Movie Analysis: “The Martian” — Themes

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of watching movies:

To be a good screenwriter, you need to have a broad exposure to the world of film. Every movie you see is a potential reference point for your writing, everything from story concepts you generate to characters you develop to scenes you construct. Moreover people who work in the movie business constantly reference existing movies when discussing stories you write; it’s a shorthand way of getting across what they mean or envision.

But most importantly, you need to watch movies in order to ‘get’ how movie stories work. If you immerse yourself in the world of film, it’s like a Gestalt experience where you begin to grasp intuitively scene composition, story structure, character functions, dialogue and subtext, transitions and pacing, and so on.

Let me add this: It’s important to see movies as they get released so that you stay on top of the business. Decisions get made in Hollywood in large part depending upon how movies perform, so watching movies as they come out puts you in the same head space as reps, producers, execs, and buyers.

This week’s movie: The Martian, screenplay by Drew Goddard, book by Andy Weir.

Our schedule for discussion this week:

Monday: General Comments
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Takeaways

For those of you who have not seen the movie, do not click MORE as we will be trafficking in major spoilers. If you have seen The Martian, I invite you to join me in breaking down and analyzing the movie.

Let me use three sides of Watney’s dialogue to frame the discussion about story themes. Here is the first:

If the oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab beaches, I’ll just kind of implode. If none of those things happen. I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m fucked.

I’m fucked. This is the most prominent theme in the movie at least insofar as the odds are concerned: Watney is almost assuredly going to die. So there is Fate as a theme. Circumstances have conspired to set virtually everything against the Protagonist. And perhaps with another character, at some point they would have just given up.

But not this Protagonist. This one is a botanist. And beyond the fact his knowledge gives Watney the ability to figure out how to generate food, there is another thing at work: Botanists deal with life at its most simple and complex levels. There is an inherent positivism about growing things, planting seeds, then watching them come to life.

Watney has a seed inside, a seed called hope. And his instinct as a botanist is to do what he can to ensure that it grows to fruition. Which leads to the second theme:

I’m not gonna die here.

I’m not gonna die here. Some plants can grow in the absolute, most inhospitable climates. Cacti in deserts which receive an inch of rain every decade. Dwarf shrubs and even herbs can grow in freezing temperatures in the Arctic.

Watney’s training as a botanist ingrains in him the belief he can survive. Beyond that is a more fundamental reality: The hard-wired instinct of humans to survive.

So while he may feel from time to time as he’s “fucked,” there is a stronger impulse which is to say, “Fuck the odds.” And that is a second theme: The indomitable human spirit.

Finally there’s this:

Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.

If Watney were to attempt this truly on his own, he would fail. But if plants exist as species (read: families), humans go one step further: They help each other out.

So our Protagonist constantly waters and tends to the seeds of hope he has within, hope based on the belief that his fellow human beings will not leave him alone, they will not give up on him and let him die.

And you know what? He’s right. Thus a third theme: The humanity of humans. There are “assholes”. There are astounding odds against success. There is even cold, hard logic which says, “No, we can’t do this.” But emotional human logic trumps all.

The world cares for Watney. His crew cares for Watney. Ultimately key people on the ground care for Watney to the point where they go against protocol.

Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out.

Damn straight. And one of the reasons I believe the movie is resonating with audiences is because in these oftentimes dark, cynical times, we want to believe we still have this type of humanity.

The Martian reinforces the humanity of humans.

There you go. Three themes. A lot more at work here. What do you say? Head to comments and share your thoughts.

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