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Considering what I know of Canon Grace so far, I’m totally not shocked that his relationship with his girlfriend didn’t work out.

(Sidebar: babes we need to have an honest reckoning with the state of the representation convo, especially wrt fandom Tumblr and similar spaces. I’ve heard people on this webbed site claim this man as aroace rep, and I love that for Film Grace. But the thing I must stress about Canon Grace is that he’s an insufferable ass written by an author who does not realize he’s an insufferable ass. I promise I promise I promise — there’s no canon information so far about why Canon Grace and Linda didn’t work out, but I promise it wasn’t because Linda was an Evil Neurotypical Hetero-Allosexual Normie who failed to love and accept and affirm a neurodivergent aroace icon for the gem that he was. Canon Grace is an asshole, and sure you can argue that aroace rep needs assholes too, but peep what I said about him being an asshole whose assholery is framed as righteous suffering.)

But on this next one I broke. I cackled out loud in my bedroom. What do you MEAN, we got an unironic Women Be Shopping (or at least own too many shelves full of stuff they bought while shopping)??

#andy weirdo vs women #poor linda #good on you for not being with this man #whoever made the decision to break up #elvella reads phm #andy weirdo #women be shopping #and a reckoning about representation #phm #phm 2021

Okay. So.

Film Grace’s characterization is (among other things) fearful and avoidant. His first impulse when faced with any unfamiliar or threatening scenario is try to run away. Tried initially to run from Stratt (and dithered when he finally did ask to join the science mission), tried to run from the room of Important People, tried to run from Rocky’s spaceship, obviously tried to run from the mission — anything that man could run from, he tried to run from. Now when he couldn’t run he absolutely did rise to the challenge with extraordinary courage and capability, but the characterization of “first impulse = flight” is pretty consistent.

Canon Grace is a different ball of wax. He’s the one constantly mouthing off to Stratt, the one who demanded to be let onto the science mission when she was going to take him off it, the one who so far as I can see feels no qualms about rubbing shoulders with all these foreign dignitaries, the one who had no reservations about meeting an alien. All of which could coalesce into an equally well-rounded and compelling character if Weird Andy had even slightly more deft a hand at characterization!

But any which way — when Canon Stratt calls Canon Grace a coward, when he calls himself a coward, I think the narrative as presented to us by Andy Weir wants us to see that as untrue and unjust. All the things Canon Stratt names in evidence of Canon Grace’s supposed cowardice — leaving the prestige of academia and becoming a school teacher, not having a het relationship — can easily be read as failing to perform a certain kind of masculinity. Aside from that, all that Canon Grace has been in this novel is a Confident Masculine Self Assured Badass who Don’t Bow Down To No Woman (even if she is his actual boss) and is Wholly Vindicated By The Narrative.

That’s my read of the situation, anyway.

#elvella reads phm #andy weirdo #andy weirdo vs characterization #i’m going somewhere with this but that part’s for another post #phm 2021 #phm

Also I would like to say for the record that I absolutely sympathize with y’all who are neutral on or critical of the glaze-y US-centric neolib politics of Project Hail Mary the movie, I truly do

And I would like to say that it truly does not hold a CANDLE to Project Hail Mary the book. Like, whatever is objectionable about the movie’s politics is ten times worse in the novel, I fucking promise

#y’all it’s a racket #it’s. it’s so much #elvella reads phm #andy weirdo

Okay maybe it’s because my sister is a teacher and I’ve known a number of teachers in my life, but the idea of Canon Grace in his teacher era going to a sit down diner every morning for breakfast because he hates cooking is SO time consuming and expensive, dear Lord

#andy weirdo #elvella reads phm #what is this i am putting in front of my eyeballs

I’m going to commit crimes because what do you MEAN Stratt’s out here trying to do naked discrimination to narrow an already tiny candidate pool for the mission?? And what do you fucking MEAN Canon Grace, Ryland fucking Grace as written by Weird Andy, is the one who gets to be all moralistically shocked at Stratt for trying to weed out anyone whom a white presumed-straight man might make problems for?? Bullshit. BULL FUCKING SHIT!

Can’t believe I’m about to up and thank some white men right now, but thank you Drew Goddard and thank you Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for cutting this bullshit! And as for Andy? Jail! Jail for a thousand years!

#obviously words don’t fail me cuz we’re here #but POLITE words utterly fail me #elvella reads phm #andy weirdo #i don’t even know what else to tag #fuck off andy #and fuck you #with ten dildos #elvella reads and screams #utterly flummoxed elvella #it’s stratt again

There’s a climate denialism and White Man’s Burden angle to this novel too.

Like, for the climate version of it, imagine a situation where greenhouse emissions are actually something we need MORE of, and ecological destruction is something we need to actually accelerate? What if circumstances absolutely FORCED us to do exactly the opposite of what climatologists are asking for? Also climatologists don’t answer basic questions and they disagree on stuff because they’re actually just liberal snowflakes pretending to be scientists and climatology is actually just silly made up bullshit.

And oh my god, we can’t do things like pretend to honor the sovereignty of African nation states and peoples, we can’t refrain from destroying their homes by paving the fucking Sahara, thereby almost certainly killing and displacing millions of people. Black lives are simply acceptable sacrifices for the cause of saving the world, no need for them to consent to any of this! And of course we want as many white men to be involved with the actual mission as possible, not because of racism but because we’re Putting The Mission First don’t ya know. It’s just necessary, our hands are being forced by Circumstances!

#elvella reads phm #andy weirdo #andy weirdo and racism #andy weirdo climate denier #phm 2021 #phm

Wait so, for a novel obsessed with getting the realistic part of the science right, how did the Hail Mary keep flour tortillas and CHEESE safe and edible for, what, twelve years? Am I missing something??

#elvella reads phm #andy weirdo #the burrito is breaking my brain a little #andy you’re the one obsessed with ‘realism’#how is a burrito in space realistic??#andy how do you think food works?#andy? andy!!

Have I told y’all how much I don’t like the way this novel handles Canon Grace’s relationship with Eva Stratt? It wants us to see her as intimidating and ‘domineering’ (she’s in authority, is she supposed to ask him nicely for things with a pretty please and a cherry on top?), but also as some gal who needs straight talk from her superior male underling.