Okay so a continuation of this poorly worded post I made in the middle of watching project hail mary
Obviously like okay it makes sense that Iron Lung and pmh are being put together. They're both unwilling people who were forced to go somewhere by themselves to possibly do something for the good of humanity. But I do think they're fundamentally different. Besides the genre ofc.
I feel like a lot of people talk about Simon's choice to send the blackbox data was like, really beautiful and his first real decision and it shows his humanity and all the things. And that just... doesn't sit right with me? He was indoctrinated his entire life. He grew up in a cult that shaped all of his beliefs until he dared defy them and wound up in prison for over a decade. He was forced into the blood ocean to find the information that he could and was constantly told that he would return and that he would survive and that it was more than him. "More than you" is said throughout the entire film. I don't think him choosing to send the data is him making a choice of his own.
I've never really liked the idea of "the first choice of their own" being... just choosing the thing that everyone around them wants them to do except... willingly instead of being forced. And I don't think Iron Lung is doing this. Simon is coerced and forced throughout the entirety of the movie. Throughout the entirety of his life. The only time he defied that, so many people died and he was put in prison for the rest of his life. The only time he made his own choice, terrible things befell him. I don't think it's beautiful that he sends the data up at the end. I think it's tragic. I think he is once again being convinced that something is more important than him when, in reality, not a single one of these trips has ever yielded anything helpful. They say it's more than him because the COI says it's more than him, but realistically... is it? Will they ever find anything useful? Based on Ava's words we don't even know if they were actually able to retrieve the data.
While Simon technically "chooses" to send it... he's still influenced. It's not a choice he made it's a choice he was convinced he had to do. He doesn't ever make a choice that his own because his entire life he has been indoctrinated into others' beliefs. He has no choice, he has no peace.
Grace... is also forced. He worked on the project, yes. He was interested in the project, but he didn't understand it. Or, he didn't understand how people would be willing to die like that. He is physically forced into the position, and for the majority of it he doesn't even know that. He's just assumed that he had a reason to choose to, even though he knows he is not at peace with the fact that he will not return.
But when Grace chooses not to go home... it does feel like his choice. The movie says that to be willing to die you need to have someone you are willing to die for. Grace did not have that on earth. But he found Rocky and he bonded with him he found that he was someone he is willing to die for. So he didn't go home. That is his choice.
They are both forced on these missions. But I feel like everyone frames both of these movies as movies about a character who does not get a choice, but in the final moments of the movie finally get to make their choice. And I just don't think that's right.
Project Hail Mary is the story of a man who doesn't have a choice is forced to give his life for the possible good of humanity. It is about a man who finds someone he really connects with and cares about beyond anything. It is about a man who does get to make a decision by the end of the movie that is fully his own. And it's a wonderful ending because not only does he save Rocky - he lives. Just not on Earth. He carves out a home for himself and he does what he loves. He saves humanity and Eridians.
That is not what Iron Lung is about.
Iron Lung is also a movie about a man who does not have a choice and is forced to give his life for the possible good of humanity. It is a movie about a man who was indoctrinated his entire life, and is nothing but abused throughout the entire run of the movie. It is about a man who ultimately does everything that is asked of him because what else would he do? And it's tragic because he does not get grace or peace from it. He dies. (i'm aware there's a lot of theories about what happens i'm not talking about those) He gives his life for a cause that is extremely likely to always be futile.
And like??? That's beautiful. I love the differences. I think that makes the idea of their interaction even more interesting. They have a lot of similarities in their origins but their stories are different. And I think Rocky is a really big part of that. Rocky is what made Grace be able to have a choice. If he hadn't met Rocky, he would have died. He probably wouldn't have saved anyone. There would be no choice to make. But because he met someone who he decided he was willing to die for, he did have a choice. Simon didn't have that. We don't know if Simon ever had a real friend. If he ever had anyone he could depend on. But in the runtime of the movie? Definitely not. He didn't have anything to be able to make that choice because he had no one to make the choice for.
There's definitely the argument of for humanity. And honestly that is valid. He cares deeply about humanity, and I think in that sense it was a choice. I do think he wanted to save them because he's just so full of hope and love for people. But I do still think that it is ultimately nothing but tragic, because that hope goes nowhere. There is no hope for him. You can argue that he makes a choice, but he only makes a choice for an abstract idea of something he could love. Of something that could love him.
I don't know. They're both wonderful movies. I will be thinking about them forever. I do think they're very different though, and I think the difference is in their agency as people. Grace regains his agency because he has someone that gives him the opportunity to even make a choice in the first place. Simon never has agency, and any small sliver of it that he is given is devastating because it will never be returned to him and he will never see the fruits of it.
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