BLAST!
BLAST!, a new documentary by Paul Devlin, is a jolting, riveting, ride. At its New York premiere last week, audiences witnessed two efforts by astrophysicists to launch their telescope (named Blast) whose mission during its journey via air balloon is to photograph galaxies. At the opening, Devlin cleverly teases us with what seems to be a failed launch and then flashes back 18 months to the scientists’ first attempt to send off the telescope. It is to fly from Sweden to Canada, gathering data about galaxies near and far. The investigators, who include Devlin’s brother Mark, their Post Docs, and graduate students have spent five years designing and building the multi-million dollar scope, so a lot is at stake. But weeks of inclement weather delay the launch. Devlin, known for SlamNation which documented a national poetry contest, here shows us the personal sacrifices the team endures while separated from their families. They wait a month for the weather to clear. And one morning the sky opens up, but most of the team is absent from the launch site because meteorologists failed to predict the opportunity. The moment is lost. But during the fifth week, Blast finally floats away toward its destination.
To the scientists’ frustration, however, its lens is out of focus, the data sent back useless. We travel with them to Canada where, with NASA’s help, they retrieve the expensive, badly damaged equipment. Its half-a-million dollar primary mirror is shattered. Astrophysicist Barth Netherfield waxes religious, asking why a Christian would become a scientist. His answer: Any belief must be subject to investigation and he considers his life’s work a way to understand God’s creation.
Devlin’s teaser was so effective that at this point I worried that nothing would come of the expedition, that the documentary’s message was that science is rugged, risky, too hard––that few reap its rewards. But while repairing Blast and fitting it with a new mirror, senior members of the team comment that their students must learn science in the field, not just in the classroom. Seeing that they remain undaunted assuaged my concerns. But it is Thanksgiving and in an especially painful moment, Mark Devlin phones home only for one of his young sons to hang up in a fit of resentment over his dad’s absence.
The boy understands his father’s work, though, and explains that next he will be in Antarctica. In a haunting moment there, we see the hastily abandoned headquarters of Shackelton’s team. The Blast team made the pilgrimage out of respect for earlier scientists and the dangers they faced. Next, Devlin treats us to the pristine beauty of this frozen world—in one shot we see two scientists standing on ice, a thin line beyond them dividing white from white. It is the horizon. But the goal of Blast’s creators is beyond that––to understand dark matter and dark energy.
We are back in the first moment we witnessed at the opening. Instead of failing, though, a few seconds later Blast takes off. Only a scientists’ glove is sacrificed in a tangle of ropes as Blast frees itself from its berth. There is majesty in the long shot showing us the gleaming metallic instrument and the balloon reach the heavens.
This time the information Blast yields is formidable, but the remaining task is to retrieve the hard drives after Blast lands. Again we suffer uncertainty because when NASA separates the parachute from the balloon, it loses contact with Blast. The team locates the scope, which has been dragged 120 miles in the snow (the distance from Philadelphia to Washington, DC). They recover it, but the container holding the hard drives is missing. In a small plane, the team flies above the vast snow plains searching, searching. Finally, three miles from where Blast lies, they spot the container. Now agnostic Mark Devlin quips that the evidence is strong that God may exist.
Cut to maps of data showing new and old galaxies that, oddly, resemble red blood cells on a histology slide. It is a triumphant moment for the scientists, but they say the glory is in sharing with colleagues the data that they so painstakingly gathered. The more analyses, the better.
Sounds like a great science adventure story with a happy Hollywood ending, right? The Europeans think so, according to Devlin, and the six-month-old documentary has been well-received abroad. But Devlin can’t get BLAST! on the air in the States. American programmers are afraid there is no audience, they say it is marginal and “very niche” because its about science, he told me. Consequently, he has been marketing BLAST! by emphasizing the adventure story, personal sacrifices the scientists made, and stressing that science just supports the story. “We’re trying to change expectations of what science programming can be and that’s an uphill battle,” he says.
