Silent Running - Lockdown as Interstellar TravelOne of my...
Silent Running - Lockdown as Interstellar Travel
One of my favourite thought experiments is to imagine that my apartment is actually the living quarters on an enormous interstellar spacecraft. At a time of mass international lockdown across the globe, this imaginative scenario might be a nice departure from the monotony of indoor life. You can even consider that your windows are digital projections of a long departed earth. The benefit of this scenario is that it forces your hand, you have to stay inside as there is simply no other option. No one wants to open their front door and become sucked into the vacuum of space. It is an imaginative form of learned helplessness, you have to give in. The benefit is when you cease the thought experiment and realise you are still earthbound, and much much more free than you would be in the loneliness of deep space.
Now there are numerous films that provide such a scenario. Many indulge in suspended animation to sidestep the boredom of the travel (Alien franchise), or the trials of mass communal living as we journey through space (Battlestar Galactica). The humans in WALL-E seem not too distant, entranced by their screens with endless supplies of food and I suspect toilet paper.
As a way to exxplore this idea and to muse on the current condition of lockdown, I refer to the overlooked 1972 classic Silent Running. This is a slow and lonely movie but full of hope. Bruce Dern’s character is adrift deep in space tending to the last remaining gardens from earth. His loneliness is enforced when the ship’s crew are given orders to jettison the gardens, effectively destroying them forever. Dern’s character, Freeman Lowell, rebels and opts to save the gardens at the expense of his crew. He is left alone with three robots to manage the gardens. The film explores the boredom and self-loathing of the lonely Lowell. It also captures his resolve and motivation to set things right. The final scene of the movie provides a still provocative image of our technological future and environmentalism.
The film is not without its critics. It is seen by some as too twee and sentimental. But it remains a powerful and thought provoking project. The director, Douglas Trumbull is well-known for his special effects work on Blade Runner and also 2001: A Space Odyssey. He reportedly made the film in response to the lack of humanity and emotion in the latter. A recommended lockdown film, full of humanity, and also a helpful thought experiment.
