Passengers

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  • #31
    Re: Passengers

    Originally posted by ATB View Post
    That's the entire hook of the movie, though. Do you live out your remaining life alone or do you wake someone else up, essentially dooming them to your own fate?

    It's not morally questionable. It's a moral question. And it's one the protag struggles with, making the story all the more compelling because it's something we would struggle with.

    Also, sounds like you've read the whole thing, so you probably know (SPOILER)... that he unwittingly saves her life by waking her up, because everyone would have died had they not discovered the malfunction(highlight if you've already read the script).
    the ending just makes it even worse. it's in the same vein as "it was just a dream". it's a storytelling cheat. it's a false cop out.
    a decision can only be judged at the time it was made. he only woke her up because he was lonely and in love with her. to me that's as selfish as you get(in a creepy way as well).

    it's not a movie because of this, and will never be made in it's current form.

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    • #32
      Re: Passengers

      I think you are being extremely self-righteous. If you were genuinely faced with 50 years of isolation I guarantee you would at least consider doing something similar.

      I'm also a little tired of the idea that a protagonist has to always be likable and morally above reproach. If that was the case we wouldn't have seen some of the most compelling characters of the last 10 years (Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood, Nick Naylor in Thank You For Smoking, Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, Walter White in Breaking Bad to name just a few)

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      • #33
        Re: Passengers

        ^What he said.

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        • #34
          Re: Passengers

          I finished it today. I thought it was light hearted and fun. I saw no real darkness in it other than the threat of moral ambiguity.

          As a whole, it works, and I particularly thought it worked well. It was thought provoking without being heavy handed, campy when it needed to be, slapstick at times, and dramatic when necessary.

          And it did what any good story should do. Despite anything I might have done differently....

          SPOILER ALERT

          I would have made Gus a sacrifice rather than a suicide.

          END SPOILER

          ... it did something many stories I've read of late have failed to do. I smiled at the end. It felt good. It felt rewarding.

          Hollywood may not be hip to these kinds of stories right now, but in my opinion, that's a d@mn shame, because Passengers is good and deserves to be made into a movie.

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          • #35
            Re: Passengers

            Originally posted by ChadStrohl View Post
            I finished it today. I thought it was light hearted and fun. I saw no real darkness in it other than the threat of moral ambiguity.

            As a whole, it works, and I particularly thought it worked well. It was thought provoking without being heavy handed, campy when it needed to be, slapstick at times, and dramatic when necessary.

            And it did what any good story should do. Despite anything I might have done differently....

            SPOILER ALERT

            I would have made Gus a sacrifice rather than a suicide.

            END SPOILER

            ... it did something many stories I've read of late have failed to do. I smiled at the end. It felt good. It felt rewarding.

            Hollywood may not be hip to these kinds of stories right now, but in my opinion, that's a d@mn shame, because Passengers is good and deserves to be made into a movie.
            I pretty much agree.

            I read it last night in one sitting, which is a first. Usually, I have to take a break from a script, or what not...but not with this bad boy. It's what we call a page turner.

            It had me from page one and never let go.

            I just love his style of writing.

            The only problem with it, if anything, is that there really isn't an active antagonist. But if you think about it, 'Moon' didn't have an active antagonist--as far as I can remember--and it worked on so many levels.

            This would be a good movie, but I don't see Keanu playing Jim.
            The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost

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            • #36
              Re: Passengers

              Originally posted by Rhodi View Post
              I think you are being extremely self-righteous. If you were genuinely faced with 50 years of isolation I guarantee you would at least consider doing something similar.

              I'm also a little tired of the idea that a protagonist has to always be likable and morally above reproach. If that was the case we wouldn't have seen some of the most compelling characters of the last 10 years (Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood, Nick Naylor in Thank You For Smoking, Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, Walter White in Breaking Bad to name just a few)
              personally i have no problems with it. i'm talking about the general reception. basically, the main character's action is the equivalent to murder.
              that is also why the script is dark. dark has nothing to do with vampires or tone.

              furthermore, none of those supposedly non-likeable and non-moral characters are comparable to this. interestingly though, one way to solve "passengers" is to make the main character a criminal from the beginning. i still can't see it work, but i would like to see it made

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              • #37
                Re: Passengers

                Equivalent to murder? Seriously?

                It's waking someone up. She will most likely die of old age. Murder has no relation to that action.

                I think you may be looking at this from a moral high horse. From my perspective, it's hard to even look at what he does as wrong. I mean, is he really supposed to grin and bare it, just live out his days completely alone? Honestly, not waking someone else up would be the wrong choice.

                And yes, it does make his decision seem a little less iffy from a moral perspective when we learn that everyone may have died had they not discovered the source of the malfunction.

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                • #38
                  Re: Passengers

                  Equivalent to murder? Seriously?

                  It's waking someone up. She will most likely die of old age. Murder has no relation to that action.
                  / SPOILERS BELOW /

                  I only read this a few days ago so hope it's still pretty fresh in my head - doesn't the girl he woke up accuse him of murdering her? The protagonist also uses the term 'murder' at one or more points.

                  For me, I judge the decision on how he acted with the information he had at the time which means, although murder's maybe a bit strong, he was certainly OK with condemning her to a life sentence somewhere she never planned on with someone she never planned to be with. He saved her inadvertently, his motivation was purely selfish.

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                  • #39
                    Re: Passengers

                    Selfish, absolutely. But that's a far cry from murder.

                    It's a compelling situation to be in. I don't think anyone can say unequivocally that they would not wake someone else up.

                    Especially after spending, what was it, a year alone already? He's basically losing it, from what I remember (I read it a couple years ago).

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                    • #40
                      Re: Passengers

                      Waking her up was a terrible thing to do - no doubt about it - but you have to consider how the protagonist feels at the time he does it. He's had no one besides a robot to talk to for a very long time and knows that he will die alone and there's this woman right there that he's started to fall in love with. When people are isolated for long stretches of time they can start to lose their minds and do irrational things. They can also do irrational things for love...

                      The thing Spaihts has to do is make sure our journey with the protag allows us to understand and even empathize with his terrible decision. Maybe for some, Spaihts didn't do a good enough job with that but you can only have your protag wallow in misery for so long. I was fine with it.

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                      • #41
                        Re: Passengers

                        I was ok with his decision to wake her up, too. Anyone else in the same situation would eventually do the same. SPOILERS -- Also he struggles with the decision FOR A LONG TIME, and then seriously pays the price for it when she finds out what he did. And ultimately it turns out he SAVED her life (and the lives of many others) because they end up keeping the ship from exploding.

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                        • #42
                          Re: Passengers

                          I hope some day people have this involved a discussion about the moral conundrum in something I've written.
                          Chicks Who Script podcast

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                          • #43
                            Re: Passengers

                            The fact that people are arguing both sides so vigorously whether to wake up the woman or not, shows Spaihts did his job as a screenwriter. Created a compelling scenario that people would be discussing if the movie is ever made.

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                            • #44
                              Re: Passengers

                              Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                              I hope some day people have this involved a discussion about the moral conundrum in something I've written.
                              Haha... yup -- yet another sign that Passengers is a great script.

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                              • #45
                                Re: Passengers

                                Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                                I hope some day people have this involved a discussion about the moral conundrum in something I've written.
                                My first ever

                                +1

                                And I had hoped I would never do it.

                                Another moral conundrum?

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