Project Hail Mary is What the World Needs
How “sci-fi” restored some hope in my heart
A dozen people recommended the book to me, but I don’t much like sci-fi. But when the priest who married you and your husband says it’s the best book he’s read in ages, you download it for a trip (and long flight) to Australia, that ends up getting canceled anyway, you end up reading it while on a cruise with a bunch of Catholics.
That’s how I came to Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, a sci-fi novel that’s best described as a combo of ET meets Interstellar meets Wall-E.
I’ll be honest: sci-fi is usually not for me. Unless it’s Jurassic Park, and then I am all in. I love dinosaurs. Especially recreated ones.
But while space travel and science jargon is not always my first pick, somehow Project Hail Mary quickly shot to the top of my “favorite books” list, and to this day is the only audiobook I’ve ever actually fully enjoyed.
Why?
Well, because Project Hail Mary isn’t really just straight sci-fi.
It is at first — here’s a scientist, solving a problem with science, in space. So it’s sci-fi. It’s science within the fiction. But, it’s also something much more.
In the middle of all those complex equations and wacky experiments to figure out what exactly astrophage is doing, and why the sun is dying, and how to stop the earth from becoming a frozen tundra wasteland with most of mankind dead, there is a deep journey of discovery. It’s an exploration story.
Project Hail Mary isn’t just about space exploration. It’s about the exploration of self, in space. And, on multiple levels, this Project Hail Mary is full of Grace.
I don’t want to ruin the book or film for you, but from what’s readily available in trailers (and because you are going to go read and watch it), here’s the basic premise:
Ryland Grace, a Ph.D scientist turned middle school science teacher, has to save the world. The sun is dying, and the world’s best scientists don’t know why, but we do know it’s this astrophage substance that’s killing it, and we have one last shot (as a species) to try and stop its death. Hence, the Hail Mary. It’s the final throw in the game, with just a few seconds left and 6 points needed to catch up and a 2 point conversion to win.
So up to space Ryland Grace goes, even though he really doesn’t want to, and along the way he meets the best alien on film since ET, a dog sized genius of a 5 armed being, dubbed Rocky, who is somehow the most lovable space alien you’ve ever met.
Ryland Grace is a deeply insecure, wildly smart, clever, curious, and complicated man who discovers who he is under pressure, in space, beside an alien, all while saving the world and realizing his own personal doom is looming just beyond the horizon.
I sat down to watch the film last night knowing the full story from start to finish, and was still entirely in awe, amazed at how the film brought this remarkable story to life.
There’s one sequence that is the epitome of “wonder and awe.” There’s an entire series of scenes about how we humans, and really any living beings, are not meant to be alone. There is an underlying, and then quite evident exploration of sacrifice, heroism and bravery, and courage in service to others.
This is the most human of stories, with just one guy and one alien in space for the majority of the film. Together, they discover something — in and for each other — and hope springs within their hearts. Hope is the anchor of their unlikely friendship, their elaborate scientific research, their scientific hijinx, and everything in between.
One phrase kept ringing in my mind the entire time I sat in the theater, chowing down on popcorn as I sat beside 3 priest friends and my husband.
“…we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” -Romans 5:3-5
Ryland Grace is an afflicted man who endures things no human has ever endured. In space. He feels weak, but his character is tested, stretched, and the hope that is born eventually fuels him to great things, even greater than he could’ve possibly imagined.
He lives Romans 5:3-5 again and again and again.
The film is far too new for me to really dig into certain moments here, because I can’t spoil this for you. It is just too good. It is the only secular movie I have ever seen that has made me recite a passage from Scripture over and over as I watched it.
This is the story of hope, and what hope drives us to do and then what hope allows us to do. And hope does not disappoint. Neither does this movie.
This is the kind of movie I didn’t know I needed right now. I needed an earnest story of trying and effort. I wanted a story about the effort, hard as it might be, to fight for something good, even if it is hard. Where hope is the driving factor: hope in the “could we?” and the “yes, we will, as much and as best as we can.” And hope in the why? “because we must” answer. Hope is the reason for the “we have to at least try to save the human species and planet earth.” Hope is the belief that maybe, if enough people contribute and sacrifice and believe — and throw the Haily Mary pass and make the touchdown — we just might be able to win.
10 years ago, Project Hail Mary wouldn’t have been about one man and his new alien friend working together to save two planets from imminent destruction at great personal cost. It would’ve been the story of super scientists on earth building a ship to escape the coming doomsday, making seats available for only the wealthiest and most powerful. In fact, I think there was a movie like that, and at the heart of it was this selfish deception in the midst of what was postured as a great love story.
