Despite having the trappings of a hard sci-fi adventure story, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is a deeply humanist and spiritual film exploring philosophical and emotional issues in a complex way (Dean, 2015). Central to this are the concepts of bravery and sacrifice: as Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and the rest of his crew take great risks and travel vast distances to save humanity from a dying Earth, the characters all display varying aspects of the human condition, especially related to these very big, complex ideas. As the characters of Interstellar go about their mission and weigh the risks and rewards of each and every decision, they each find their own definitions of bravery and sacrifice, weighing their own personal decisions against the fate of the planet.
The concept of bravery is a complicated one – what constitutes being brave? Many people have their own definitions, from defending those they love and wish to protect to simply standing up for one’s convictions (Poldervaart, 2015). To be certain, the characters of Interstellar are, for the most part, deeply brave in their own ways. Cooper, for instance, wishes to go out into space to save the Earth, potentially losing his life in the process, which is brave. However, more selfishly, his motivations are personally attuned to that of his daughter Murph (Jessica Chastain), for whom he makes these very specific sacrifices. Amelia (Anne Hathaway), by contrast, is much more concerned with the big picture – that of saving Earth – but even then is uniquely concerned with searching for her lost love, Dr. Edmunds, as well as living up to the shadow of her visionary scientist father (Michael Caine). Both of these characters are brave in different ways: Cooper is more personally, individualistically brave, while Amelia is dedicated to the furtherance of the mission. It is possible to equate this kind of sacrificial bravery with others who undoubtedly march to their deaths for what they believe is a greater cause – however, despite the destructive ends of suicide bombers, for instance, the crew of the Endurance is on a deeply humanist mission to save humanity, not selectively destroy those humans they believe are antithetical to their way of living.
The central ethical dilemma present in Interstellar – do the ends justify the means? – is personified by Plans A and B for saving humanity. Plan A, the one that Cooper signs up for and hopes will succeed, is the more optimistic one: that there is a habitable planet on the other side of Gargantua, and that they can save humanity by bringing everyone (particularly Murph) to this new planet. However, Mann, Dr. Brand and the more pragmatic scientists on the expedition favor Plan B, in which the closest possible planet will be seeded with embryos shipped about Endurance, so that life on Earth will begin anew. The divide between these two plans forms much of the ethical basis of Interstellar, as Cooper constantly fights with Amelia and the others about the compromises they must make to investigate each planet while making sure to save humanity in time to save his daughter. Coop’s tear-jerking scene in which he watches tapes of his children (who have aged faster than he due to time dilation) illustrates the sacrifices he is making out of true bravery: in order to save his children, he must watch them grow up without him. Ultimately, Cooper’s perspective is shown to be the correct one, as even Amelia leaps to emotion and love over pragmatism (hoping that Dr. Edmunds is alive), and his emotional, personal connection with Murph is the plot device that saves humanity (Luminet, 2015).
When thinking about the characters of Interstellar, and their varying levels of bravery, sacrifice and pragmatism, it is clear that Nolan uses these characters as ciphers to present more essential ethical and philosophical questions. Cooper represents the emotional, deeply principled and family-oriented perspective of humanity, in which the greater health of humanity is less important than the people we love and care about. Amelia, meanwhile, is the more pragmatic, big-picture thinker, hoping to use objectivity to clearly save humanity (even if that means starting over). Mann, meanwhile, hypocritically takes Amelia’s perspective on the surface, but secretly just wants to live regardless of who dies in his place. By exploring these character dynamics, and the grander thematic questions the plot brings up, Interstellar becomes a fascinating treatise on how we define bravery and humanity.
Works Cited
Dean, Nicky. "Film: Disbelief, suspended?." Nature Physics 11.1 (2015): 3-4.
Poldervaart, N. T. "Post-humanism, Science-fiction, and Religion: Including an Analysis of
Frankenstein." (2015).
Luminet, Jean-Pierre. "The Warped Science of Interstellar." arXiv preprint (2015).
Nolan, Christopher (dir.). Interstellar. Perf. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica
Chastain. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2014.
