James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

Stu · 2004-08-28 06:00:06

Has anyone else received the Planetary Society's "Message from James Cameron" yet? For those interested, here it is...

<< Dear Friend,

Mars is our future! That is why, together with
The Planetary Society, I am Aiming for Mars!

As a writer, director and producer, I am a storyteller.
And although I often work in the science-fiction genre,
one of the greatest true stories to be told is that of
our relationship with Mars.

The story of a human Mars mission is the story of a
great quest. The quest to find life, to answer the
question: are we alone? If we do find life on Mars,
that life might have the same DNA structure as us,
or something completely alien. Either result is
stunning in its implications. Or we might find none
at all... which also has profound consequences for our
sense of our own place in the cosmos.

But unless we bring together the resources and the people
of the spacefaring nations here -- on our own planet --
this is a story we may never get to tell. The story,
as it stands now, could end with humans forever circling
in low Earth orbit. The story could simply end on the Moon.

We have been to the Moon . . . now Mars beckons us.
It compels the human imagination. It is a bona fide
alien planet... a complex planet that can teach us
about our own past and the early solar system, about
our climate and geological processes, about the Sun's
history. Mars is a world of great mystery and scientific
controversy, enough for several lifetimes of investigation.
Every time we answer one question, two new ones crop up.
The Mars scientists -- the folks who know Mars better
than anybody -- will tell you there are just as many
mysteries about Mars as when we started sending spacecraft
to Mars three decades ago. This is exactly the kind of
science challenge we collectively need to inspire us
to progress.

We need to go to Mars! We need to expand human
consciousness and unravel the mysteries of our
closest neighboring planet. We need to do this,
and we need your help.

Aim for Mars! at:
http://aimformars.org/cameron.html]http … meron.html

If humans are to go to Mars in our lifetime, if we
choose this great adventure instead of leaving it for
a distant generation, we must build up support from
the grassroots. We need to join with The Planetary
Society's Aim for Mars! Campaign to ignite our planet's
passion for human space exploration.

The Planetary Society is an independent, non-governmental,
non-industry organization that can marshal the resources
and support to put us on the path to Mars. While others
talk and posture, The Planetary Society takes
positive action.

I am asking you to take a positive action and act upon
your passion for exploration...your vision for the
future...and your drive for knowledge and discovery.
You are crucial to helping us inspire people everywhere
to aim for Mars. Please help us spread the word - to
friends, family, colleagues and make the Aim For Mars!
Campaign a movement - a movement for humans off Earth.

Go to The Planetary Society Aim for Mars! website to
get involved in our campaign! Join me, and thousands of
others Aiming for Mars!
http://aimformars.org/cameron.html]http … meron.html

Humans on Mars is not a science fiction fantasy.
This is something we can do . . . together.
Let's aim for Mars!

Sincerely yours,
James Cameron >>

Fine words, Mr C.

Here's an idea for ya: stop obsessing about that big sunken ship and put some of your influence, enthusiasm and countless billions of $ into a *real* Mars project - maybe you could do a Mars IMAX film (hmmm, that idea sounds familiar... :;): ) or you could even bring Kim Stanley Robinson's MARS Trilogy to the big screen or TV, as you were going to do some time ago...

Seriously tho, JC could genuinely help us get to Mars if he put his considerable talents and bulging cheque book towards a mass-market project. I hope he will. I'd love to see him make a movie of Kim's books - tho it might take Peter Jackson's artistic eye, vision and patience to do them justice - or that IMAX film I suggested ages ago.

Come on, JC, give us - or help us raise - the money which will let NASA send a glider to Mars, fitted with an IMAX camera, and fly it down Valles Marineris and over Olympus Mons. Then we can show people Out There Mars like it really is.

Josh Cryer · 2004-08-29 00:04:34

When I first read your post, I thought "what? I'm not writing a book!" Anyway, James is alright by me, his words and activism are an inspiration (not to mention I like a few of his movies very much, Abyss being one of my all time favorites), to be certain. BTW, I just wanted to give you a heads up; Cindy made a post about this in Free Chat about a week ago, forgot about it until I came back and read your post. Mysteriously, no one responded to either post (until now!)... hmm... this is where a "merge" feature would be ideal. :;):

Stu · 2004-08-29 03:14:29

Anyway, James is alright by me, his words and activism are an inspiration (not to mention I like a few of his movies very much, Abyss being one of my all time favorites), to be certain.

He's alright by me, too, don't get me wrong. I love his movies (Terminator 2 was on TV here in the UK last night, still outstanding!) and he's inspired me too. I just get frustrated sometimes when people with enormous power and influence and bank balances "throw their weight" behind projects and causes by making speeches to the converted, when sticking their hands in their pockets to pay for something which would reach the *un-converted* would be much more effective.

