He
could have meant the recently released film, Interstellar.
Lavishly
photographed; well written, acted, directed and produced, and with special
effects creating a spectacle and simultaneous microcosm of the universe beyond
anything I have seen before, this epic is an incredible achievement. From a cinematic viewpoint it is awe inspiring. It also features more plot holes than a swiss
cheese. Astronomically gargantuan plot
holes gape from the screen. One depicts
a man, protected only by a space suit, successfully transiting a black hole – a
celestial phenomenon featuring gravity so intense it crushes stars and even
light itself – hence the name. Another
places the man inside a tesseract – a geometric form not found in nature – from
which he shares equations that enable intergalactic colonization with his
daughter across time so she can teach him when as a young man before leaving
earth. Later the tesseract squirts him back to home and his daughter – now
fifty years older than he; it just happens.
A movie bursting with such magical thinking is impossible for this
cowboy to see as anything but conceptual rubbish.
But
some will say this is all covered by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Don’t mention it to Einstein unless you
really want to offend him. Others will
cite the new and “innovative” theories of Astrophysicist Kip Thorne as rationale
for what the film dramatizes. This too
is rubbish.
Albert
Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing again and again while
expecting a different result. The
producers of Interstellar – and especially Executive Producer – the very same –
Kip Thorne should take note. His
theories are about as new as propeller driven aircraft. They are a rehash of a sub theory of
evolution that says if there are enough universes or dimensions or timelines –
take your pick – the mathematical impossibilities in the notion of creation by
random chance are eliminated. The theory stubs its toes against first
causation, as do all its brother and sister theories. The Big Bang doesn’t help; it implies a Big
Banger and we know Who that is. But if
Thorne and his friends dress it up with enough stirring music and compelling
visual presentation they appear to think they can sell what the physics
community rejected many decades ago.
The
plot of Interstellar begins with earth in apocalypse – but God is nowhere in
it. An un-named blight destroys a
different food crop each year and the dust storms make the Dust Bowl of the
1930s look like a Sunday picnic. The air
is going bad and Mankind will perish within a generation unless we can
re-locate to another planet – at least some of us. Farmer and former astronaut Cooper – who
never reached space (Matthew McConaughey) – conveniently stumbles into a
top-secret NASA facility just down the road.
He re-connects Brand (Michael Caine), who recruits him to command an
expedition for which he has not trained through a newly discovered worm hole –
into which astronauts were sent ten years back to discover an earth-like planet
in another galaxy. Brand tells Coop a
million people can be saved – including his family – if he goes, although he
might never return. Brand is lying; he
doesn’t have the equations to construct the rescue; he can only send thousands
of frozen embryos. He excuses his
dishonesty by favoring species over persons.
Coop discovers the deception and attempts to return to Earth, but is
caught in the black hole and learns that the ghosts who communicated with his
daughter when she was ten are really his own future self signaling from the
tesseract.
What
it boils down to – they keep repeating that it is all about evolution –
including future anticipated evolution – as Coop eventually discovers we – the
collective we – are God. The film is simply
another attempt to evade accountability of any kind to a real God – that is the
rub for atheists who, like alcohol addicts, need people to approve and perhaps
share their dysfunction. It’s the warmed
over Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist philosophy – dressed in cinematic splendor – I
outgrew as an undergrad. It is ultimately
mega manipulative. I don’t like
manipulation; I do prefer the really real.
His name is Yahweh, His Son is Jesus, and His Spirit is the
manifestation of His love on earth.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
No comments:
Post a Comment