Ethan Persaud - Recent Viewing of Project Hail Mary

Recently, I went to watch the movie Project Hail Mary in theaters and I can confidently say that this quickly became one of my favorite movies of all time. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t watched it. After watching the movie, I went and looked at the original book as reference for what the intended story and information I thought as a whole connected back to this course. Something that stood out to me was how the main character, Ryland Grace begins the story in a state of confusion, literally waking up from a coma without memory of who he is or why he is where he is. This immediately made me think about our discussions of consciousness, sensation, and perception. Grace first experiences sensation without clear perception, and over time his consciousness reconstructs reality through memory and experience. This process reminded me of the way we discussed myths as frameworks that help human beings make sense of the world around them. In many ways, Grace’s journey is both scientific and mythic. He is physically traveling through space, but he is also going through a journey of self-discovery and rediscovering his purpose. This once again connects to Campbell’s hero’s journey because the hero must leave a place of identity and move into uncertainty in order to return transformed. However, this is a little different because Grace didn’t have a choice to start the journey that he ultimately ended up on, however he did choose where it ended. His journey turned to him discovering his purpose for what he is doing, eventually discovering a peaceful life, not on Earth, but Erid. While his journey is much more dramatic than something you would see in everyday life, it still reflects the universal experience of discovering one’s responsibility and purpose through challenge.

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