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Author
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Topic: Actor Bill Pullman's new play questions America's mission
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42986
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-21-2004 08:44 AM
   
Loss in space
Actor Bill Pullman's new play questions America's missionBy Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News
January 21, 2004 quote:
Years after aliens destroyed his home and killed his wife in Independence Day, Bill Pullman is fascinated by space.The actor came to Denver last week to work with visiting playwright Constance Congdon and the first-year students at the National Theatre Conservatory on a new theater piece, Expedition 6.
[Skipping ahead a bit...] quote:
"I had been tracking in the back pages of the newspaper the fact that after Columbia there were three guys stranded on the space station," Pullman says while eating a take- out salad during a rehearsal break.He read that opponents of the United States saw the destruction of Columbia, which carried on board the first Israeli astronaut, as a sign that "the United States was no longer favored by the gods," he says. And he decided to raise questions through theater as to the value of the space program and what amount of death was acceptable. "Part of the reason nobody heard about (the stranded astronauts) is it was important for NASA that it wasn't exceptional," he says. "The space program works with a principle of acceptable risk and acceptable loss."
While certainly the root premise of Pullman's theatrical piece, the balancing of risk vs. loss is a valid concern, it sounds as though he doesn't understand why NASA wasn't overly concerned about the Expedition 6 crew aboard the ISS. I wonder if Mr. Pullman is aware of a vehicle called Soyuz? |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 01-21-2004 10:25 AM
Are Hollywood actors "aware" of anything? With the exception of a very few, I doubt it. |
DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 01-21-2004 10:46 AM
The thing is, though, for most people who only follow the story through superficial media coverage, I can see where you could get that opinion. I got so annoyed when Exp. 7 launched to Station, and media outlets reported, and often wrote in headlines, that they had "no idea how they would return to Earth," as if they were going up there not knowing if they would be able to return. It was technically true, since they didn't know if Shuttle would be available to bring them home, but it definitely gave the wrong impression.------------------
"America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow." - Commander Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 Mission, 11 December 1972 |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-21-2004 11:45 AM
I wonder if Pullman has seen 1969's "Marooned", with Gregory Peck and David Janssen.-chet |
Aztecdoug
Member Posts: 1405
From: Huntington Beach
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 01-21-2004 12:13 PM
A good actor only has to pretend to be smart, to play a smart person in a movie...------------------
Warm Regards Douglas Henry Enjoy yourself and have fun.... it is only a hobby! |
Cliff Lentz
Member Posts: 655
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 01-21-2004 01:10 PM
Perhaps Bill was more influenced by his commanding role in 1987's "SPACEBALLS" (the movie).Cliff |
randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-22-2004 12:10 PM
Good response, Cliff. But in defense of Mr. Pullman, I don't think ANYONE outside of the space community even knows of Soyuz, or that there even was a backup system of crew transport to and from the ISS if there was a shuttle failure. | |
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