Ryan Gosling Will Save Us All

This week while enduring the most recent stomach-churning arc in American politics, I was reminded of a famous quote from the late American biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson. “The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and godlike technology.”

Preach, brother!

Here on Earth, the looming spectre of a mushroom cloud hangs over our collective heads. And out there in outer space, a team of astronauts are providing a real-time example of what people are capable of when they work together. The Artemis II mission this month has reminded folks that space travel is extraordinary, especially when it is undertaken by genuine astronauts, not billionaires and celebrity space tourists.

The week has been tinged with the sense that we’re standing on the brink of something transformative, for good or bad. Or both. In these moments, I turn to culture not only to navigate current events, but to provide greater context to the turbulence and upheaval. Two new movies — one a blockbuster smash and the other a powerful Canadian documentary — helped me make sense of the moment. Maybe they can help you too.

In ‘Project Hail Mary,’ a reminder of smart possibility

Project Hail Mary, an unlikely science fiction hit featuring the almighty Ryan Gosling and an animated rock alien, has the good fortune of being the right film at the right time.

The story, in short, follows a high school physics teacher named Ryland Grace (Gosling), a disgraced scientist who is whiling away his time explaining the principles of science to spotty teenagers. Then the government comes a’ calling.

Seems the world is ending, yet again, this time because of some pesky little sprites. Infectious micro-organisms called “astrophage” are proliferating on the sun’s surface. Thanks to their voracious appetites, the sun’s light is dimming, threatening the future of life on Earth.

After getting drummed out of the higher echelons of molecular biology due to authoring a paper that went against the current school of scientific thought, Grace is hiding out, teaching high school and nursing his ego. Even when given the opportunity to save the world and prove his thesis correct, Grace almost doesn’t take the golden ticket on offer. Insecurity, awkwardness and generally just being a big chicken stands in the way of greatness.

Adapted from Andy Weir’s 2021 novel, the film stays true to the major plot points of Weir’s work, with the bonus addition of Gosling’s incontrovertible charm to add to the action.

Grace isn’t exactly a hero for the ages. A screaming coward and a man for whom relationships with other humans are something of a challenge, he has no family, no partner and doesn’t even own a dog, as Eva Stratt, the head of the project states in her character’s clinical cadence. She’s not wrong. Stratt (played with deadpan authority by Sandra Hüller) should know. She, too, is obviously a person for whom ordinary human interactions are not easy.

But Grace does have one quality: the ability to think outside the box, in all senses of the phrase. He is the first scientist to figure out the nature of astrophage, including the fact they’re horny little devils who traipse across space for an all-out orgy on the planet Venus. While you’re pondering this particular curiosity, the film is rocketing ahead, placing audiences in the heat of the action when Grace wakes up aboard a spacecraft, light years from Earth. The rest of the three-person crew has perished, and he is alone and suffering from retrograde amnesia.

The rest of the narrative takes shape as he figures out why he’s there, what the stakes are, and how to address the problem, all with the help of an alien rock creature dubbed Rocky, naturally.

The more interesting part of the film’s success is the reaction of audiences. That people are compelled by the idea that co-operation, courage and selflessness are not only important but critical to humanity’s survival shouldn’t come as a surprise.

But in this moment of political and cultural extremity, the film’s message that intelligence is good, science is useful and solidarity with others is necessary hits like a sledgehammer.

Curiously enough, in the midst of watching Grace and his alien buddy do their utmost to save not only the Earth but an entire universe of other planets, I thought about another very different film.

In ‘Athens: Birth of Democracy,’ a lesson in humanity

Athens: Birth of Democracy sets out the uncover the origins of democracy. It aired on CBC’s The Nature of Things last week and is now streaming on CBC Gem.

The documentary digs deep to re-examine not only democracy’s foundational principles, but also how our contemporary understanding of it has changed. It couldn’t come at a better time as autocracies are on the rise around the world.

Some 2,500 years ago, in the city state of Athens, the radical idea that people should rule themselves emerged. But where did this concept come from, and how did it happen? Back to the Parthenon, folks! Cue the Batman music, and Athens is off like a shot.

The origins of the democratic system of government are well-known, but it’s worth remembering that what we currently understand democracy to be isn’t a patch on the original. When asked how the contemporary version of democracy stacks up against the first iteration, archaeologist John Camp states: “Ancients would laugh at us.”

In addition to Camp, The Nature of Things’ host Anthony Morgan talks to a range of experts, kicking off this journey of discovery in Leokoreion, an open-air temple situated in the middle of what was once downtown ancient Athens. It’s an eye-opening exploration that reveals how much and also how little has changed. People are still people, after all.

Camp explains that it took an act of violence to precipitate the action, with the assassination of Hipparchus in 514 BC.

Known as the tyrant of Athens, Hipparchus fell in love with another man’s partner and insulted someone else’s sister. Naturally, he got murdered. That Hipparchus wasn’t a great leader is part of it, but a radical new political system was needed.

As Plato famously said: “The greatest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone worse than oneself.” That one stings right now.

The idea of giving ordinary people the power to govern themselves wasn’t an instantaneous process. As Camp notes, real democracy didn’t truly get rolling for almost a decade. The system of government was orchestrated by a man named Cleisthenes.

The Greek word “dēmokratia” means “people rule.” But implementing this idea required a radical reorganizing of how power was structured and controlled. Cleisthenes did this by disrupting the control of the former rulers, wealthy aristocrats that had governed through military and economic means. Again, a lesson for contemporary leaders is right there.

The architect of democracy broke things open by involving 10 groups of people from different areas who were chosen through a lottery system.

“In each tribe, he [Cleisthenes] took one-third of its participants from the city of Athens, one-third from the inland area and one-third from the coast,” Camp explains. A bit of ancient technology called a “kleroterion” was used to choose citizens, who were then charged with figuring out how best to govern.

This lottery machine operated by giving each potential candidate a tablet inscribed with all of their relevant information. The chits were entered into the system and chosen at random to ensure that the process was incorruptible. The documentary re-enacts this process with contemporary Athenians to demonstrate how it worked. An additional means of anti-tampering was ostracism, meaning anyone who was thought to pose a threat to the sanctity of the emergent democratic system could be given the boot and exiled for a decade. After 10 years, they could return repentant and contrite.

“Democracy is not election,” as Camp explains. “What makes it democratic is the level of participation by everybody.” By everybody, he means men. In Athenian culture, the only folks deemed worthy of participating were male citizens of a certain age and social standing. Women and enslaved people weren’t afforded any franchise. Despite this inherent inequality, Athenian democracy lasted for more than 2,000 years before collapsing into internal conflict. After that it was Roman rule, and we all know how that ended.

So, what are we to learn from Athens: Birth of Democracy? Maybe just that even if democracy is an imperfect system, it’s still the best one we’ve managed to come up with so far.

In some sense, Project Hail Mary is an interesting illustration of democratic principles in action. Two random beings, neither of whom requested the assignment, are charged with saving the universe. Neither is individually up to the task, but by working together, each contributing their different expertise, innovation and sacrifice, they rise to the challenge.

There’s a lesson there, folks. Sure, this is science fiction, but it’s nice to think it could work.

‘Project Hail Mary’ is playing in major theatres.‘Athens: Birth of Democracy’ is streaming on CBC Gem.