Photos
This short film (via Vulture.), We Are Here: Pale Blue Dot, is a beautiful rumination on the meaning of life in the ever-expanding infinite cosmos, narrated by Carl Sagan. It is definitely worth your time:
Incidentally, although this is a charming and quietly beautiful short film filled with memorable movie moments that deftly express Carl Sagan’s profound point about the insignificance of human experience in comparison to the yawning expanses that engulf it (and inversely, the immensity of the human experience and the ways in which the universe in all its magnitude cannot hope contain it), it did miss a few people who would have made great examples of how we are all alive. Here are just a few of the movie stars who are also representative of life on this tiny speck: James Gandolfini, Marisa Tomei, Claire Danes, Eddie Murphy, Joe Pesci, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Plummer, Loretta Devine, Andy Serkis, Diane Lane, Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Ellen Page, Tom Green, Taye Diggs, Jessica Biel, Topher Grace.
That’s it. That’s life!
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Often misquoted fact: from the perspective of Neptune, the visible light between Mars & Venus is Topher Grace’s smile.
Great gif!
Further evidence why I think Monsters Ball needs a gif of the week shoutout.
that would make me feel GOOOOOOD.
WTF
IS DIS REAL
“So remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space,
‘Cause there’s bugger all down here on Earth”
- Probably Carl Sagan
MOGWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI
Oops. I did a Mogwai blast, didn’t I? Apologies.
Carl Sagan has the unique ability to simultaneously enlighten and depress me.
that….and massive erections.
The editor gets two points from me: One, the editor did not ruin the film by showing Gwyneth’s face, and two, the editor ended it with Broken Social Scene’s “Lover’s Spit (Redux)”. So yeah, a well-spent six minutes.
i suddenly feel very unimportant. i’m going to make myself a sheriffs badge to wear, i think that will help.
i always keep a sheriff badge in my glove compartment, for emergencies.
well, I saw the sheriff and I shot him in the face.
The Hoefler/Frere-Jones site has a downloadable sans-sheriff badge if you’re interested.
perspectivegum all up in here
He left out Topher Grace! The Pale Blue Dot is obviously too small for such a powerhouse.
OR OR OR! Toph’ is actually an extra-terrestrial sent to our planet to infiltrate our culture and make us love him.
I think the images of Superman were supposed to be representative of the various Topher Grace’s of history.
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Please enlighten us. I don’t think any film could capture the vastness of what Sagan meant, but I didn’t find anything insulting or stupid about it.
glad to see the videogum group think is in full effect. just stating my opinion, we’re all adults here, we can have a discussion y’all. we don’t all have to agree. lets up the level of discourse.
that being said, im glad you asked sinkfloridasink -
theres an inherent nihilism in The Pale Blue Dot, that is missing in tone/spirit. it keeps the viewer sqaurely placed on earth involved in all its drama with literally no visual representation of the vastness of the universe. instead we shots of crap hollywood movies glorifying the human condition in spite of the main thesis, that all the drama on earth is ultimately, meaningless. think it misses the point completely. its like The Pale Blue (cliff notes edition)
Yeah, but Carl Sagan fucking LOVED Moulin Rouge!
Fair enough, and thanks for a thoughtful reply. Still, what you see as tonal inconsistency, I see as interesting juxtaposition. There are tons of valid reactions to The Pale Blue Dot, and I think it’s presumptuous at best to say that Sagan was never fascinated by the world (or more accurately, human drama).
It’s freeing to me to feel that, no matter how grandiose and important the events of my life seem, that my experience – and furthermore, the entire existence of our planet – is ultimately insignificant. There’s simultaneously a nihilistic panic and an inner-peace in imagining The Ultimate Big Picture. Maybe it’s related to ego, maybe our instinctual fear of death.
When I think of The Pale Blue Dot, I feel grateful (to whatever, I don’t know) just be here, to be one of the infinite cogs in an unknowable – and perhaps meaningless – machine. I know that I feel emotion – pain, joy, sadness, fear, confusion – and these emotions feel important to me. The idea that one measly little life can feel so huge in an innumerable sea of life, space, and matter gives me pause and humbles me.
Also, I think we all agree that we don’t have to always agree and *HEAD EXPLODES*.
First of all, note to everyone: Stop using the term “group think” every time 6 ppl out of HUNDREDS down vote you. Seriously, get over yourselves. If you’re cool enough to attempt to call out an entire blog readership then you should probably be cool enough to not care about which thumb icon a couple ppl clicked after they read you comment.
Second of all, nightheat: Other than attempting to call out everyone for no reason, your actual explanation is valid and relevent. I understand most ppl don’t have the time to sit around writing long ass blog comments all day but at the same time, no one wants to read pointless comments like “this sucks” which is what you originally posted.
“On a long enough timeline, everyone’s life expectancy drops to zero.”
“Since nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do.”
I think we all know, academically, that nothing we do actually matters when perceived in the unending timeline and expansiveness of the endless universe. That’s simply not a helpful life philosophy. I would think that in the face of the nihilistic reaches of the Pale Blue Dot, all the “little” things like love and hate and good and evil are even more important on a personal level…
I basically agree with The One’s reply here. I also employed quotes from pop culture because you seemed to express a negative opinion of said practice.
You make a very good point, but on the other hand, you used the term “group think” completely unironically. So now I don’t know what to do.
to reply to both of you – after watching this video, i didn’t feel like the earth was that bad of a place. sure sometimes we go to war with each other, but I felt pretty happy about being alive and had no impulse at all to wonder about anything beyond the planet, or the universe, i just felt good. The hollywood clips tended towards the idealized fantasy of what life is like and not what it actually is like so much to the point where, hey, I’m on earth and I’m alive, and I’m in love, and I can watch all of these awesome movies.
