jules

melancholic hyperfixator, 20, she/her

[whiteflwrs]

can’t and won’t stop thinking about eva stratt and ryland grace as two sides of the same sacrificial coin: one who offered herself to the cause as the world’s scapegoat and celebrated by no one, and one who is made the lamb without his consent yet celebrated as the savior he never agreed to be.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

and it’s exactly in said coin’s nature — two sides always meant to be tied to another, and never meant to face each other again.

[alienatedartt]

two sides of the same sacrificial coin

[whiteflwrs]

weir never gave eva stratt a middle name but in my head its maria. eva maria stratt. named after two biblical women, both of whom exist to move a story larger than themselves.

eva, as in eve: the woman at the origin of everything, the one who had to make the choices in the pursuit of knowledge. she who reached for what was necessary and was made a scapegoat for it, carrying the sins of her people.

maria, as in mary: the one who said yes to something incomprehensible and surrendered herself entirely to something larger than her own life. she who gave what she could not get back and interceded for the rest of us anyway. out of a faith and a love for humanity that did not waver.

the film makes a point of eva being a believer, and because she is a believer, the concept of sacrificial lambs is not new to her. she grew up singing about it, small and certain, long before she understood what it would cost. so of course she has a name for what ryland is. and so she sends him, someone she would not otherwise lose, and watches him go. her faith in the mission and her faith in ryland are not separate things. in the end the believer in her turns toward him, and she lets him bear it. she had to watch someone closest to her carry the weight of humanity’s survival. she chose to believe it was enough. and she knows, too, what role that leaves for her.

the scapegoat and the handmaid. the full arc of what it costs a woman to be the reason the world gets to live.

ps i also just really love the implication of eva naming it project hail mary because ave (eva) maria is its latin translation. a prayer, maybe. but more importantly, a testament of her faith in the project and in herself to bring it to fruition.

[filmopen]

to be loved is to be known

to be loved is to be understood

to be loved is to be seen

to be loved is to be heard

to love is to let go

[boldkatte]

[whiteflwrs]

on the topic of catholic allegories in project hail mary, i would like to raise eva stratt as abraham who sacrifices what is most precious to her — ryland grace — for the salvation she believes in. and like isaac, grace follows her willingly, right up until the moment he realizes he was always going to be the lamb.

but in their case, there is no benevolent god who stays her hand.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[boldkatte]

[filmopen]

not lovers not enemies but a secret third thing (she picked him because she knows he's brave even though he thinks he's a coward. it's her job is to be right about everything. the crew thinks they're sleeping together. he calls himself "her personal science lap dog". she's sending him on a one way trip to save the earth because she believes in him. it's her job to be right about everything. he tells her she's murdering him. she’s trying to stop herself from crying. she programs the ship to know how he likes his coffee. he's her best friend. she's his. she sedates him and sends him to his death. he can't forgive her but he understands. in the end she was right about everything)

[whiteflwrs]

yes, i like my ships and characters doomed by the narrative and no, i don’t want to think about what that says about me​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[whiteflwrs]

[girlrandomstuff]

I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOR

[girlrandomstuff]

this was eva stratt's first reaction when grace asked "what are you gonna do for the next 20 years?"

the yearning for something she couldnt have, because she knew she was spending the rest of her life in prison

and then she had to send him into a suicide mission

my doomed lovers 😫

[wine-dark-sky]

I was so scared they were heading for a romance subplot but congrats to Project Hail Mary for going for the far funnier option of 'Trolley Operator' and 'Guy She Is Actively Tying To The Tracks'. What a dynamic. Movie of the year.

[whiteflwrs]

who needs calendars when you can measure time in hyperfixations

[strattistician]

Stratt's prison/For All tattoo is in the same place where Grace gets injected with the sedative. I'm going to be sick

[lisztzada]

somewhere far away from here

[dreamingdruka]

this is uh. this is them.