time of its release and I think it did a wonderful job of combining many aspects to create a comprehensive and enjoyable movie.