It happens all the time. Rock stars who have more money in the bank than small countries go on TV and rage about how unfair trade deals are and how awful economics are, when they could financially do something about it. Movie stars - who've just gulped down a ten course dinner - stand up at award ceremonies and tearfully deride politicians for not doing enough to feed the hungry, when they could fill a cargo plane with grain sacks with just one day's wages from their latest film shoot.

JC commands worldwide audiences and respect, and can basically make any project he wants after the success of his previous films. So I'm just frustrated that, as inspiring as his Planetary Society message is, and it certainly is, he's talking to people who are ALREADY "aiming for Mars", when he could just as easily make a few phone calls to Hollywood studio bosses and kick-start a movie or TV project which would show Mars realistically for the first time, which could shave years off the development time for manned mission preparations.

Just think of how interest in a manned mission would rocket if TITANIC's audience saw, in their local movie theatre, a feature film depicting the Mars WE all know and love, a movie which doesn't contain psychotic robots, insane astronauts or bad CGI-rendered aliens hiding in Face-shaped spaceships! Just think how kids would react to seeing, on the big screen, men and women exploring the REAL Mars, standing on the edge of Valles Marineris, flying over the summit of Olympus Mons and trekking over the north pole, seeing the Sun surrounded by shining haloes. They'd want to go there! It could transform everything! People would start - finally - to see Mars as a real planet, a place where we could go and live and learn, instead of a place where astronauts always go mad and kill each other.

We are wasting time here, I can feel it, everyone can feel it. We need a catalyst to get things moving. Finding life on Mars would do it, but that's some time away. So, as we live in an entertainment-obsessed world, where the movie and TV are gods, the obvious thing to do is to make a National Geographic or IMAX quality film telling The Truth, a red version of "The Blue Planet" showing the reality and beauty of Mars. JC is one of only a handful of people in the world who could do that. So as much as I appreciate his fine words, and I do, I would appreciate him using his movie-making talents, and Hollywood clout, a lot more.

I just really want to see Ann Clayborne standing on that sand dune and seeing Earth in the martian sky for the first time, you know?

deagleninja · 2004-08-29 03:20:23

James Cameron is a fine man who isn't afraid to risk his reputation saying goofing things like 'lets go to Mars!'. I'm sure if an organization found enough people to pledge funds for a Mars mission, JC would give more than his fair share.

Stu · 2004-08-29 04:51:48

James Cameron is a fine man who isn't afraid to risk his reputation saying goofing things like 'lets go to Mars!'. I'm sure if an organization found enough people to pledge funds for a Mars mission, JC would give more than his fair share.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more, he's a very fine man and one of the most genuine "famous" Mars supporters around. He is passionate and sincere about the lure of Mars, and he's a great ally. But I'm not talking about contributing funds towards a manned mission in the future; I'm talking about doing something *now* which will help increase support and demand FOR a manned Mars mission from the public, which is the only way we'll make politicians actually commit to a landing anytime before the next ice age.

For a group and a task to succeed, it needs everyone involved to do what they do best, and the drive to send people to Mars is just the same. I can't make films about Mars, but I can give talks in schools and write kids books about it, so I do. JC can't make political decisions about Mars exploration, but he can, I'm sure, make a GREAT film about Mars which would have people in their tens of thousands walking out of theatres thinking "Wow, I had no idea Mars was so cool... we should go there!" ...

I'm not "having a go" at JC, I would just like him to use his incredible talents for us, that's all.

Josh Cryer · 2004-08-29 05:45:53

I totally agree with your sentiment though. I truely do. We'd talked before about "ways to get the word out" and the whole movie idea came up (an IMAX CGI type thing); certainly JC would be the best candidate for such a movie (or any Mars-based movie that pushed for a Mars mission and eventually habitation).

What could be effective would be a write in campaign to James regarding something about Mars. Unfortunately... his itenary seems to be booked until at least 2005 (according to IMdb).

One movie he's working on, which is considered untitled, looks to be "scifi" (which is surprising to me considering the plot outline). Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be based anywhere in or around Mars.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2023-03-15 16:13:59

Space Tourism or 'Propaganda' or 'Art'?

Russia releases a trailer for its highly anticipated film shot on the ISS
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech … ation.html

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2004-08-28 06:00:06

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

#2 2004-08-29 00:04:34

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

#3 2004-08-29 03:14:29

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

#4 2004-08-29 03:20:23

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

#5 2004-08-29 04:51:48

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

#6 2004-08-29 05:45:53

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

#7 2023-03-15 16:13:59

Re: James Cameron's Mars Message - Have you read it? What do you think?

Board footer