MovieChat Forums > The Martian (2015) Discussion > Why was Damon's character basically doin...

Why was Damon's character basically doing stand-up comedy in space?

posted 7 years ago by escadamausgaby
24 replies | jump to latest

I found this pseudo-funny banter by Damon's character, using swearwords, cool jokes (e.g. "science the *beep* out of this thing Haha", "disco music sucks amirite", "Plutonium is dangerous LOL") to be extremely annoying. Took me right out the movie. It was so out of character for a scientist struggling to survive on Mars, because it was sooo overdone being a constant barrage of zingers - I'd have said nothing if they had him say such things once or twice to show he's a sarcastic person who doesn't lose his sense of humour even in the face of death, but to have him basically do stand-up up there on Mars was way overdone. Can't believe this kind of hack writing is the best Hollywood can do nowadays.

But I guess the dum-dums in the theatres thought it was comedy gold and didn't even understand why it was a lost chance to make the main character believable.

[–] duckofprey (1552) 4 years ago

>> Why was Damon's character basically doing stand-up comedy in space?<<

Hence, every Golden Globe award it was nominated for was in the “comedy or musical” category.

[–] Ziggy (1569) 4 years ago

It's a coping mechanism. Joking helps him to not freak out and give in to his fears. If he didn't joke, his fears might overwhelm him and prevent him from being able to focus and problem solve.

[–] Iffy762 (1331) 4 years ago

That was what I thought too. Being an astronaut you probably have to have a good amount of tolerance for risk, which means having internal coping strategies (not just technical skills but mental and emotional skills) and being the kind of person who would be able to activate those strategies in an emergency. It makes sense to me that one of his first coping strategies would be to detach from his fear so that he could bring other skills into play, whether his scientific mind or his sense of humor. I remember reading a news story about survivors that said that people who survive emergencies tend to be the ones who work through the problem proactively and never stop doing that as time runs down. People who do that don't always survive, but it gives them a greater chance of survival.

I liked that, over the course of the movie, as he ran through different strategies and began running out of options, that he stopped being able to resort to humor to keep his spirits up, and became more serious or despondent.

It reminded me a bit of the movie where Tom Hanks is stuck on an island and speaks to a basketball as if it were a person. Desperate situations call for desperate measures, kind of thing.

[–] naDaht (1087) 3 years ago

Nailed, nailer. It's just a way to keep sane and look at your situation from another perspective.

[–] johnmiller (3491) 3 years ago

Every time I see Matt Damon, I think of two things: 1.) It's Matt Damon, playing Matt Damon. So, I almost never believe the character he's playing, and 2.) When I see Matt Damon, I think of his "character" in "Team America: World Police": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnPWJOJYVKc

[–] Ranb (7699) 3 years ago

Most of the humor in the book did not make it into the film script.

[–] Ranb (7699) 3 years ago

The book explains it. Being funny was how he reacted to stress. Most of the humor from the book did not make it to the screen.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 3 years ago

Damon was great.

When you're stranded, you need to talk to someone or you'll go insane.
Damon had his video log.
Tom Hanks had Wilson (the volleyball).

[–] Miffed (34) 3 years ago

Agree here. If Mark Whatney kept moping and crying about being stuck in Mars, the movie would had just been another 'cast away'.