A man wakes up coughing and spitting. Thrashing about he lurches from his bed onto a hard floor. With a computer generated voice droning in the background, he tries to stand. The area is cramped, white and sterile. Trailing a tail of tubing, half dressed in plastic, the man attempts to escape by climbing a nearby ladder. He doesn’t understand his surroundings or how he came to be in that little compartment.

Hold on to that visual a moment.

Back in 2006 Vice President Al Gore appeared in a film on global warming titled An Inconvenient Truth. The former VP delved into the impact of CO2 on our atmosphere, especially from burning fossil fuels that raise the temperature of the planet. Gore’s work was a gentle, but clear call to action with the Vice President closing the film with a pep talk. He reminds viewers that global warming is a human-made problem and can be remedied by decisive efforts to alleviate the crisis. For his film Al Gore earned an Academy Award, and the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing attention to the climate emergency.  

Back to our lost and confused protagonist. He is fictitious but is living a story similar to the former VP in his situation. Now science fiction isn’t my first go-to when it comes to entertainment, but at the same time the genre can’t be beat when it comes to messaging. Bearing that in mind our hero in the film, Project Hail Mary is nearly perfect in raising similar issues as presented in “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The irony in the film is that space travel and a subsequent alien friendship is the most believable part of the story. What is hard to swallow in Hail Mary is the premise that all nations on Earth agreed to cooperate to ward off a global cataclysm. From Al Gore’s experience, despite providing clear proof—soaring temperatures, drought, raging fires, and hurricanes, many in America reject, out right, this looming calamity. 

In fact the current occupant in the White House insists the whole notion of a warming planet is a hoax. That national denial alone places Project Hail Mary into the fiction category.

Still, like Inconvenient Truth this film is worth remembering.

Early in the movie our protagonist, played by Ryan Gosling does recall who he is and where he is. In pieces his memory returns and we also learn how he came to be in space. In one flashback Gosling’s character, a microbiologist, compliments one of the original mission astronauts, (they don’t survive) for being brave. Gosling’s character makes the comment “I wasn’t born with the brave gene.” The astronaut smiles and replies “there is no brave gene, you have to find someone else to be brave for.”

And that bears repeating. It is time that we remember who we are. That message is for all of us.

That is what Vice President Gore was warning in 2006. America can and must do hard things.

But it’s tough right now to think about what is before us, not only for our planet, but for the longevity of the United States. Legalized murder at the hands of an American Gestapo, colossal graft by the Chief Executive and his cronies, protected pedophilia from the GOP, as well normalized rape, and a ridiculous, foolish, and unnecessary war against Iran.

Most pressing he knows he is quite unpopular, and his protection ends if the GOP loses Congress. Echoing January 6, the man fully intends to do what he can to interfere with the 2026 bi-elections.

Now for my pep talk.

All of us must do our bit to redeem our nation from this absurd ignoramus. Take action. Donate money, work for a candidate, join an action organization, volunteer for phone banks, march in a rally, contact your Congressional delegation, write letters to the editor, volunteer, DO SOMETHING!

Most importantly vote, help others to vote. For voting is how we shape the kind of country we wish to live in.

And for goodness sake never forget what the man said. “There is no brave gene, we merely have to find someone to be brave for.” Mine are pictured above.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.