As we've seen, there's a lot of astute understanding of human behaviour running through The Martian, but what does it all really mean? Well, suitable for a film that mixes epic scope and human drama, it ultimately comes down to two key parts of being human; one personal, one much bigger. The first is the power of human perseverance; that drive to survive in the face of insurmountable odds. This is a key throughline to the film, with Mark constantly adapting to any and all of the pitfalls that come his way, while those helping him rally together and persevere in the face of all external pressures. It's a simple, wholesome message and not all that hidden, but lends the tense story an underlying sense of purpose. What's very clear is that all of this isn't born of a personal, self-serving desire. The Ares crew work against such insular desires to make the sacrifice (of either two years or of their lives) to go and save Mark, and the Martian himself is acceptant of his likely fate while trying to survive, which brings us to the broader message.
We're Part Of Something Bigger
In one of the film's most touching scenes, Mark asks Commander Lewis to deliver a message to his parents where he states he will die knowing he did so in service of something greater. They're obviously the words of a scared man whose jubilance is waning, but are also the most oblique presentation of The Martian's conclusive theme. The film may deal with the future of space exploration, the weight of a life and human perseverance, but it's ultimately about something bigger. Literally - it's a movie about understanding where we all fit in the grand scheme of things, and how our lives matter within that. There's no attempts to verbalise what that scheme is - such ideas defy comprehension - but the important thing is accepting the base idea. Like NASA teaming up with CNSA, or Martinez's family accepting him jetting off into space, or the crew getting away with mutiny, or Mindy acting as a metaphor for the rise of a younger generation, or Mark being absent from the final scene, everything in The Martian comes down to expanding humanity's place in space. That grasping of the wider picture alongside the personal story presents a microcosm of galactic self-awareness; understanding that for all our strifes we are just a small part of the wider universe. This is a theme we've seen a lot in sci-fi (most recently in last year's Interstellar), but what makes The Martian's exploration so potent is that through all of this it never loses focus the individuals. Personal and expansive; down-to-Earth and intergalactic; it's a film about the individuals who make the whole. What do you think the ending of The Martian means? Share your thoughts down in the comments.
