MovieChat Forums > Passengers (2016) Discussion > Issues with the storyline

Issues with the storyline


Although I enjoyed the movie as essential diversion & fun, my main problem with the story is I don't buy Aurora, given the amount of time she had after waking, not suspecting that Jim had awoken her deliberately. She is, after all, a writer, accustomed to reflection; she has a pretty realistic sense of who she is & her own value ... why wouldn't she, at some point, ponder the circumstance that, as Gus later put it, Jim was one lucky SoB to have her as sole companion for the next almost-century?

Maybe she asks Arthur first--he's promised not to tell, but that also mean lying when questioned directly?

I get that the writers wanted to keep her reaction, her outrage "pure", & that comes only with surprise. Otherwise she would have had to consider how she should react if her suspicions pan out. I mean, is she really going to spend the rest of her life in isolation because Jim, an otherwise decent guy, did this one rotten thing?

I honestly think it would have been a stronger movie if there had been nothing wrong with the ship. If Aurora had to work out her feelings about Jim, her situation & her future on her own. Perhaps in time, maybe longer than Jim, she would find herself on the verge of waking another passenger, & at that point she might start to forgive him.

Of course, keeping things psychologically authentic, that might happen too late. If isolation stressed Jim more than her, he might have cracked by then. After all, from a strictly solitary pov, Jim's best strategy, if Aurora won't forgive him, would be to murder her. Eject her body, & try again with another passenger.

A Reddit user wrote an excellent essay praising the film for its avoidance of "rape culture" by making Aurora not in the least bit "co-dependent", i.e. not letting Jim off the hook for what he did because isn't that what is expected of female characters?

I do think that was the writers' intent, but at the cost of psychological artificiality.

Also, had a hard time believing that, with access to the crew compartment, they didn't at least wake the Captain to register a complaint. He could always decide after whether or not to go back into stasis.

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