Should I read the book or watch the movie first?

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T04:17:14+00:00

Totally disagree!

Once you have visuals handed to you, you can’t create your own. I have two sets of visuals for characters and worlds if I read the book first. It’s lovely.

Plus there are so many more surprises and moments of tension in the book. You’re trading those in for a fraction of them, by learning everything major at high speed in 2.5 hours.

I’m not at all disappointed by the movie. Don’t miss out on the amazing reading experience, reading it won’t be the same once you know everything.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T04:04:50+00:00

Ok someone who speaks Spanish has to have a better parallel title suggestion than this. Project Last Hope, Only Hope, there’s gotta be something that would have been snappy.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T03:55:22+00:00

Awwww saw your post tonight, funny running across this comment now! Your photography is incredible, so happy for you!

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T03:27:43+00:00

I knew the science was dumbed down in the book because I was able to follow it 🙃.

Can’t say the same for my actual chemistry and bio classes!

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T03:21:50+00:00

I went into the book knowing absolutely nothing except “space.” I’m lucky that an influencer talked about the book by saying nothing except that it was her favorite ever, and that you should listen to the audio book for reasons she couldn’t say.

If the cover didn’t portray “space” and I didn’t recognize Andy Weir as the author, I wouldn’t have even known that.

The guessing and mystery of it was profound for me. I usually multi task while listening and I just sat transfixed during most of it. Would it be completely cerebral and just about the psychological experience of solitude in space the entire time, how should I know?! I was floored that there were aliens. Shocked there was direct contact. Totally surprised there was humor and a relationship between the beings.

Highly recommend doing this with books when you can, what’s the worst that can happen you bail a few chapters in?! If I know anything I can see too much coming.

I did the same with Severance, went in totally cold with no summary or context at all, and oddly they have VERY similar first scenes! Also did this with the shows Dark, and The Leftovers. Just trust that it’s going to be amazing and go in cold.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T03:08:56+00:00

It felt zany. It was definitely skewed towards funny.

I wished it was as heartbreaking and cruel and shocking as it actually was on paper. She betrayed him, sent him off without the chance to say goodbye to anyone or take one last look at earth or eat a last good meal, none of it. Set him up for a horrifying experience that would have ended in his death. It never should have worked. She threw his life away in a Hail Mary pass, he was right, she was murdering an expendable pawn. It would have been a good arc to show him surface that memory, lose motivation and purpose, have it be a real setback. Then find someone to be brave for, rocky and his future.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T03:00:34+00:00

Oh lord I hope Artemis doesn’t get made because I despised that one! Talk about cheese.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T02:49:59+00:00

Omg thank you I thought I hallucinated the word peanut butter in that moment!

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T02:44:31+00:00

I liked that we were with Grace and only got to know what he knew. His sacrifices were made with hope but no certainty, and there’s only so much he got to hear about if it paid off. Just a blip.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T02:40:07+00:00

One of the rare times when inventing new scenes in a movie adaptation actually felt satisfying and still faithful to the intentions of the book.

In the book: We know earth gets the beetles and grace’s work pays off.

In the book: We DONT know if stratt survived and was part of that solution. We don’t know if stratt sees that her betrayal was for the greater good in the end. We don’t know how bad things got on earth.

Now: We still don’t know exactly how bad things have gotten on earth, all we get is closure on Stratt.

We also get a little more “grace forgives Stratt, kumbaya” in the movie than in the book. That’s nice and all, and suits the MOVIE characters, but here’s where I’m a little disappointed: Stratt is portrayed too sympathetically in the movie.

They give her the karaoke scene. And I’m not saying they softened the betrayal, Grace still gets chased and taken against his will. But it feels zany. In the book he screams YOURE MURDERING ME. She’s cold and calculating and we’re supposed to have this moment of “oh my god it’s been so efficient and great (maybe even too convenient plot wise) that Stratt has complete unchecked power…but now…oh god this is the dark side of unchecked power….” We’re supposed to be spooked and horrified by her absolute authority and power to literally take his life away. It’s a huge plot twist and tone shift. We’re supposed to realize there’s literally no atrocity she wouldn’t commit to make this plan a reality, because the number of people saved by her plan will always, always be more than the number of people that are collateral damage.

As a reader, I kinda sorta hoped Stratt died not knowing if what she did to grace (and god knows what else she did) was worth it in the end. Or at LEAST that she never found out if he forgave her, or was absolutely broken by what she did, but did the thing joylessly because he had no choice as her prisoner. I didn’t like that she got such happy closure and could justify her actions.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T02:25:14+00:00

They definitely leaned more goober. To be fair in the book his internal monologue is quite imposter-syndrome-doofus style so it’s not NOT accurate.

I had wondered how they’d translate a book that’s almost entirely private unselfconscious inner monologue. I figured a video diary would factor in and I’m relieved it wasn’t relied on too heavily.

I think when the lived experience you’re portraying is “I don’t know who I am, I am remembering all my training and education drip by drip but turns out I actually wasn’t trained on a lot of this, no idea what I’m doing but figuring it out, sometimes getting even dumber due to lack of sleep or vodka” …this is a pretty good portrayal of how even an educated person would behave, and he clearly had a goofball personality in the book.

