Gravity: A Space Odyssey?

While watching the movie, I became rather curious as to why there seemed to be no telling of Ryan's story. But then I realized it's all there.

The main character buries herself in her work (18 hour shifts), which puts them in greater immediate danger, but ultimately saves them from being shredded in the false safety of the space shuttle. I saw this to mean that while overwork is better than false comfort and can help someone move on in the short term, you can't do it forever because doing it any longer would kill not only you, but also everybody who cares about you.

Her fellow astronaut helps save her from the carnage, but is swept away. Even here, we see how she must save herself by unhooking from her work (symbolized by the satellite repairs).

Surviving the initial storm, she realizes it has taken a toll on her oxygen - the problem is killing her slowly. AND she's spinning. Which, (wait for it...) could be a metaphor for how people with psychological issues tumble in endless loops forever until they get help.

Thankfully, her man returns from the carnage. He has the stupidest idea of trying to retrieve the other dead astronaut (which definitely freaked out at least one of the audience, besides me) while she is running out of air. That looked like one unlucky headshot - "such a stupid way to die".

However, she is slowing them both down. The space tow scene could symbolize how her past baggage made it difficult for them both to move on.

Once outside the international space station, they must grab onto the station, because they used up all their fuel on the way there. Here, as they tumble out of control, she gets caught in the parachute cords. A possible symbolism here would be her joining the space program. It saves her from flying off into the emotional void, but it also looks like they broke up. Plus, he's out of gas.

We don't know explicitly what happens to her man. For all we know, he could have lived for a while and chose not to respond. What matters is he's gone now. The porthole shot reminds me of those old movies where a woman stares longingly into the distance.

In the space station, we see how she gets along. The fetal position shot signifies her psychological and technical development. She does some stupid things, like flying through the burning chamber into the wall with the fire extinguisher...and knocking herself out. (that was fun, we all LOLed. Also, the interior reminds me of Halo)

Wait, fire going out of control...sealing the bulkheads...knocking herself out trying to suppress the inferno? Could that be symbolic of her internal struggle? Or simultaneously, her burning desire to leave the training and actually go to space?

People have a tendency to compartmentalize the trauma they can't deal with. It's the natural way to move on and keep going.

So, she tries to escape on the soyuz pod. She gets it out, only to have it bungie right into the exploding space station. (sorry, woman driver jokes came to mind.) It is as if her lifeline is now preventing her from moving forwards.

Lucky for her, the debris field returns and she is now free, in space. The destruction of the ISS and the cutting of the lifeline could be symbolic of cutting the umbilical cord and literally blasting off.

It's exciting for a while, but now that she is freely floating in space, she must find the meaning of her existence. Find the reason to turn the air back on. Find the will to survive and get back to earth.

She attempts to contact others for help. But all she gets is trivia. Nobody understands. It's like something out of Lost in Translation, a kind of empty nihilism - and in space too.

And of course, there are her childhood problems associated with her dad expecting a son. Parental expectations can ruin childhoods. "There is no greater pain, than to remember happy times in misery." The inner child was left alone, wondering as she was forced to grow up. To me, the howling was the innocent child attempting to reconnect with the rest of her, just as dogs howl to signify their location.  

The howling scene probably ranks as one of the hardest scenes I've watched. At first, it was like - a grown woman pretending to be a dog! - how could that not be funny? But then, it started becoming sad. That was some brilliant emoting there.

But time is running out.

The answer comes in the form of a hypoxia-induced hallucination - "Landing is Lift-Off". In psychological terms, that means to resolve a past issue is to move forwards. And to resolve issues, one must first be grounded in reality and recognize its nature. Only then can one move on. (though I'm pretty sure for a second, we all wanted Clooney back! the audience almost get what they wanted.)

Cut to the capsule blasting itself free. That was really cool and realistic. She is now ready to face life and reality all over again. But to get to her new life, she must be prepared to enjoy the ride... in the burning TianJong space-station.

Back on Earth, she dumps the life-support, symbolized by the spacesuit, that allowed her to cope with the past. Then she breaks the surface into fresh air and swims out to shore and renewed life.

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I walked out of the movie thinking it was actually slightly hostile towards space development. Now that I realize it could be a metaphor, I realize it is not space that is the problem, but escapism from one's past. 

A word about 2001: A Space Odyssey. What 2001 expresses philosophically for the history and future of mankind, Gravity does for the individual. The two films are complementary and though both are set in space, they are on different orbits. But they do intersect.

More on this later.

Writing this review has allowed me to see the movie through new eyes. I'm sure many more interpretations will surface as more people recall the movie.

I hope you have too.