MovieChat Forums > The Martian (2015) Discussion > Damon would've gone nuts from the isolat...

Damon would've gone nuts from the isolation


Damon's character just seems to take the situation completely in his stride when in reality you'd develop many psychological problems from being isolated on your own for so long. This movie utterly fails at realistically depicting this.

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Agreed. Especially an attention seeking Hollywood libtard like Damon.

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Can you, please, keep politics on politics board? 🙄

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lol. You're obviously not a White male under 50 =D We make do, you know? You'd be surprised what you can get accomplished.

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You mean jacking off to porn? Well he didn't have that either.

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In a isolation cell in prison many people go insane.

A good case for cruel and unusual punishment.

The character in this movie however, much like Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000) had survival on his mind.

When you are focused on survival, you have goals, you are thinking about contingency plans, what might work, food etc etc...the psychological aspects can take a back seat.

I'm not arguing that they are not present, but given life or death day to day choices, isolations effects are not as relevant as if one is in solidarity confinement.

Also, astronauts are pyschologicaly screened for how well the do in isolation.

In the movie The Right Stuff (1983) you had that scene with Dennis Quaid and another (who failed) in the isolation chamber.

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The character in this movie, much like Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000) had survival on his mind.

When you are focused on survival, have goals, thinking about contingency plans, what might work, food etc etc...the psychological aspects can take a back seat.


Bad example since Hanks showed many signs of psychological distress and coping mechanisms including turning a volleyball into his best friend. It's an insult to Cast Away to compare the two actually.

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He did keep it together enough to survive however.

Astronauts are a different breed.

They are not your average Joe. Very goal oriented individuals.

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I'm not talking about managing to survive in the end, i'm talking about the journey in between and the difficulties a human being would face in this situation. A real life version of this character would not be as nonchalant as Damon in this movie. It was like it was just another day.

Astronauts are a different breed.

They are not your average Joe. Very goal oriented individuals.


Don't buy it. This is an extreme situation that can't be simulated. Isolation chambers aren't comparable because you know it's temporary and you'll be out sooner or later.

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"We all have our breaking points, you and I have them....Colonel Kurtz has reached his... and he has obviously gone completely insane"~ Apocalypse Now (1979)

My core argument is this; Goal oriented behavior can mitigate long term psychological effects. Astronauts are highly goal oriented and vetted by psychologist on how well they do in isolation. When survival is a day to day, it can focus ones mind.

I read a book on Neil Armstrong. His mind does not work like you or me, almost computer like in logic-thought. Years of training to dampen down emotions can have this effect on some astronauts.

No suprise to me that a astronaut could keep it together for a year.

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I don't think that's true for everyone and the challenges, or perhaps the success of overcoming each one, would help. If he'd been totally without hope and unable to change anything then that would have been far more damaging. I'm not saying he wouldn't have emerged with some odd quirks just not necessarily real damage.

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I'm not even talking about lasting damage, but psychological distress during the isolation. Put yourself in that situation, there would've been bouts of depression and hopelessness. Even without the dying alone on Mars aspect, there's the complete lack of human interaction. I'm just saying, it could've been depicted in a more realistic manner.

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Yes, that's true. I guess they could have shown that aspect but it's not really that kind of film and I don't remember the book describing anything like that either. It's an exercise in positive problem solving and personally I enjoyed it as it was.

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