Project Hail Mary works because it has whimsy and mirth alongside a very real wrestling with the personal cost of sacrifice. It is the feel-good buddy-cop comedy married to a serious treatment of saving humanity spun together with a look at how humanity is worth saving.
And that’s what ultimately made this a favorite story of mine. Humanity is deemed worth saving. Humans that are selfish with twisted desires and rotten agendas. Humans that are full of cruelty and evil. Humans that are overly competitive and condescending. Humans are worth saving.
Because why? Even with all that darkness, there is light. Even within what seems rotten, not all is lost. The effort is still worth it, because we have hope that not all are selfish, or rotten, or cruel, or evil. Humanity is only worth saving if there is an underlying belief that good will prevail. This crazy project, the final scientific Hail Mary pass, is only even considered because there is a slight glimmer of hope that it might work.
Ryland Grace and Rocky will save the stars, for that goodness, and that is a source of hope that does not — cannot — disappoint.
What do we need most right now? As we look at violence and destruction, war and famine, and deep divisions continue to seemingly win the day, what do we humans need? What could possibly heal humanity? What did we spend a year+ celebrating and praying for in our Church? What was the theme of our Jubilee Year?
Hope.
Yes, this is just a sci-fi novel turned amazing audio book turned box office stunner with the elder millennial version of Tom Hanks. But it’s so much more than that.
Project Hail Mary is the stunning story of what humanity can endeavor to do, and maybe even pull off, when hope, and a little bit of Grace, is the fuel.
Amaze, amaze, amaze.
原文
我自己翻译的发布在豆瓣电影的评论
《挽救计划》正是这个世界所需要的》
【本文转载并翻译自美国网站katieprejeanmcgrady.substack.com，真的非常非常喜欢该作者的评价。原链接为https://katieprejeanmcgrady.substack.com/p/project-hail-mary-is-what-the-world】
【原评价小标题：科幻小说如何治愈了我，让我的内心重燃希望】
曾有十几个人向我推荐过这本书，但我并不怎么喜欢科幻小说。然而，当那位为你和丈夫主持婚礼的神父说这是他多年来读过最好的书时，你还是会为了一次前往澳大利亚的长途飞行而下载它——尽管那次行程最终取消了，你最后是在一艘载满天主教徒的游轮上读完它的。
这就是我与Andy Weir的《挽救计划》结缘的过程。这部科幻小说最贴切的描述是：它是《E.T.外星人》、《星际穿越》与《机器人总动员》的结合体。
坦白说：科幻小说通常不是我的菜。除非是《侏罗纪公园》，那我绝对全程投入，我太爱恐龙了，尤其是那些被重新创造出来的。
虽然太空旅行和科学术语通常不是我的首选，但不知为何，《挽救计划》迅速蹿升至我“最喜爱的书单”榜首。直到今天，它依然是唯一一部我真正从头到尾享受其中的有声书。
为什么呢？
因为《挽救计划》并不只是纯粹的科幻。
