While watching the film Moon, the
background is shades of white, grey, and black, color only showed up in very
small, hidden corners. Picture, small,
lifelike representations of Sam Bell’s life covering the walls of his bedroom,
in a picture frame by his bedside, and in his pocket of his pants at all
times. He is a clone that is attached to
these inanimate objects as if they have meaning when in reality, he is just
part of this mission, just part of the machinery. These pictures bring Sam to life give him
meaning, direction purpose to his time on the Moon. He is able to see recording of his loved
ones, which he believes to be present.
The rest of the ship isolates him, giving him no life or motivation. Waking up each morning, he turns off his
alarm clock and takes the picture of him and his wife and counts down the days
until he is able to see her, two more weeks.
These pictures remind him of the time he has supposedly shared with her,
forcing him and the audience to believe that she is real and that he is
real. His passion and love for his wife
and daughter put him on a level in which we can relate to, a feeling that we
believe he feels, a feeling of pain and longing. Again, these emotions stimulate him to become
a better man for them shown by the difference in Sam one and two. The first clone shows patients and gentleness
while the newly awoken Sam shows anger and frustration not yet understanding
the value of these women.
Another colorful object that caught
my eye were his plants. They were hidden
in a dark refrigerator with one light shining on them. The green was vibrant and inviting, something
that gave the space station life, true and real life rather than artificial
life. Sam was able to tend to them like
children, talking to them, giving them names, and individually tending to
them. The audience was able to see him
make daily checkup making sure they were healthy or if they needed fresh
water. Sam would sit close to them,
giving his undivided attention to them as if they would die if he did not give
them the right amount of attention and care.
The plants were his children, like his daughter Eve who he was unable to
take care of and who was so young in all of the videos. Both are so fragile and need constant love
and care in order to thrive and survive.
The plants and the pictures
together motivated Sam to continue on his journey on the Moon. The plants helped him learn and to remember
how to take care of something or someone, preparing for his “little girl,” who
he constantly saw in his photographs everyday, who was waiting for him back at
home. If it was not for these little
pieces of hope and color in his life, Sam would have lost his humanity and turned
into a machine like the one in which he truly is.
Calling to our attention the plants as tools for Sam to keep a firm grip on his humanity is both obvious, yet completely overlooked. I agree with your point – it's plain to see how much he cares for the plants, as they're the only other living thing he has contact with (until the second clone). But this probably isn't something of which the audience initially thinks; I would assume most people, like I did, just think of the plants as his hobby. But they really are so much more than that. Sure, GERTY offers conversation and company, but not the same kind of maintenance as living things. In this way, I might say that Sam actually relates to his plants, as much as he is motivated by them, as you point out. They offer the only living connection he'll know. Nice thinking :)
ReplyDeleteI think it was very interesting that you noticed how Sam must feel about the plants that he takes care of on the base. I think the same could also be said about the model town that helps build. However, the case could be made that they aren't "living" the way the plants are. But it's pretty obvious that he cares very deeply about this model when the new Sam tries to tear it apart. Also, Gerty is a machine and isn't living but Gerty definitely cares more about Sam than anyone on Earth does.
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