No people, no purpose

Over the long weekend I had the opportunity to take in a second viewing of Ad Astra (2019) starring Brad Pitt. I saw it in the theater when it originally came out, but I don’t think I was in the right headspace to properly consider it then. When I watched it again this weekend I was really struck with Brad Pitt’s understated performance and the arc of his character’s struggle to find his humanity against the model his father set for him. It’s a somber, contemplative film that hits hard on the concept that however we define ourselves, whatever we do, any real meaning and purpose we hope to achieve is moot if our lives aren’t lived with and in service to one another. To go the farthest, to be the first or the fastest, is worthy of credit and celebration, but to do so without a community of family and friends, colleagues and countrymen, it withers into something tragic and hollow.