Sunshine…all I can
say is wow. This movie threw so many curve balls at me and quite honestly I was
thrilled about that. It’s not often that I can watch an entire film and not
find at least a few of its components to be more than predictable, but that
certainly wasn't the case in Sunshine.
This science fiction film which takes place in 2057 presents a very uncertain
fate for the Earth as it slowly freezes as the Sun burns out. A crew of skilled
Astronauts set out on a mission to reignite the Sun by dropping a “payload” into
it with a spaceship that has the ability to penetrate the Sun’s core.
I found the fact that the film takes place in
2057 to be a bit worrisome considering that we’re used to being told that the
Sun is in its midlife and it will last another 5 billion years. According to Sunshine, we were WAY off. Perhaps the film would have made more sense if
it took place a few billion years from now. However, that obviously would come
with several challenges of its own because the film would have to portray how
society might be in billions of years from now, on top of figuring out how to
save the Sun. That is, I’m assuming we’re even on this planet in billions of
years. With that being said, Sunshine presents an interesting paradigm which our
previous class films haven’t. Many of the films we've viewed in the past have
presented the problem of the Earth being nearly destroyed by human
irresponsibility where the characters are forced to figure out how to save the
earth or continue to live without it. In contrast, Sunshine presents the dilemma of the Sun dying instead of the
Earth. The reason for the Earth being in danger is because the Sun is dying out
and not due to human cruelty toward the Earth. For me, this was a refreshing
twist in the film’s plot.
This film also presents a very
crucial concept of how our humanity can shift a great deal when facing life or
death situations. During their journey, various characters have their lives
compromised by several unique situations. As four of the crew members aboard
the old ship from 7 years ago, they realize that one of them must stay behind
to work the computer while the rest of them return to their real ship. This
situation gives a human 2 options: be a hero or be selfish. Luckily one brave
astronaut sacrificed himself and saved the other three men (until one of them
froze and broke into pieces in space). On the main ship another dilemma arises
when they realize they don’t have enough oxygen for all of the crew to make it
to the payload. This results in a vote to end Trey’s life which seems rather
barbaric. However, when your own life is in danger, how willing would you be to
end someone else’s life too? Everyone except Cassie seems to understand that voting
for Trey to die will ultimately save the fate of the Earth. She makes decisions
with her emotions which is why she sees one life to be so important while the
rest of the crew understands that one life is nothing compared to the billions
of lives on Earth. The irony in the situation is that deep down they all know
there isn't enough oxygen for them to return to earth after the payload is
released. Yet, they all still try to hang on as long as possible, as if every
last hour in terror is worth living.
I couldn't imagine being in a situation where every human instinct in your body tells you to save yourself at
all costs, but you ultimately have to sacrifice yourself for the greater good.
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