“The Martian” is superficially about space travel, but it is really about time travel. The plot may focus on characters leaving Earth to explore the red planet, but the strange world the movie depicts is really our own world just over 50 years ago. The can-do, optimistic liberalism it depicts is utterly alien to today’s sobby, whiny, excuse-laden version.

“The Martian” is about an exploration team forced to make a sudden emergency departure from Mars, resulting in inadvertently leaving behind astronaut Mike Watney (well-played by Matt Damon with notes of Richard Dreyfuss and Dennis Quaid). He quickly assesses the situation, inventories his resources and, without pausing for self-pity, begins to use all his scientific skills to figure out how to survive. Back on Earth, NASA figures out he’s still alive, and a large team of vivid characters starts working to solve the problem of how to rescue him before his food runs out.

Read the article “The Martian Was Our Can-Do Culture 50 Years Ago” on thefederalist.com.