{"id":2583855,"date":"2026-03-25T20:21:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T00:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/project-hail-mary-writer-says-hit-film-worked-because-he-avoided-woke-political-agendas\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T20:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T00:24:08","slug":"project-hail-mary-writer-says-hit-film-worked-because-he-avoided-woke-political-agendas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/project-hail-mary-writer-says-hit-film-worked-because-he-avoided-woke-political-agendas\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Project Hail Mary&#8217; Writer Says Hit Film Worked Because He Avoided Woke Political Agendas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fproject-hail-mary-writer-says-hit-film-worked-because-he-avoided-woke-political-agendas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2583855&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article centers on Andy Weir\u2019s view of politics in storytelling and the reception of his film project Hail Mary. Key points include:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Weir attributes part of the book\u2019s success to avoiding political messaging and keeping the story entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; in an interview on The Critical Drinker, host Will Jordan argues for a storytelling approach that stays true to the source material, respects the audience, and avoids injecting identity politics, aiming rather to deliver a good movie.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Weir agrees with this perspective, saying his works focus on human stories and entertainment rather than delivering deeper political messages.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Project Hail Mary is described as a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >character-driven science fiction<\/a> about Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship to prevent a solar threat. The film, starring Ryan Gosling, was released recently and has grossed over $150 million.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The Hollywood reporter published a piece outlining four lessons Hollywood could learn from the film: assume audiences are smart, embrace sincerity and optimism, exercise patience, and use practical effects.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article ends with a question about whether Hollywood will adopt these suggestions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Following the release of &ldquo;Project Hail Mary,&rdquo; Andy Weir, author of the book it&rsquo;s based on, said part of the reason it succeeded is that he avoids preaching politics in his work.<\/p>\n<p>Weir was <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/300mirrors\/status\/2036567931375550551?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">being interviewed<\/a> on the YouTube Channel &ldquo;The Critical Drinker,&rdquo; when Scottish host Will Jordan commented on the blueprint for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/audiences-reject-woke-television-as-leftist-shows-are-canceled-in-2022\/\" title=\"Audiences Reject Woke Television as Leftist Shows Are Canceled in 2022\">good storytelling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s a great example of what you can do now with movies,&rdquo; he began. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re faithful to the source material and you don&rsquo;t insult the intelligence of your audience, and give them something really interesting to grapple with, [and don&rsquo;t,] dare I say it, try and shove, like, crappy identity politics into it, you end up with a &hellip; good movie at the end.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The people just want to watch,&rdquo; Jordan added.<\/p>\n<p>Weir, who also wrote &ldquo;The Martian,&rdquo; which became a massive hit headlining Matt Damon, said he agreed with that approach and tries to steer clear of deeper messaging in favor of entertainment.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think you and me are kind of on the same wavelength there when it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rowling-excluded-from-jubilee-reading-list-amid-attacks-for-trans-views\/\" title=\"Rowling Excluded from Jubilee Reading List Amid Attacks for Trans ...s\">fiction writing<\/a>,&rdquo; Weir replied. &ldquo;I never put any politics or messaging in any of my stories at all. There&rsquo;s no deeper meaning; there isn&rsquo;t even any symbolism, even non-political. There&rsquo;s just no symbolism at all. My books are just purely to entertain.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re human stories,&rdquo; Jordan shot back.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Yeah, you don&rsquo;t have to worry about the message,&rdquo; Weir declared, comically emphasizing the word &ldquo;message&rdquo; in an apparent shot at the movie industry.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Project Hail Mary&rdquo; is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/project-hail-mary-review-big-fun-hit-feels-like-old-hollywood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">character-driven science fiction<\/a> story starring Ryan Gosling as middle-school science teacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from home. As his memory starts to return, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance from destroying the sun, thus snuffing out life on Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The film was released on Friday and has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxofficemojo.com\/release\/rl1993768961\/rankings\/?ref_=bo_rl_tab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">already made<\/a> over $150 million.<\/p>\n<p>Even the Hollywood Reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/project-hail-mary-lessons-box-office-1236544231\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published<\/a> an article about the movie titled: &ldquo;Project Hail Mary&rsquo; Offers 4 Lessons Hollywood Should Learn &mdash; But Won&rsquo;t.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The four lessons were &ldquo;Assume Audiences Are Smart,&rdquo; &ldquo;Embrace Sincerity and Optimism,&rdquo; &ldquo;Patience Can Be a Virtue,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Use Practical Effects Whenever Possible.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Whether Tinseltown will take the hint and improve its storytelling remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a condensed paraphrase of the main content:<\/p>\n<p>After Project Hail Mary hit theaters, author Andy Weir-who wrote the book it\u2019s based on-said part of its success comes from not pushing politics in his work. He discussed this on The Critical Drinker\u2019s YouTube channel, where the host, Will Jordan, argued that strong storytelling today means staying true to the source, not talking down to the audience, giving viewers something worth thinking about, and avoiding clumsy identity politics. Weir, who also wrote The Martian, agreed with that approach and said he prefers to focus on entertainment rather than delivering a deeper political message. He argued his work is simply human and designed to entertain, without symbolic or political subtext.<\/p>\n<p>The article also notes that Project Hail Mary is a character-driven sci-fi about Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who awakens alone on a spaceship far from Earth. As he regains his memory, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious threat that could destroy the sun and wipe out life on Earth. The film opened recently and has already grossed over $150 million. A Hollywood Reporter piece about the movie lists four lessons Hollywood could learn but often doesn\u2019t: presume audiences are smart, embrace sincerity and optimism, be patient, and use practical effects whenever possible. Whether Hollywood will heed these lessons remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<p>(The rest of the text includes page elements like ad scripts, a video widget loading sequence, a form for user corrections, and related UI code.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2583856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Andy-Weir-avoids-preachy-politics.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[76550,76549,76391,76551,52294],"class_list":["post-2583855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-author-interview","tag-film-adaptation","tag-project-hail-mary","tag-sci-fi-cinema","tag-woke-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Andy-Weir-avoids-preachy-politics.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583855"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583860,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583855\/revisions\/2583860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}