What kind of argument is that? "We love people who have died. What's the social utility in that? - None." Why would that mean it means "something more"? It could just mean that the emotional system we call love, as it has developed through evolution, cannot exist without persisting after the person it binds us to has died? Or perhaps it actually needs to persist after others' deaths because one aspect of it is to ensure the survival of groups and not just individuals and hence, if we stopped loving people as soon as they died, there would be no reason to ensure their survival? Also "Love is the one thing we are capable of perceiving that transcends time and space." I'm sorry, but that's absolute nonsense. We 'perceive' love because it is an emotion. In other words: it is INTERNAL. That we love people who are far away or long gone doesn't mean it 'transcends' time and space in a physical way any more than a photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon does. Also, why does one planet orbiting the black hole have massive time dilation and the other doesn't? And while we're at it, why would anyone even consider settling a planet orbiting a black hole? That seems like a terrible idea for many reasons. Though, on the other hand, if you use that planet as a starting point to look for others to colonise, the time dilation might actually be beneficial - after all, imagine if it had been the other way around and in the, what, 4 years the Endurance was gone only 40 minutes had passed on earth? Still, no one really mentions any of this so it feels lazy. And then there's the ending with the bookshelves. All absolute physical ridiculousness aside, it was obvious it was him all along, and he thus had to signal "STAY", but how the hell did he not remember that was exactly what his daugher told him the message said? And then, you know, why did he have to use the watch for anything? (And why did it keep repeating the message, but that's another question). If he had access to any moment in that bedroom, why didn't he just go to the one where Murph came back there and threw down books again or something? And hell, if THEY (us) have control over time and space, why did they have to transmit the information in such a convoluted way at all? Why not drop in at the earliest possible moment in human history, give them the information, and done?
All in all, this movie is very much like The Prestige in that it contains some very interesting ideas, stunning visuals, and satisfying twists, but it's also extremely aggravating in that it pretends to be realistic (especially in the way it is shot, all the death and misfortune that occurs, and of course all the technobabble) and seems to wrap up nicely, and yet if you spend more than a second thinking about it nothing much in it makes sense. I think I would have found it actually more satisfying if in the end, everyone died (except maybe for Dr. Brand).
Review by CluisannaBlockedParent2019-03-23T03:19:47Z— updated 2019-05-31T00:48:49Z
What kind of argument is that? "We love people who have died. What's the social utility in that? - None." Why would that mean it means "something more"? It could just mean that the emotional system we call love, as it has developed through evolution, cannot exist without persisting after the person it binds us to has died? Or perhaps it actually needs to persist after others' deaths because one aspect of it is to ensure the survival of groups and not just individuals and hence, if we stopped loving people as soon as they died, there would be no reason to ensure their survival? Also "Love is the one thing we are capable of perceiving that transcends time and space." I'm sorry, but that's absolute nonsense. We 'perceive' love because it is an emotion. In other words: it is INTERNAL. That we love people who are far away or long gone doesn't mean it 'transcends' time and space in a physical way any more than a photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon does.
Also, why does one planet orbiting the black hole have massive time dilation and the other doesn't? And while we're at it, why would anyone even consider settling a planet orbiting a black hole? That seems like a terrible idea for many reasons. Though, on the other hand, if you use that planet as a starting point to look for others to colonise, the time dilation might actually be beneficial - after all, imagine if it had been the other way around and in the, what, 4 years the Endurance was gone only 40 minutes had passed on earth? Still, no one really mentions any of this so it feels lazy.
And then there's the ending with the bookshelves. All absolute physical ridiculousness aside, it was obvious it was him all along, and he thus had to signal "STAY", but how the hell did he not remember that was exactly what his daugher told him the message said? And then, you know, why did he have to use the watch for anything? (And why did it keep repeating the message, but that's another question). If he had access to any moment in that bedroom, why didn't he just go to the one where Murph came back there and threw down books again or something? And hell, if THEY (us) have control over time and space, why did they have to transmit the information in such a convoluted way at all? Why not drop in at the earliest possible moment in human history, give them the information, and done?
All in all, this movie is very much like The Prestige in that it contains some very interesting ideas, stunning visuals, and satisfying twists, but it's also extremely aggravating in that it pretends to be realistic (especially in the way it is shot, all the death and misfortune that occurs, and of course all the technobabble) and seems to wrap up nicely, and yet if you spend more than a second thinking about it nothing much in it makes sense. I think I would have found it actually more satisfying if in the end, everyone died (except maybe for Dr. Brand).