For once, can we have a film about “saving the world” where the protagonist isn’t dense enough to actually consider jeopardizing his mission (TO SAVE THE ENTIRE FUTURE OF HUMANITY) because he “has to see his kids again…. because he promised he’d come back”? [Insert Giant Palm to Forehead]. This is bad screenwriting, storytelling and also a bad example to set.

1. Stop pandering to parents. Just Stop. It’s such awful pandering. Guess what Christopher Nolan: your movie idea is actually pretty interesting and fun to watch. Parents will go along for the ride even if you don’t kiss their asses by trying to make them feel like their kids are more important than saving the entirety of all human existence forever.

2. It’s just a bad action movie trope. We’ve seen this 1000 times before. Can’t you come up with ANY other reason to motivate this character besides his kids? Really? You can’t think of any character motivation more realistic?

3. Are you f&*ing kidding me? Am I really supposed to believe that someone smart enough to understand astrophysics and how to fly a f#%ing space ship is going to be so emotionally and ethically deficient as to seriously consider jeopardizing the entire future of humanity just to see his kids again? Not to SAVE his kids… no, just to “see them one more time.” This aspect of the story is insulting to decent people everywhere.

4. You’re setting up sick standards and expectations for being a parent. I’m child free, but I have decent friends who have children and it’s sickening to think that some of the less savvy parents might watch a movie like this and think “I would have chosen to save the world… it wouldn’t have even been a question for me… therefore, I must not love my children as much as other people.” This only WORSENS the degree of “child-worship” in our culture.

5. Nobody’s kids are that special. The odds are 6 billion to 1 that your child is going to grow up to be the world’s most influential scientist who saves the entire planet. Planting this idea into parents heads only feeds an already unhealthy sense of parental entitlement that is so pervasive in our culture. It’s believing that “my kid is so much more special than everyone else’s” that makes parents do horribly selfish things.

Rant over.