Please spellcheck the next subtitle, keeping the time entries unchanged:

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Okay, gotta admit,
sometimes I just get in the

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mood for like a good, solid
spaceship movie, you know?

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Oh, yeah, for sure.

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But this deep dive, hmm,
this one's a little different.

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A little bit different,
yeah. We're strapping in for Aniara. Okay.

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It's a Swedish film from a few
years back, 2018. Mm-hmm.

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And it takes that whole spit-ship
thing, that metaphor we love. Yeah.

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And it kind of steers it right into
a cosmic existential crisis.

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It really does,
like, it leans into that feeling

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of being a drift,
doesn't it? Oh, totally.

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You're right. It's not about like,
you know,

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the laser battles and the
first contact and all that. Right.

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Aniara, it's digging into what happens
when that future we imagine. Yeah.

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When it goes, you know,
really wrong. It goes bad.

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There's no quick fix. Yeah,
there's no easy way out.

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And to help us navigate
this one, we're going

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deep on a review by
Wheeler Winston Dixon. Okay.

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He gets into not just the plot, but like,
why this film hits differently, I think.

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Yeah. So if everyone's
listening, picture this, it's like,

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way out there, year 3,000
something. Right. Earth.

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Pretty much cooked. Toast.
Mars is looking more like Plan B,

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last resort kind of deal. Yeah.

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Not exactly paradise. Yeah. And
that's where the Aniara comes in.

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It's a spaceship. But imagine,
like, a super sleek luxury cruise liner.

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Okay.

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Absolutely. Packed with people who
are desperate for a fresh start, right?

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Makes sense. Dixon
even points out just the

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whole idea of escaping
to Mars in this film.

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It's not exactly a hopeful one,
is it? Exactly. It really speaks to this,

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I don't know, underlying dread. Even the
solution feels kind of temporary, you know?

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Like delaying the inevitable. Yeah,
like kicking the can down the road.

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Right. Until the can,
of course, explodes.

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Spectacularly. Yes. Because, you know,
it's coming. Yeah. Three weeks into this,

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like,
relaxing cruise space debris.

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Whoops. No power,
no steering. They're just floating.

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Oh, that's not good. So the captain,
this guy, chiffon,

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he tries to keep everyone from panicking
by telling this huge lie. What's the lie?

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Oh, he says they'll swing
back around. No big deal.

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Oh, no. But the ship's astronomer?
He knows the truth. Uh-oh.

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They're on a one-way
trip to nowhere. Yikes.

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And Dixon sets up this clash between,
like, hope and that cold,

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hard reality so well.

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Yeah, and that's a
classic storytelling device

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when you think about it,
isn't it? Oh, totally.

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But what's so fascinating here,
at least to me,

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is how it plays out against this backdrop,
right? This immense,

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unforgiving universe. Yeah.

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Dixon actually compares it to
Lord of the Flies,

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but set in space. Okay, hold
on. Let's unpack that a little bit.

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Yeah.

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Because on the surface, you've
got kids stranded on an island, right?

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Right. Right.

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Versus, like,
futuristic space travelers. Right.

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What's the connection Dixon's
drawing there?

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It's that whole thing of,
like, things falling apart, right? Yeah.

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You take away the rules, the structure,
the things we rely on, and suddenly, boom,

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it's like human nature is
just laid bare. Totally.

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It's like all bets are off.

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And on the Aniara,
it sounds like that plays out in some,

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well, pretty intense ways. Yeah,
absolutely.

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Dixon really gets into how, like,
the passengers on the ship,

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they almost become these, like, microcosms
of a whole society breaking down.

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Oh, interesting. Okay, so,
like, different factions,

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different reactions,
the whole shebang.

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Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, you've
got the captain chiffon, right?

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Yeah.

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Initially, he's this,
like, figure of authority.

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He's trying to hold it
together. Makes sense.

