#4: The Martian Part Two: Beyond the Damon

As Stanley Kubrick's science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey ends with a segment entitled "Beyond the Infinite," so General Snobbery, in its conversation about The Martian (2015), travels "Beyond the Damon." After another fifteen minutes of Martian-related conversation--conversation spanning from David Bowie's horribly-placed "Starman", the film's use of Abba, Wall-E and Iron Man's strange influence on the climax, and the characters' roles not as characters but as deliverers-of-exposition--the conversation meanders into realms neither your hosts nor Matt Damon could have foreseen. What woe hath becommeth this flatlining Hollywood system? How does an illusory notion of "quality" continue to veil the populace's perception? Does commenting on a genre necessarily yield transcendence of that genre, a la Deadpool? How shall we respond in a filmic system that recycles material to repackage as propaganda-infused advertisements for a failing federal agency called NASA? Woe may be the way for many, but for others, the only logical response to the madness may be found through the lost art of snobbery. Our deepest gratitude to McMannus Pottery Co. for sponsoring today's episode. May our snobs be with you, always, eternally, dear listener.