Project Hail Mary, both the book and the movie, have captured the hearts of a lot of people, most of whom came to the “Project Hail Mary: Fist My Bump” panel Friday at 1PM in M302-303 in the Marriott. The room was full to capacity and beyond, with standing room only, and had to turn away several people in line. The moderator, Lindy Rae, first introduced the rest of the panelists as people filtered in. Joining her were Chelsey Bogan, Theda Daniels-Race, and Dianna Peterfreund.
When Rae asked who in the audience had seen the movie, from what I could see, everyone raised their hands. When asked about who had read the book, about two-thirds of the room raised their hands. The majority of the conversation focused on the movie and Ryland Grace as portrayed by Ryan Gosling and Rocky as portrayed by James Ortiz.
A lot of credit was given to Ortiz among both the panelists and the audience for not only bringing Rocky to life but making him sympathetic. A lot of puppet creatures we have gotten to know in the movies are cute and have a face that we, as humans, can recognize. But with the practical puppetry used to create Rocky, as opposed to CGI, it made the character much more dynamic. Ortiz’s artistry helped Rocky have so much personality, even without a face.
One of the major themes of the work is friendship and sacrifice. The panel agreed that the movie especially is one of the best examples of what friendship means. It’s hard to have a more extreme example of being someone’s friend than literally saving each other’s lives. Peterfreund found it significant that the first overtures of friendship were made by Rocky. In many first contact stories, at least at some point in the narrative, there is something combative about the relationship between species. In Project Hail Mary, the choice was made to have Rocky be just as curious about Grace as Grace is about Rocky.
It was telling that Grace really didn’t have anyone before he went on the mission, and it’s this alien form of life that teaches him what friendship really is. That said, it was pointed out that even when left alone, Grace has a need and desire to be collaborative. He pulls Carl into the work he’s doing and gives him equal credit for the discoveries he makes. Despite his initial trepidation, Rocky draws Grace out and helps him rediscover the relationship he had with the Mary’s fallen crewmembers.
One of the final questions that Rae put to the group was whether they thought humanity could actually come together and co-operate to save Earth. As soon as the question was finished, the whole room reacted with skepticism, and that sentiment was largely reflected in the panelists’ answers. Daniels-Race said that, especially as a Black woman in science, she knew what it was like to have people not work together and thought that if the aliens came to Earth and were a threat, we might suddenly find a way to work with each other, regardless of what your identity (underrepresented or not) might be. It was also pointed out that the world coming together wasn’t as smooth in the book as people needed to be bribed to get things done. Peterfreund’s conclusion was that the world might come together but not be able to stay together while Bogan posited that there would probably be science deniers about the Petrova line.
It’s obvious that the story of Project Hail Mary and Rocky and Grace, whether you’ve come to it through the book or the movie, has moved and touched a lot of people. Just take a look around any of the panels covering the topic around the convention.