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But as things get worse, as that situation
on the ship deteriorates, his lies,

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they become more and more desperate.

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Oh, man, so it's like
he's trying to maintain

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control, but it's actually
what's destroying him.

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It's this weird paradox,
right? Like, his attempt to

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preserve hope is what
ultimately undermines everything.

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Wow. And then, on the other side of that,
you've got the astronomer. He's, like,

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the voice of reason in all this chaos,
and he gets shut down pretty quickly.

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It's like, even in a crisis,
sometimes people would rather cling

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to those comforting lies you were talking
about than face the truth, you know?

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Ooh, yeah. It's easier to swallow,
even if it's a bitter pill to swallow.

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Exactly. And Dixon really highlights
that whole tension,

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that push and pull between
truth and denial,

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all through the review.

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But then, he brings in this
other character, the memoroban.

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Okay, yeah.

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And she adds a whole other
dimension to how people cope.

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Right. She's the one who runs
that virtual reality system, right?

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The mima.

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Yeah, the mima.

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Yeah.

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Dixon describes it as this incredibly
immersive, like, totally sensory experience.

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Yeah, he makes it sound amazing and
terrifying at the same time.

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Oh, totally.

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Like, imagine being plugged into
that thing while

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everything around you is
literally falling apart.

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And from what Dixon writes,
it seems like everyone on the aniara,

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they're hooked on it.

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Can you blame them?

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Not really. And that's where
aniara gets really interesting, I think.

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Because mima, that virtual world,
it becomes symbolic.

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You know, it represents that very
human need to escape,

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to find connection.

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Especially when you're facing this,
like, overwhelming despair.

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Totally, so it's like their
escape hatch from

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the reality of being stuck on this,
you know, dying ship.

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Exactly. It's their way to tune out
the terror, at least for a little while.

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But then, well, even that escape hatch,
it's slammed shut.

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Because the system crashes, right?

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Yeah, exactly. Dixon describes how mima,
it just overloads.

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It collapses under all that
collective fear and despair.

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Oh, wow. So even the virtual world
can't handle the weight of reality.

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It's this powerful metaphor for
the limits of technology, I think.

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And maybe even, like,
the limits of our own ability

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to cope when we're faced
with the unimaginable.

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So what happens then?
When the escape is gone?

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Well, the memoroban,
she sees it coming.

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She tries to warn people,
but they don't want to listen.

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So she takes matters into her own hands,
creates a new illusion.

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What do you mean?

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This massive simulated
view screen. It wraps

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around the whole ship,
projecting images of nature,

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of a world outside their metal prison,
desperately trying to offer some kind of hope.

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Even if it's built on a lie.
Exactly. It makes you wonder,

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is that act ultimately kind or cruel?

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Right. Is it better to face the brutal
truth or find comfort in an illusion,

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even if you know it's temporary?

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Man. Heavy stuff.

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And it's a question Aniara
doesn't shy away from, you know.

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But Dixon argues that it's exactly those
tough questions that make it so compelling.

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And speaking of compelling,
he also talks about

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this subplot with a
passenger named Asego.

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And without, like, giving
too much away, her

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story really touches on
the resilience of people,

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that human spirit,
that drive to create life,

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even when all hope seems lost.

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It's interesting how, even in this, like,
totally confined,

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sterile environment of a spaceship,

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those primal human instincts,
they don't just disappear, do they?

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If anything,
they find new ways to come out,

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even if it's messy, even if it's tragic.

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It's like we're wired for it,
right? That need for connection,

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for hope, for creation.

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And that's actually reflected in the
film's visuals, too, don't you think?

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Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Dixon talks
about the cinematography.

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Mm-hmm.

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And he uses words like sleek and sterile,
which I think really captures it.

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Yeah. And he points out how,
even as the ship itself starts to decay,

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the camera work is very deliberate,
almost slow motion in places.

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It adds to that feeling of being trapped,
of time just slipping away.

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Mm-hmm.

