Gravity (2013)

Gravity (2013), starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, is Castaway in space. The first twelve minutes of the film are one long shot. Then after an accident in space, the movie turns into a quest for one woman astronaut’s will to survive. I liked the 90-minute movie, although I was looking for more action. Interestingly, while the film seemed to be about one person and their ability to survive in extremely difficult conditions, some people have found spiritual themes found in the film.

As Jeffrey Weiss notes in his Huffington Post article:

Dr. Ryan Stone, a researcher-turned-newbie astronaut played by Sandra Bullock, is eventually alone and probably facing imminent death, stuck in a damaged tin can zipping through shrapnel-loaded airless space. So she starts a monologue. “No one will mourn for me,” she muses. “No one will pray for my soul. … I’ve never prayed. … Nobody has taught me how. …”

Weiss is not alone in recognizing the theme of prayer in the movie. talk about scenes that show a possible Christian motif. As Eric Hann, Cinema and Media Arts professor at Biola University and freelance cinematographer, told the Christian Post in a review of this film:

Although miracles surrounded her,…the near escapes from death did not address “the emptiness of her inner self.” Only a very personal engagement – the near-death visitation – gives Ryan new purpose and a drive to survive. “I don’t want to say it’s theistic, but maybe divine about the idea that what changed her mind was very personal – it was another person.”

The film contrasts the wonders of human technological advances versus a transcendent God. Dr. Stone is surrounded by technology that cannot save her. However, once she recognizes that there is more to this life than what she sees, a pathway to salvation appears. As the Catholic Register notes in its review:

The technology which this film legitimately celebrates is marvelously useful and, in its own way, beautiful. But it can’t save us, and it can’t provide the means by which we establish real contact with each other. The Ganges in the sun, the St. Christopher icon, the statue of the Buddha, and above all, a visit from a denizen of heaven (George Clooney), signal that there is a dimension of reality that lies beyond what technology can master or access.

The ending to the movie proves this point. The spacecraft crashes to the ocean. Dr. Stone lifts herself out of the spacecraft and swims to the surface. She then swims to land. As a she reaches out to clutch the fresh sand, Dr. Stone speaks one word “Thanks” and the film ends. Who would she be thanking if not God?

Questions:

How has prayer helped you during difficult times?
Who do you think Dr. Stone addresses at the end of the movie when she says “Thanks”?
Do you think God listens when we pray? What do you think about prayer?