A Reflection on Ridley Scott’s Movie "The Martian"

The first theme of exploring that was evident while watching and reading the Martian was the loneliness that Mark Watney endured while on Mars. The psychological impact that this seemed to have on Mark was not as big as one would expect. A good example of this was when Teddy was wondering “What it must be like [...] [to be] stuck out there. [Thinking] he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him” (p.63) and Mark responds by writing in his log about his pondering about “how Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.” (p.64). This leads to the next theme that came about while reading the novel. Mark’s humour constantly comes up throughout the novel with one of the best examples coming from when he asked “how the cubs are doing” (p.13), right after realizing that he would probably starve to death on Mars. This sense of humour is something that aided Mark in his survival because instead of going insane like most people would if trapped alone on an ENTIRE planet, Mark was able to mentally healthy throughout the process.

I thought that Mark and myself were very similar people the further along that I read in the book. His constant problem solving reminded me of my continuous need to solve every single math problem that I have ever been giving, even if it would take me an hour per question. He had a solution for everything that was thrown at him which including the hab blowing up, Pathfinder failing on him and the rover flipping over on him, just to name a few. In each of these instances, he overcame the near death problem and quickly resolved the issue, seemingly effortlessly. I personally feel that I am the same way as I am extremely adaptive to my surroundings. Whether that be problems with my roommate, with my teammates or with myself, I will always strive for the best possible solution. Another characteristic that I definitely think Mark and I share is that we are pretty stubborn people. A great example of this is when Mark tells the botany team back on Earth to “go fuck themselves” (p.150). In this instance he refuses to take recommendations from some of the best botanists on Earth because he sees himself as the best one and nobody should give him orders. I am very similar in this regard as in math class I am extremely reluctant to ever take advice from anyone but the teacher as I feel that my way is always the right way. Furthermore, when I am on the hockey ice I feel that everything that I was taught at a young age is the right way to do something whereas most of the time I should probably be taking the quality advice that my teammates and coaches have to offer.

Lastly I would like to point out that I really liked the character of Mark because he was not the typical explorer. I also believe that in saying this, there is no such thing as a “typical” explorer. Explorers are so unique from one another meaning there is no standard out there for explorers. The other reasons for which I liked his character were that he was light hearted in the worst of situations, he was a risk taker (punctures a hole in his suit to become Iron Man in the movie), and was extremely driven as an explorer. All of the above are qualities that I look for when analyzing a good explorer.