Furthermore, he says he mistakenly he thought that including religious views and family segments would resonate with those prejudiced against science and help overcome that. So when Netherfield volunteered his feelings about faith, Devlin included them, deepening the dimensions of Netherfield’s character. But Devlin told me that although for Netherfield science and religion are not at odds, The Religious Right could take issue with his statement that beliefs should be investigated and claim that it is subversive. But Devlin thinks Netherfield is brave to put his religious views to the test. Do you think it would have been right to edit out those comments and avoid a discussion about religion?
Trying to please one group alienated others; the film’s core audience, those already interested in science, and agnostics, are turned off by the references to religion. And some science teachers, says Devlin, object to discussions of religion in their classrooms, which could happen if they screened BLAST! They are under enough pressure when it comes to evolution, let alone astronomy.
Devlin chose not to succumb to what he calls the “anti-intellectual atmosphere here.” He has been targeting core audiences at museums, universities, and alternative venues that appreciate independent filmmaking. But without broadcast distribution, only limited attendees film festival will see this informative work, which vividly demystifies what astrophysicists do and illustrates the thrill of their success.
What do you think Devlin should do? TV programmers seem to be constrained by ratings and are therefore maintaining the anti-science status quo. But how can we compete, as a nation, when such a science adventure story is shunned?
And if scientists see that filmmakers are sacrificing or minimizing science content, might scientists become less willing to cooperate in future films? In BLAST!, Devlin and his sources worked collaboratively; the scientists themselves shot footage in Antarctica, offering us glimpses into their ways that a filmmaker’s presence might have hindered.
What do you think is the best way to get these two cultures, as C. P. Snow called them back in the 1950s, to overlap? Send me your thoughts.
The answer is that we’re not competing anymore in science, and it doesn’t become a problem until financial and real estate speculation runs it’s course, and our national debts overwhelm us. Until then, the incentive for our bright young people is to take part in our service economy, and shun the scientific community because it doesn’t pay as well.
And our xenophobia is now keeping out bright foreign students. Our biggest boost was World War 2 – when all the smart German Jews got kicked out of their country and came here to lead us to the moon.
George
My opinion is that of our Stateside programmers-There is just has no widespread audience for this content. Science fiction has it’s own share of problems finding markets. We have become numb to science, and crave the fantasy of science fiction, to capture the imagination and take us out of science boundries. The most watched science these days normally includes freakshows( I.E. Reality TV, Mythbusters etc.) They HAVE to do what they do, or they wouldnt find a market share either!
As a scientist myself, I have a hard time keeping my own projects in reality, wanting more to lean toward the far-flung, yearning to capture more technology than the limits of my money or my capabilities. I have a hard time even getting people to e-mail me back at times.
As far as the science and religion mingling? As long as they don’t get too “preachy”. I tend to lose interest fast if I feel like it’s just thrown in my face. If it is genuine, and a real part of the story, then give it some space in the story.
Myself-I might take a look at the film if I had the chance. Besides, the world is changing…….fast. And we need all those bits of technology for any answers they may provide.
Just my ramblings….
Mark
America is, I believe the numbers are: 25th out of 29 – in science for the youth of the world and our infant mortality rates are abysmal. And now I learn from this interesting article that American broadcasters shun such films as Blast because they are afraid there is no audience, they say it is marginal and “very niche” because its about science.
The inclusion of religion in this otherwise excellent scientific treatise, frankly offends me. I am beginning to feel as though I’m living in the United States of the Taliban. The Religious Right seems intent on taking over. It is they who seem prejudiced against science and thus our abysmal statistics in middle and high school math and science. I fear that if we continue to mix religion – untested and based on faith – with science – tested and based on research and duplicative efforts – we will continue to devolve into a second or third world country that shuns science for
unproved superstitious belief. Our constitution mentions religion and state and yet religion – to which people are entitled even though I believe it breeds prejudice – seems to take an upper hand even where state and science is concerned.
H
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