起初它确实是的，一个科学家在太空中用科学解决问题。这是科幻，是虚构故事里的科学。但它又远不止于此。
在那些复杂的方程式和实验（为了弄清楚“噬星体”在干什么、太阳为何正在死去、以及如何阻止地球变成一片人类灭绝的冰封荒原）之中，蕴含着一段深刻的发现之旅。这是一个关于探索的故事。
《挽救计划》不仅关乎太空探索，更关乎在太空中对“自我”的探索。而且，在多个层面上，这个“万福玛利亚计划”（也就是《挽救计划》）都充满了“恩典”。
注释：Grace此处双关，既指主角的名字，也指神学意义上的恩典。
我不想剧透书或电影的内容，但根据预告片中公开的信息（而且我相信你一定会去读或看），基本前提是这样的：
Ryland Grace曾是一名博士，后来转行做了中学科学老师。他必须拯救世界。太阳正在死去，全球最顶尖的科学家都不知道原因，但我们知道是一种叫“噬星体”的物质正在吞噬它。作为人类，我们只有最后一次机会尝试阻止死亡。因此有了“万福玛利亚”（Hail Mary）这个名字——这就像美式橄榄球赛最后一秒的孤注一掷：只剩下几秒钟，需要达阵得分并完成两分转换才能反败为胜。
于是，尽管Grace内心百般不愿，他还是飞向了太空。一路上，他遇到了自E.T.以来银幕上最棒的外星人——一个狗一般大小、拥有五条手臂的天才生物，被命名为Rocky。它简直是你见过的最可爱的外星人。
Ryland Grace是一个内心极度不安、却又聪明绝顶、好奇且复杂的人。他在压力之下、在太空之中、在一台外星人身边，重新发现了自己。他在挽救世界的同时，也意识到个人的毁灭就在地平线上。
昨晚我坐下来观看电影时，虽然已经对故事情节了如指掌，却依然感到震撼。电影将这个非凡的故事赋予了生命，令我赞叹不已。
片中有一个序列堪称“敬畏与惊叹”的缩影。有一连串的场景都在讲述：我们人类，或者说任何生命形式，都不是为了孤独而存在的。故事中潜藏着——随后又显而易见地展现了：对牺牲、英雄主义、英勇以及服务他人的勇气的探索。
这是最具有“人情味”的故事，尽管绝大部分时间银幕上只有一个人类和一个外星人。他们在一起发现了某种东西——在彼此身上，也为了彼此，希望随之在心中升腾。希望是他们这段不可思议的友谊的锚点，也是他们精密科学研究和各种“科学恶作剧”的动力。
在电影院里，当我坐在三位神父朋友和丈夫身边大嚼爆米花时，脑海中一直回响着一段话：
……就是在患难中也是欢欢喜喜的。因为知道患难生忍耐，忍耐生老练，老练生盼望，盼望不至于羞耻，因为所赐给我们的圣灵将神的爱浇灌在我们心里。” —— 罗马书 5:3-5
Ryland Grace是一个受尽苦难的人，他在太空中忍受了人类从未忍受过的折磨。他感到虚弱，但他的性格得到了锤炼和磨砺，由此诞生的希望最终驱使他成就了伟业——远超他想象的伟业。
他一次又一次地践行着《罗马书》5:3-5。
这部电影太新了，我无法在此深入探讨某些具体时刻，因为我不能为你剧透。它真的太棒了。这是我唯一一部在观看时会不断背诵圣经经文的世俗电影。
这是一个关于希望的故事：希望驱动我们去做什么，希望又允许我们去做什么。希望不会让人失望，这部电影也是。
这就是我此刻意识不到自己竟然如此需要的电影。我需要一个关于“尝试与努力”的赤诚真挚的故事。我想要一个关于“为美好事物而奋斗”的故事，无论过程多么艰辛。在这里，希望是驱动因素：希望存在于“我们可以吗？”以及“是的，我们会尽己所能去尝试”之间。希望也存在于那个“为什么？”的答案中——“因为我们必须这么做”。希望是那个理由：“我们必须尝试挽救人类物种和地球母亲。”希望是一种信念：也许，如果有足够多的人贡献、牺牲并相信——投出那个“万福玛利亚”长传并完成达阵——我们就可能获胜。
如果在十年前，《挽救计划》可能不会讲一个男人和他外星朋友并肩作战、以巨大的个人代价挽救两颗星球的故事。它可能会变成：地球上的超级科学家建造飞船逃离末日，却只把座位留给最富有和最有权势的人。事实上，我记得确实有那样的电影，在所谓的伟大爱情故事背后，核心是自私的欺骗。
《挽救计划》之所以成功，是因为它在严肃对待“牺牲”的同时，拥有奇思妙想和欢声笑语。它是一部温情的“太空搭档喜剧”，同时严肃地探讨了挽救人类的行动，并深入观察了为何人类值得被挽救。
而这正是最终让它成为我最爱故事的原因：人类被认为值得被挽救。即使是那些有着扭曲欲望和腐朽算计的自私人类；那些充满残暴和邪恶的人类；那些傲慢自大、好胜心切的人类。人类依然值得挽救。
为什么？因为即便在黑暗中，依然有光。即便在看似腐朽的事物中，也并非全盘皆输。努力依然是值得的，因为我们心怀希望——相信并非所有人都是自私、腐烂、残暴或邪恶的。只有当你潜意识里相信正义必将战胜邪恶时，人类才值得挽救。这个疯狂的计划，这最后一记科学的“长传”，之所以被考虑，仅仅是因为存在一丝微弱的希望，相信它可能会奏效。
Ryland Grace和Rocky将为了那份美好而挽救群星，那是希望的源头——这份希望不会，也绝不能让人失望。
我们现在最需要什么？当我们目睹暴力与破坏、战争与饥荒，当深刻的分歧似乎仍在主导世界时，我们人类需要什么？什么能治愈人类？我们在教会中花了一年多的时间庆祝和祈祷的是什么？我们禧年的主题是什么？
是希望。
是的，这只是一部科幻小说，后来变成了惊艳的有声书，现在又成了由“千禧一代的老派Tom Hanks（注释：指主演Ryan Gosling）主演的银幕巨作。但它远不止于此。
《挽救计划》是一个震撼人心的故事：当希望与一点点“恩典”（Grace）成为燃料时，人类可以努力达成、甚至可能最终实现的奇迹。
Amaze, amaze, amaze。
