Alec Jonavie A.

Baguyo
11 STEM-3
The Martian: View of the Feminist Mind
As a fan of science-fiction (sci-fi) genre movies, I could not help but be excited as I get a
chance to watch one in disguised of school requirement. True to my expectations, The Martian,
based on the novel with the same name, was worth the time to watch, with its careful attention to
details. However, while watching the movie, it is of relevance that I approach the movie with
feminist criticism. Specifically, this movie raises questions pertaining to women as the as the
main character, the role of women to society, and how women are viewed.
The Martian tells about Mark Watney, an astronaut of Ares III, left behind by his captain
and crew after being hit by a debris. Unable to have contact with him, they assumed he died and
left Mars. Unbeknownst to the crew and National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), Watney somehow lived and now face trouble on how to survive on the red planet for
four years, until the next Mars Mission, Ares IV, arrives. Fortunately, Watney is a botanist, who,
thanks to astronaut training, knows some knowledge about machines, computer-science,
engineering, driven by a lot of will and determination, thus helping him solve any problem that
arises, with some help of a team of NASA experts after he made contact with them.
Seeing a movie where the genius of men beats the universe, one would find himself
wondering, how about women? Will the movie take a different road if Matt Watney is a girl?
Matt Damon, who played Mark Watney, portrayed the character, as a person with intellect and
determination while at the same time, is humorous but if this role is to be portrayed by a girl,
would she also be a risk-taker or would she cower in fear knowing she is 140 million miles away
from earth, alone on a deserted planet? Males and females are structured differently, the same
with their psychology. Given the same situation, both approach and deal with it in different
ways. What a man has gone through and accomplish cannot be generalize as though women can
do the same and vice versa.
On another note, roles of women were shown in the movie. Interestingly, different from
what one would expect, the role, captain of Ares III, is a woman, Commander Melissa Lewis.
Unlike how women are usually portrayed, Commander Lewis is rational for she chose the safety
of the other crew members instead of risking their lives in search for Watney; she is calm as she
did not panic when the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) failed to reach the required speed and
altitude; and she gives the aura of someone who knows what she is doing, having been trained as
an officer in the United States Navy. Similarly, Annie Montrose, director of media relations for
NASA, was portrayed as someone of significance. Even though a girl, she was not left out during
discussions of rescuing Watney. Being responsible on handling the media, she was not made
redundant, and her role was respected.
 As Watney eats his last meal on Mars, he wrote a note on the rover saying, “To whom it
may concern, take care of this rover. She saved my life. Watney.” This note made an impact on
me, since he did not refer to the rover as a thing instead, he called it a she. What does this imply?
Others would say that it was just a play of words but one must remember that every part and
every detail of an art speaks for something else. Watney said the rover, she, saved his life.
Understanding this, one may derived that women are deemed important. Depending on how we
take care of her, she may give us protection and shelter from the unstable environment, lead us to
our destination, help us towards our goal, and, if one is lucky enough, save us from utter
destruction. Watney, while being isolated, realized and understood how women should be
viewed, thus stating that the rover is a she rather than an it.
In conclusion, there are many angles which could be taken when viewing The Martian
and one of these angle is the feministic criticism. Using this, one can imply that the movie would
take a different turn if the leading role was to be played by a woman. Nevertheless, women are
not inferior to men for they can also fill and do the role of men in the society. Lastly, women are
viewed as lifesavers, depending on how you take care of them. Hence, The Martian was a movie
worthy to watch as it explores different aspects of women in life.
Bibliography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_(film)
https://feminismandreligion.com/2015/11/15/what-if-a-woman-played-that-role-the-martian-and-
gendered-space-heroes-by-sara-frykenberg/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olympia-lepoint/the-martian-movie-review-_2_b_8344242.html
https://www.shmoop.com/the-martian/mark-watney.html