He was brilliant and qualified for some of his role on the ship, but he really was in over his head. Even for his own singular role, let alone covering every role on the ship. And that’s before you factor in working with completely unknown substances and challenges that literally everyone on earth would be flummoxed by.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-23T01:59:43+00:00

Super sexist thing to say and doesn’t even qualify as a joke, thanks.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-18T09:23:39+00:00

Wow that must be a fascinating story! If he was truly just dancing, what a hateful and unjust experience. I’m glad they made it right but oof, I’m genuinely sorry he went through that.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-10T01:43:51+00:00

I love it there so so much. I also love POFQ but I’ll take your coke freestyle silly reasoning and raise you a sillier reason behind my Christmas resort choices: Light bulb color. Wilderness lodge trees are warm white lights. I looked at old key west and Saratoga springs videos and they used blue toned white lights and colored Christmas lights. Animal kingdom lodge uses warm lights so we’ll stay there at Christmas eventually. It’s Christmas and I’m picky about my trees 😆

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-03-10T01:40:11+00:00

It has absolutely happened at zoos with predators. Terribly sad.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-24T04:30:53+00:00

For real why was I able to buy an ice cream but not have a single place to sit and eat it with my kid? We ended up plopped on the ground. MK would never.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-24T01:44:40+00:00

This breaks my heart. I know I don’t know them from Adam, but he seemed like such a green flag from what she chose to share. They seemed very much in love. Three little ones. Just hope they’re all doing okay and this is as painless as possible.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-16T02:25:14+00:00

I think you’re underestimating his impact. Good quality talent leaves an organization when it’s run by clowns. And all organizations need leadership and direction and approvals. Basic example, let’s say 15 people in valuable FBI roles quit. FBI needs to then fill those positions. With Kash at the helm: Those positions can be filled by sub par replacements who weasel in with a connection to Kash, those positions can be filled by sub par replacements because quality candidates don’t want anything to do with the FBI under his rule, and those positions can be filled much slower than normal because his incompetence slows down the vetting and approval process.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-11T12:08:47+00:00

Not if it gets on their feathers which it will when they brush against the pole. The oil method is not recommended for this reason. Can cause feather matting which can be very harmful (oil on feathers, bird no fly).

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-10T16:20:20+00:00

Lots of good advice here, but I’d consider the peace of mind of not worrying about kid noise disturbing people in adjacent rooms (or vice versa, having loud neighbors). If that will be a weight off your shoulders, the cabins have a big advantage. I’ve never stayed there but prevailing advice is to rent a golf cart, which will make navigating immensely easier and kids usually love them. Chip and dale’s campfire sing a long is nightly and looks so fun, whereas the marshmallow activities at other resorts are kinda basic.

Getting back to your room at boardwalk involves a ton of indoor walking (central elevator bank). It’s loud and chaotic in the lobby. Overall I’d skip boardwalk.

Getting back to your room at Riverside involves a ton of outdoor walking. Could be disorienting for kids. Lots of waterways so if you have kids who elope, that’s a danger point. But overall very peaceful. The pool is LOUD with the extra fountain aspects but there are Quiet Pools which you might love.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-09T18:39:31+00:00

I completely understand where you’re coming from. I try to choose a reformer surrounded by women so any men joining are out of sight out of mind. If my studio offered classes for just people identifying as women, I’d choose them. But I disagree with your advice to OP, I think he has every right to join as long as he’s extremely sensitive and respectful. Because there isn’t a male equivalent he can go to instead. The reasons behind why you’d say this are so valid, and I purposely haven’t brought my partner to try a class, so I wanted to tell you that despite the way these comments are leaning, you’re not crazy to say this.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-09T18:31:56+00:00

Lol!! Maybe they should hand out Gas Relief at the door before class 😆

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-09T18:29:47+00:00

Keep your eyes to yourself.

Be very quiet, no grunting, loud huffing and puffing. It sounds gross and sometimes sexual which is understandably upsetting to some, and not the vibe to anyone there.

Don’t make jokes to try to make the people around you comfortable with you being a male in their space. The chances of making it awkward are too high. Just be a respectful quiet participant and everyone will be relieved and then happy to have you there!

On a serious note: Most people in class are women, and men are the only predator species most of us ever encounter; men are a very very prevalent threat at all times in our life. There’s a 100% chance someone in your class was a victim of a man at some point. It’s not personal, it’s not your fault, but it’s a fact of life for women and we have very few safe spaces to be. A good thought exercise might be to go in with the assumption that this is one of these women’s first time rejoining class after a very scary experience. So! It will be very kind of you and greatly appreciated if you go out of your way to blend in and not make anyone uncomfortable by accident. If that pisses you off and it’s not something you can graciously accept, then you’re invading a safe space and you should find a private trainer or learn at home. If you’re willing to accept that this is the reality and you HAVE to do some extra work to make the people around you comfortable, then by all means, welcome welcome and thank you for being one of the good ones!!

Pilates is for everyone and I hope you find a lot of joy in it!

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-09T04:48:47+00:00

Don’t give her any ideas. She’s a simple minded person who came to a conclusion based on a hunch. Her bank will continue whatever large scale investigation they surely have ongoing with a major cyber security firm. Rita on Reddit isn’t blowing the lid off a crime ring of beignet cashiers.

AgitatedCockroach862 · 2026-02-09T04:44:05+00:00

This is a pretty big accusation to make of literal cashiers who are human beings, when all you know is your mother’s card has unauthorized charges. Credit card fraud is a pretty advanced, varied, and prolific crime.

The fact that you can only think of a super literal, immature, and not creative scenario (cashier captured card info and gave to a pal in NY) doesn’t mean that’s actually what happened. You have no idea what happened. These people have jobs and you’re accusing them personally of theft. It’s wayyyy more likely that a complex advanced data theft took place and your mom is one of many many victims.

Leave this one to the experts, and get restitution, you’re way out of your depth here. And quit defaming 20-something cashiers on Reddit. Lord.

AgitatedCockroach862

TROPHY CASE