A benefit that comes from working for Washington, DC is that we get April 16, Emancipation Day, off. This is an important anniversary; President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed DC slaves. I make it a point to not do work on that day. This year, I wanted to do something fun. I’d heard about Project Hail Mary as a Single at Heart picture from a CoSP member, so I thought, I never go to a movie on a Thursday morning, so why not? The attendants consisted of myself, one other solo filmgoer, and a couple; nice even spread.
It took me a little bit to get engaged with the film. I’m not big into science fiction, and once you start throwing all kinds of scientific details at me, my mind begins to drift. I did appreciate Ryan Gosling as a kooky science teacher and learning about his backstory as a scientist who was exiled from his field for pushing back against a strong current (I can relate as a singles activist). Now, he’s being recruited to save the Earth from some ominous effects from the sun in an initiative called Project Hail Mary.
The film gets going when his character, Grace, comes across an alien whom he names Rocky, due to his literal rock-like physique. They have a nice “odd couple” banter that really kicks off when he builds a machine that translates his sounds into human speech. We learn that Rocky is partnered (which they refer to as “mated”). Grace was, but his ex always said he had his head in the clouds too much, which we can infer is the reason for the breakup. He misses her and appears to be a reluctant single at heart; on the surface, he’d like to be partnered, but deep down, he knows that science is his mate for life, even if he has trouble accepting that fact.
I appreciated the fact he wasn’t partnered; we’d be spared the drama of the wife worrying at home. It also stands to reason that in order to undertake such a big mission, he shouldn’t have that responsibility. In fact, Stratt, the head of Project Hail Mary, says, “You have no immediate family. You don’t even have a dog,” when trying to convince him to go. On the surface, this could appear insulting, but I like to think of this as serving G-d/humanity as opposed to serving the family at home. And, in my mind, it’s much more noble. SPOILER ALERT: in a lesser movie, Grace would go back to his ex – or find a new one. Here, he doesn’t even go back to Earth. He’s settled on Rocky’s planet, happily teaching science to their children. It’s a fitting ending, appropriately Single at Heart.