That’s not The Pale Blue Dot, y’all.
jk
“Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space, and in potential — the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors. We gaze across billions of light-years of space to view the Universe shortly after the Big Bang, and plumb the fine structure of matter. We peer down into the core of our planet, and the blazing interior of our star. We read the genetic language in which is written the diverse skills and propensities of every being on Earth. We uncover hidden chapters in the record of our origins, and with some anguish better understand our nature and prospects. We invent and refine agriculture, without which almost all of us would starve to death. We create medicines and vaccines that save the lives of billions. We communicate at the speed of light, and whip around the Earth in an hour and a half. We have sent dozens of ships to more than seventy worlds, and four spacecraft to the stars. We are right to rejoice in our accomplishments, to be proud that our species has been able to see so far, and to judge our merit in part by the very science that has so deflated our pretensions.”
Yup, nothing there but nihilism and meaninglessness. It would definitely be insultingly stupid to have a different interpretation.
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Look who’s all Team Winwood over here.
Well I happen to have Mr. Sagan right here:
“I heard what you were saying. You know nothing of my work.”
Annie Hall reference? Yay!
lemme guess: needed more Wormser?
I bet you go to a nerd school.
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my only hope is that feynman never becomes a meme. although that guy would have loved the internet, for sure.
Glad to see you’re upping the level of discourse.
I think you have a great point hidden underneath all that shit, but no one wants to engage in thoughtful discourse with an asshole. Also, fuck Gawker.
Oh, fuck off.
So your point is that those commenters are “smarter” than us because they agree with you? “I hate this crap. (Though I love Carl Sagan.)” Yeah. Brilliantly worded, multi-faceted argument that works on SO MANY LEVELS. Even if the logic that Gawker’s commenters are “smarter” because they agree with you held true, WHY IS IT RELEVANT? You’re just being an asshole.
I’m sorry, I don’t like to resort to being a jerk here but this pisses me off.
What a fucking asshole.
Okay, in my brief flash of internet rage, I went to your website (I am a full-grown adult with important things to accomplish*), and I found this gem:
To anyone else that might be reading (read: no one), that’s in reference to the 2009 film Up In the Air, starring George Clooney. Nightheat is upping the level of discourse all up in this bitch.
*I was honestly trying to see what you thought to be an appropriate level of discourse and thoughtful analysis on a pop culture blog. I guess I saw what you thought to be an appropriate level of discourse and thoughtful analysis on a pop culture blog.
What is this faggot shit is the name of a lost Shakespeare play. If you commented on Gawker you’d get the reference.
And DAMN, can’t I just masturbate once!?
Space is for nerds.
Don’t let katydid hear you say that.
exactly.
dont let the downvotes get you down, bro.
Ditto Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter! #nerdgum
Fact: I once wanted to know which other planets in the solar system had rings, so I looked it up on Wikipedia and got sucked into an astronomy and Greek mythology Wikipedia vortex and escaped by the edge of my teeth, albeit enlightened.
The Wiki Walk is a fearsome thing. I once got lost in TV Tropes for three weeks.
I heartily agree! I love the article on the End of Greatness and the part in the article on Zeus regarding the etymology of his name.
Welp, that’s what I am now going to look up to distract myself from thoughts of my sick little hospital kitty. Thanks, Mans.
I hope your cat feels better soon.
Thanks Mans! That is so frickin adorable.
She is very ill and we will probably have to put her to sleep. :’-( #sadgum
I am of the opinion that cats should live forever. You may say that will result in overpopulation, but I say the more kitties the better.
I am sorry to hear that.
Years ago, my wife and I had a cat that we really loved, but it had problems and had to be put to sleep. We were devistated, but one day we were at the pound and I saw a young kitten sitting in a shaft of light, shining, and I knew that she was the cat for us and has helped heal the pain that losing the first cat left behind.
What I am saying is, though the universe is vast beyond belief, and though our feelings and actions mean little when viewed from above, love and compassion and friendship are what bond us to one another in a way that lends some dignity and meaning, even if fleeting, to this life.
What I am saying is stay strong.
::hug:: That was beautiful, Mans. Thank you so much for your kind words and kitty picture.
[I went to see Josie in the hospital today and she looks fine. But when she's not in an oxygen tank she starts to suffocate. She is seeing a kitty cardiologist tomorrow and we will decide what to do based on what he says.]
::hug::
That’s why to this day my favorite planet is The Kraken
It’s weird that the editors chose to cut off Sagan’s speech before he reminds everyone that “the Dark Carnival is your invitation to witness that without explanation.” Truer science words have never been uttered.
How many swastikas are representative of life on this tiny speck?
This was really comforting to me. It’s always comforting to think that whatever pains you doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
The video game nerd final boss has experienced the vastness of the universe and the overwhelming insignificance of human life but still feels theres room for a “surprise, come from behind victory” for the human race.
“Pardon me, Dr. Sagan? I have a Mr. “2 Dope” on the line. It’s about magnets?
Miracles ain’t nothing to lie
I know this week is early, but this is already my favorite.
Maybe Videogum should do a remix-contest of this.
I always fall for stuff like this…. I think it is from all the acid I ate when I was a teenager.
did we all see this? yes. Always Be Seeing Things in Videos.
“…But you can trust me about the sunscreen.”
I personally like the Sean Penn represents “our imagined self importance” because, really, does it fit anyone better?
No longer exists? Buhwha? Would anyone be so kind as to direct me to a place where this DOES still exist? ._. I’d really like to watch it.
http://vodpod.com/watch/98325-we-are-here-the-pale-blue-dot
you are my hero
The video that explains our insignificance no longer exists. It’s like the lawyers really don’t want us to know that there’s magic everywhere in this bitch. And Gene Kelly.
And Carl Sagan was literally awesome.