Editing 1536: The Martian

{{comic
| number    = 1536
| date      = June 10, 2015
| title     = The Martian
| image     = the_martian.png
| titletext = I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is very excited about seeing that the trailer for ''{{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}'' is finally released, because he really liked the book. It's most likely that he represents the comic author [[Randall|Randall Munroe]] himself.

''The Martian'' is a 2015 film based on a 2011 science fiction {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)| novel of the same name}} by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weir}}. The plot involves an astronaut who's accidentally left on {{w|Mars}} when the rest of his crew has to leave during a disaster. The central plot of the novel involves the protagonist having to improvise ways to survive in such an inhospitable environment until a rescue mission can be mounted. 

[[White Hat]] is apparently unfamiliar with the book, and [[Cueball]] explains it by referencing a scene from another movie. {{w|Apollo 13 (film)|''Apollo 13''}} is a film about {{w|Apollo 13 incident|an actual event}} in which a mission to the moon had to be aborted when the ship was damaged en route. In [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry55--J4_VQ the referenced scene], NASA personnel had to quickly develop a plan to build an improvised adapter for a carbon dioxide scrubber, using only those materials available on the spacecraft. This task was critical to the astronauts' survival, if they had failed, the air in the ship would have soon become unbreathable. 

Cueball apparently particularly enjoyed that scene, and suggests that this kind of on-the-fly problem solving in order to survive is the central theme of ''The Martian'', rather than being only a single scene. 

In the final panel, White Hat wonders how such a plot was made into a big-budget film starring Matt Damon. Matt Damon is a high-profile star, known for action films like the {{w|Bourne (film series)|''Bourne'' series}}. Blockbuster films with such stars are usually designed to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, to maximize ticket sales, and therefore justify their large budgets. The kind of cerebral, science-heavy problem solving at the core of ''The Martian'' tends to appeal to a smaller, nerdier demographic. Cueball appears similarly surprised that the film was made in the first place, but is happy that it was. 

On the day the movie was released in the US, Randall went to see it and released this comic about it: [[1585: Similarities]].

In [[2561: Moonfall]] a similar discussion of an upcoming movie is made for ''{{w|Moonfall (film)|Moonfall}}''. But in that case it is the scientific inaccuracy that is the subject, and the huge explosion that makes it worth seeing anyway... maybe?

<!-- The title text needs a<br> *** This is supposed to be a comment, is it? And I think it worked well enough when the line was given a preceding space thus formatting as 'text box'-ish ((Actually, that was Moonfall's original setup. Sorry!)). Alternatively, jut put a blank line between. Anyway. I'll let others clean this up with their own preference. -->
'''Spoiler alert:'''<br>
The title text references a particular event in ''The Martian'''s story: The protagonist managed to establish communications with Earth by {{w|repurposing}} the {{w|Mars Pathfinder|Pathfinder}} space probe that NASA landed on Mars in 1997. While working on another piece of equipment, he accidentally subjects the probe to an electrical short-circuit, destroying its electronics and "bricking" it. "{{w|Bricking}}" is a term in consumer electronics which essentially means to cause an electronic device to become non-functional and essentially no more useful than a "brick". An unexpected "bricking" can be very surprising, and in a case where the item is critical, could be devastating. This bricking scene from the book was left out of the movie.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer and White Hat walks in.]
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for ''The Martian!''
:White Hat: What's that?
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.
:White Hat: Should I read it?

:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face White Hat.]
:Cueball: Depends. You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect ''this'' thing to ''this'' thing using ''this'' table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?
:White Hat: Yeah?

:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking. White Hat looks at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: ''The Martian'' is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.
:White Hat: How on earth did ''that'' become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm ''so'' excited.

==Trivia==
In [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SemyzKgaUU&feature=youtu.be&t=2760 a video interview] by Adam Savage with Andy Weir the author of ''The Martian'' says that his goal was to make the whole book like the mentioned scene from ''Apollo 13'' - exactly what the comic is saying. The video was posted on YouTube the day after the xkcd comic.

In the end, ''The Martian'' likely didn't disappoint the big-budget movie makers, grossing more than $630 million against a budget of $108 million.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] <!--Matt Damon-->