When First Man debuted at the Venice Film Festival in August, it launched one of the dumbest movie controversies of the year. Conservatives caught wind that Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong biopic didn't include a scene of the astronauts planting the American flag on the moon, and, without having seen the movie, threw a fit. Because he has nothing better to do, Marco Rubio called Chazelle's decision to omit the scene "total lunacy."
On Fox & Friends, Ainsley Earhardt said, “This is where our country’s going. They don’t think America is great―they want to kneel for the flag, for the anthem―it was never great. This is the direction―they’re scared to use the American flag. It’s Hollywood.”
It's baffling to compare athletes kneeling to protest the murder of unarmed black men to Ryan Gosling pretending to be an astronaut. But, after months of conversation, First Man finally arrives this weekend to prove how pointless this controversy really was.
The film offers new perspective on what has become a familiar story of one of humanity's greatest achievements. Meticulously directed by Chazelle, the film gives the most realistic view of space travel we've ever seen re-created in a Hollywood movie. It's not Ron Howard's polished re-telling of the disastrous Apollo 13 mission—these spacecrafts are hardly better than the New York City MTA, rattling around through space—rickety, claustrophobic, metal coffins separating these guys from near-certain death. First Man is the first depiction of space travel in a way that shows how truly psychotic these astronauts were to strap their bodies to these untested rockets and shoot themselves into the vacuum of space. The danger is real, as is the human element.
This is a story about humanity, about what drives us to look at the stars and decide we want to go to there—whatever it takes. It's as much about the thrilling and horrifying nature of space travel as it is about the unspoken understanding between Armstrong and his wife Janet (Claire Foy) when he finally returns safely to Earth.
But it's also patriotic as hell—without the schmaltzy flag scene. And conservatives have realized that.
"Look no farther than Kyle Smith's review in the National Review," screenwriter Josh Singer told Esquire of the patriotic themes of First Man. "He is someone who was very critical at the outset, he then called it the best movie of the year. I think that's your answer."
"This whole movie is very patriotic," Singer continued. "We feel the movie is really about an American family that really struggled through some extraordinary challenges and really managed to plow forward despite those challenges.
"In terms of the actual flag, it's just we were so intensely interested in what you didn't know, what you hadn't seen, so interested in Neil's personal—what happened to him and seeing these things in his eyes on the moon. It's a celebration of American work ethic and American exceptionalism. It's just a re-telling of what American exceptionalism is, which is not that we're born exceptional, but that these people put in the work and the sacrifice. I think it's certainly the most patriotic movie of the year, if not the most patriotic movie of many years."
It makes sense why conservatives would love this movie. They'll see a story that harkens back to a time when strong men bottled up their feelings and left the family at home to pursue the American dream. Gosling plays Armstrong as a detached, proud explorer. Grieving from the loss of his young daughter, Gosling's Neil recklessly throws himself into his work to avoid his feelings. He can't speak to his wife, his friends, or even his children. He's kind of a Don Draper in space. He trades his own life, his relationships, his family for his own selfish passion.
In the film, Chazelle and Singer also attempt to acknowledge people outside of the very white and very male confines of NASA. In one scene, soul crooner Leon Bridges plays Gil Scott-Heron performing, "Whitey On The Moon". It's a poem that criticizes the government for spending obscene amounts of money on space travel while black communities struggled economically. Foy also gives an incredible performance by shouldering much of the emotional burden of the movie. In one incredible moment, she confronts the NASA administrators who turn off her audio feed to the spacecraft when something appears to be going wrong.
Ultimately, what's important to take away from the film is not the politics—First Man isn't trying to be overtly partisan in any sense—it's about people. It's about sacrifice, and what we can accomplish if we look outside of our little bubble at what else is out there.
