Science fiction is a fun genre of film to experiment with, because writers and directors can dive into an aspect of science and technology that either has or had an impact on the past, present, or future. The sci-fi movies that hit the hardest, though, are typically the ones that work with a scientific aspect that is not only present in the real world, but also one that is actively progressing.
Some examples include Kubrick’s classic,2001: A Space Odyssey,Ex Machina, and more recently,The Creator.All of those films are centered on something that, at the time of its making, was a newly progressing technology that hadn’t fully shown significant consequences in real-life society yet. An especially popular example of a science fiction film with this theme is Christopher Nolan’s 2014 spectacle,Interstellar.
Interstellartakes place in the not-so-distant future, and follows the scientists and astronauts of NASA as they trek across the universe aboard the Endurance. The ship and crew are in search of a new home for humanity after Earth has gradually become less and less inhabitable. The reason for leaving the world behind inInterstellarinvolves a real-world aspect that was relevant before the film’s release, at the time of its release, and continues to be years after.
169 minutes
73%
RT Audience Score
86%
Interstellarbegins in the year 2067, and shows humanity at a time when they have all but given up. They realize that the planetEarth is gradually dying, and thus, humans with it. The crops are rapidly dying, and dust storms are a normal occurrence everywhere in the world. Yet although times are grim, there is peace among the population, and the world is devoid of the brutal conflict usually present in apocalyptic science fiction. People do their best to live their lives as normally as they can. They keep certain aspects of society and culture alive, like school, religious practicing, and even professional sports games.
However, humanity has become desperate for farmers, which leads them to be especially selective about who they decide should receive education after high school and pursue careers in fields outside of agriculture. The main character, Cooper, is told this when he is called to his children’s school to discuss the future of their education. Cooper is told by the principal that his son, Tom, doesn’t have sufficient test scores for universities to accept him:
Right now, [the world doesn’t] need more engineers. We didn’t run out of television screens and planes, we ran out of food. The world needs farmers.
As the dust storms and crop fires continue to terrorize Coop and the rest of the world, Coop stumbles upon the hidden NASA facility, where he learns their plan for salvation. His former college teacher and NASA scientist, Professor Brand, explains that a blight is responsible for the crop failure and disintegration of Earth.
Interstellar’s Blight, Explained
A blight is, simply put, a plant disease. This disease is caused by either a fungus or another bacterial infection, and can be spread by a number of methods, including by wind, water, insects, or other animals who fed on the infected plant. The best-known example in real-world history is Ireland’s Great Famine, which wiped out the country’s potatoes in the mid-19th century.
InInterstellar, by 2067, the blight had already wiped out nearly every major crop, leaving corn as the lone survivor. But even corn’s days are limited. When Coop realizes he’s at NASA’s headquarters, Professor Brand explains to him thedangers humanity facesin the near future:
Blight. Wheat seven years ago. Okra this year. Now there’s just corn. […] Earth’s atmosphere is eighty percent nitrogen. We don’t even breathe nitrogen. Blight does, and as it thrives, our air gets less and less oxygen. The last people to starve will be the first to suffocate. And your daughter’s generation will be the last to survive on Earth.
While there can be a sort of vaccine created for people to not get sick from the disease, there’s no realistic way in which scientists can prevent the disease from spreading, thus killing the crops one by one. But the blight itself eventually renders the air unsafe for humans to breathe. So, the scientists at NASA decide the only course of action isto leave Earth, as it is too late to save it.
The Earth dying as a result of the blight draws parallels with the climate crisis occurring in the real world. Increases in global temperatures can make way for various fungi to develop and adapt in order for them to survive (similar toHBO’sThe Last of Us). However, some of these fungi can be extraordinarily damaging to life on earth, both in the creatures and in the plants that call this planet home. And so,Interstellargoes on the list of sci-fi films that is not only a spectacular adventure, but also deals with a scientific concept that is extremely relevant in the real world.