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It's giving me anxiety,
just thinking about it.

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And that constant
artificial light. Dixon

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argues that it's like
this constant reminder

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that they're completely cut
off from nature,

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from something real,
something bigger than themselves.

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Which, you know, kind of makes
you think about our world now.

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Uh-oh. You're going there.

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Well, just a little bit. Yeah.

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Because we're spending more and more time
in our own artificially lit,

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digitally driven bubbles, aren't we?

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Like, are we losing touch
with something essential?

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Okay. Yeah. That's a chilling thought.

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Right. And it's something Aniara
forces us to confront.

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Head on. No escape.

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Exactly. But the real gut punch,
at least from how Dixon describes it,

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comes at the very end.

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Yeah. So about that ending. Oh boy. Yeah.

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Dixon's description, I don't know,
it's a lot. Yeah, it's heavy.

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Like buckle up listeners,
kind of a thing. A big time.

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Because Aniara jumps way,
way ahead. Thousands of years,

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maybe even millions.

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Later. Yeah. And that ship,
that hunk of metal,

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still carrying all those ghosts
from the past.

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Right. It finally reaches a habitable
planet. It does. Wow.

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It does. But. Always a but. Right.

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There's a catch. Okay,
I figured. What is it?

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Everyone on board. Long gone. Oh,
wow.

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Dixon doesn't spell it out.
But you're left with this

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chilling feeling. Like,
what was the point of it all?

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Yeah. That's bleak.
But is it nihilistic?

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Like, is there no hope at all?

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That's the question,
right? Yeah. And it's interesting.

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Because Dixon mentions how Aniara
was actually a huge success in Sweden.

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Really? Yeah. And apparently,
a lot of that has to do

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with the fact that audiences there,
they have this connection to the problem.

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It's based on... Oh,
interesting. So they're coming in

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with a whole
other layer of context. Yeah. Exactly.

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But elsewhere. It didn't really
land the same way.

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Why do you think that is?
Hmm. That's a good question.

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Maybe it's just, like, too real,
you know? You're close to home?

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Yeah, something like that.

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Like, we're living in a time where there's
so much anxiety about the future,

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climate change, social unrest,
the whole deal.

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Maybe a part of us
would rather not confront

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those fears head on. Even in a movie,
you mean? Especially in a movie.

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It's like, we want that escape,
right? Not a reminder of how messed up

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things could get. Right.
Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

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Exactly. But is it really bliss?
I mean, in this case, at least.

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Because Dixon seems
to be saying that Aniara,

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even with how bleak it is, it might
be the kind of wake-up call we need.

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To shake us out of our complacency. Yeah,
maybe. To make us actually confront these

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big scary questions instead of just,
like, scrolling past them on our phones.

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He did quote some critics, actually,
who described it as,

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eerily mesmerizing.
Artistically admirable. Right.

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So it's not like it's a bad film.

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No, not at all. If anything, it
might be too good, you know.

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Too real. Exactly. And sometimes that's
harder to handle than just, you know,

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spaceships and lasers and all that.

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So, if we can bring this back
to Earth for a second.

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Doctor reality. What's the takeaway
for our listeners?

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What do you think of film like Aniara
ultimately wants us to think about?

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I think it's about asking those tough
questions about how we're living,

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what we're prioritizing, what kind of
future we're creating or not creating.

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And maybe, just maybe,
it'll light a fire under us to

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actually do something
about it. Not just be

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passengers on a ship
drifting through space.

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Exactly. Well, folks,
there you have it. Aniara.

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Not your typical feel
-good space adventure,

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but a film that definitely stays with you.

219
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For sure. It's a reminder that
sometimes the most important journeys,

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the ones that really make
us think, well, they're not

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always the easiest, but
they're the ones worth taking.

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And on that note, we'll leave you to
ponder the vastness of space, and maybe,

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just maybe, the even vaster potential of
our own choices here on Earth.