For Me, Space Movies Are The Best

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

By Brittany Bryan

It’s November 9th in Los Angeles, 2014. I’m twenty-four years old and I’ve already deleted my Instagram account (twice). I’ve just started the workout DVD P90X – my downstairs neighbor says it sounds like there are three of me. My rent is $500. I listen to Ultraviolence on repeat in the dark and hang out with girls that I can only describe as “Not Catholic.” I've got a new Chevy… because my rent is $500. And for some reason, it is very hot out. It’s only a Monday, but I am chin up, teeth out, all gums – Interstellar has finally come out, and Liz and I have tickets.

You know that feeling you get when you’re just really looking forward to something? The feeling that it’s going to be big, that it could even change your life? At least, you hope it will. That concert, that date, that vacation. All your hopes and dreams to feel something you don’t get to feel all the time – have you ever let yourself feel that way about a movie? Is that lame? If it is, you'll have to forgive me – It’s been a long time since anybody’s asked me my favorite type of movie, but my answer is the same as it’s ever been:

Space!

I think Space Movies are it! They make me feel so happy, don’t you agree?! And a Christopher Nolan Space Movie? Archetypical! The Original Model, as far as I’m concerned. And the last time I checked, it is entirely harmless to give in to this specific kind of excitement. And if it turns out I am wrong, and movies are a drug, then whatever! Let me feed my addiction in peace.

The Space Movie genre is divided into three subgenres:  Space Opera, Space Horror, and what would turn out to be my favorite, Space Sci-Fi. I admit I haven’t seen every space movie, but if the film degree collecting dust in the trunk of my car could talk, it would tell you that I sure know how to sound like I have. 

The Space Operas are big and epic. The bad guys are very bad and the good guys run the gauntlet. There’s action, fight sequences, and explosions (more on explosions later). Hardly any singing! This subgenre has made way for franchises like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy to become a happy monolith of their own. Space Horrors? Scary. Hell. Literally – in Event Horizon there’s a portal straight to it. To quote the one Wilson brother in Armageddon, these movies often take place in the “scariest environment imaginable.” Every character is fighting for their life against every kind of cosmic threat. Films like Alien and Life carry this theme, too. Their stories rely on the mystery of space to manufacture a fear of the unknown. In truth, I am too afraid of these movies to watch a lot of them, but when I do, I always hope there’s a good guy who makes it out alive, if not for me than at least for the sequel! In this subgenre, creatures often fight creatures, and humans fight humans, but I think it’s the only instance where one fights the other. And THEN, there are Space Sci-Fis. Of the three subgenres, this is the one I reach for most. These movies place realistic characters in realistic storylines. The fictional parts, like scenarios and visuals that take place from beyond Earth, are often based as much as possible on scientific fact and credible theories. Sci-Fi movies like Interstellar and The Martian put ordinary characters in convincing alternate realities, making it easier for us to focus on the plot. Which, remind me, was what again? A feeling. Ah! 

Racing toward that feeling in 2014, I pulled into the parking lot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria to meet Liz at the Arclight theater for an 8PM showing. The movie had been playing early at other theaters around the city for a couple of days, but this day was its official release. I’d never been to the Arclight before, and it was almost 7:30 p.m. when I found the entrance. It was almost 7:31 p.m. when I found the bar.  If I remember correctly Liz already had a drink in front of her when I arrived, but that’s the last thing I remember correctly. At some point we traded in our 8 p.m. tickets for the 9 p.m. showing. I know there was food and I know it was a Caesar salad. More drinks. 9 p.m. approached, and again, we traded in our tickets, this time for the 10 p.m. showing. More drinks. No more food. Shots? At a movie theater?

Delays aside, I was really excited for the movie. It was a space movie after all, and I can tell you more about why we love them. First of all, the genre itself is an escape. It  takes us as far away from Earth as a person can imagine. Vast spacescapes and different iterations of the cosmosphere can help us zero in on how irrelevant our worries from Earth can actually be. We are taken out of our seats and into the final frontier. To me, this genre best allows us to feel the entire range of human emotion, all in one go. I mean have you even seen WALL-E? That’s Sci-Fi, Romance, and comedy – all rolled into one. Some Space Movies are even meant to be funny from the jump, like Galaxy Quest and Space Balls. And the high stakes of Space provide endless opportunities for our  favorite characters to discover the best in themselves for the sake of others – a salutary catalyst brought on by our innate human instinct to do and be good. I like their stories of survival – Taking the adventure, saving the planet, making it back home. They make me feel less alone. 

I love Space Movies because we get to imagine with reckless abandon while we hang up our disbelief. What a sweet escape. Fire-y explosions in space? Not possible, wheels up anyway! Billy Bob Thornton as the executive director of NASA? Interesting choice, I’m on board! Matthew McConaughey emerging from two years of cryosleep with a suntan? Diva! Main characters always from the middle of nowhere? Aliens love a cornfield! Talking robots that love art? Scholastic! Does the crew need a gravity assist? There’s a slingshot maneuver for that, the manual is in the glovebox! A movie about Matt Damon stranded alone on a desolate planet hoping Jessica Chastain will save him? You’re in luck, they made two of those! Listen, as long as these people play by the rules of the reality that they’ve made clear early on, I am all in. In some instances, the element of disbelief even plays a critical role in the plot of the film. For example, it’s strange when you realize Murph’s childhood bedroom hasn’t changed in twenty-five years, but how else would she find the watch to communicate with Cooper and save everyone on Earth? And if that pisses you off, wait til you hear about The Force! 

Back in 2014, by 10:50 p.m., Liz was in our seats… watching Interstellar, and I was in the women’s bathroom… with my face in a toilet. This thing that I had been waiting for, that I was so excited to see, I was missing it!! I waved goodbye to my Ceasar salad and picked myself up off the floor. I went back to my seat, and I watched the rest of my movie. It was everything. I saw my movie three times that week. My rent is no longer $500, and the Arclight theatre doesn’t exist anymore. That time lives with the rest of my memories now, in a vacuum. I remember how they felt.

I escape to them whenever I want.