8 Problems Which Prevent Interstellar From Becoming A Masterpiece
4. Sophomoric Philosophizing
With Memento, Christopher Nolan explored the idea of the subjectivity of the nature of memory with a subtlety not often seen in movies; similarly with The Prestige he dazzled audiences with a clever approach to both perception and the deception, articulating these themes through well-staged scenes played out by rounded characters. Interstellar strives for similarly revealing insights into the nature of humanity and the universe around us, but on reflection feels decidedly inferior to his earlier efforts. Two lines of dialogue reveal just how little potentially interesting philosophical ideas are explored in Interstellar - firstly, the line Out in space, we face great odds but not evil" hints at the idea of exploring the concept of evil in a context broader than that of mankind's own propensity for evil acts but roundly drops the ball and goes nowhere with it. Secondly, the line Were not meant to save the world. Were meant to leave it" similarly serves up a blanket statement about the future of the human race with a mixture of manifest destiny and arrogance; an assumption that Nolan seems to believe is a fact. There was great potential to explore and reflect on our hubris as a species but instead there's an almost naive sense of our inherent goodness which reduces the idea to a soundbite. Just as the notion that love can transcend time and space is offered with little in the way of fleshing it out and exploring the implications, so too do the other ideas in Interstellar often feel like throwaway lines which give the impression of philosophical depth but ultimately lead to nowhere.
