just muddling through

ok nah I'm gonna keep talking phm to myself. Because while I think Grace's characterization as well as most Rocky scenes generally speaking were an improvement, I do, I do think they very much filed off the edges of my girl stratt. I don't think it was adding emotional depth there so much as reducing her ideological complexity - sure the novel execution was less technically proficient and far less emotional or psychological, but as with many aspects of the movie there's such a high level of polish that it feels almost mechanical. I can see the gears turning - look at her sing and leave awkwardly, look at her sad sack face lying about not regretting sending grace to die. Like god, let her blow up Antarctica and do silly power posturing. Let her ruin the climate by covering the Sahara with astrophage farms and jailbreak criminals. It's not a crime for her to actually be a ruthless pragmatist, in ways larger and more alarming than simply sending a schoolteacher on a suicide mission in space. To respect and care about Grace while truly also fundamentally viewing him as a tool in her mission to save the world. But the movie knows its mission is to be About Ryland Grace, (it's tight screenwriting. it's the gears meshing together) which ultimately meant that her character (as well as Rocky's and everyone else's) simply warped around him, to hit The Expected Emotional Beats.

@anon