Project Hail Mary: Male Expendability and Conscription

[DISCLAIMER]

*Project Hail Mary (2026) spoilers contained herein.

Photo credit, property of Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Releasing International, fair use

Although I never read the 2021 hard science fiction novel Project Hail Mary, I recently watched the 2026 science fiction adventure film Project Hail Mary. Regarding the plot summary, one source states:

Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out.

He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.

Allow me to spoil a key detail of the film. Grace receives help from an alien creature referred to as Rocky—aptly named by Grace, because the being is essentially a rock-like lifeform. Rocky reminds me of Pet Rock (packaged rocks in custom cardboard boxes which mimic pets).

Both Rocky and Pet Rock exist by means of anthropomorphism (the ascribing of human personality, appearance, conduct, cognition, or other attributes to non-human entities, often including non-human animals). This is a matter of projecting human traits onto non-humans.

Personally, the film Project Hail Mary did a decent job of making Rocky a likable and relatable character. Still, the movie was plagued by tired tropes related to representation (e.g., females and non-whites are presented as being smarter and retaining more value than white males).

Therefore, I actively practiced Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) while watching the flick. That, along with the fact that I mostly enjoy Gosling’s acting, left me with a favorable impression of Project Hail Mary overall. After all, I can set aside my beliefs about bigotry.

Nevertheless, there was one element of the film that I think warrants closer examination. In order to address this matter, it may be useful to define a couple terms. First, as I stated in The Disposable Male:

I argue that covert bigotry in the form of male expendability is a method of treating men like trash or garbage, despite not overtly declaring that men are outright disposable. According to one source:

Male expendability, the relative expendability argument, or the expendable male hypothesis, is the idea that the lives of male humans are of less concern to a population than those of female humans because they are less necessary for population replacement.

Pregnant women who wish to carry to term are generally burdened by nine months of pregnancy, during which they are arguably subject to increased risk to their health and regarding the well-being of the unborn fetus or child. Men don’t experience similar hardship necessary for population replacement.

Therefore, it’s logical and reasonable to conclude that women are valued more in a society for population growth. However, basing the value of women as higher than men for this sole factor is myopic.

Without protection of a society, which is historically the responsibility of men, there would be little-to-no ability for women to carry forward a population through the process of childbirth. Thus, men retain value as well.

Here is where the matter becomes tricky. The U.S. [United States] government requires that males provide protection for our nation if the SSS [Selective Service System] registry is put into effect during wartime. However, to my knowledge, there is no such requirement for women to support population replacement.

In REBT, an absolutistic requirement of this sort relates to the irrational belief of demandingness. As an example, if ordered to do so, all of-age males within the U.S. absolutely should, must, or ought to kill or die for this country while fighting in war.

No such requirement exists for women. Females may voluntarily serve in the military if they so choose. However, they aren’t subject to involuntary conscription. Therefore, males are considered disposable while females aren’t.

I voluntarily served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1996 to 2007, as I worked with women who also volunteered. Yet, if there were a need for a draft, the females with whom I served wouldn’t have been subject to the same treatment as men. Thus, secondly, I offer that one source states:

Conscription, also known as the draft in American English, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. […]

Conscription is controversial for a range of reasons, including conscientious objection to military engagements on religious or philosophical grounds; political objection, for example to service for a disliked government or unpopular war; sexism, in that historically only men have been subject to the draft; and ideological objection, for example, to a perceived violation of individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country, and seeking asylum in another country.

In that source, “conscientious objection” was mentioned. According to a separate source, a “conscientious objector is an ‘individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service’ on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion.”

In Project Hail Mary, world government agent Eva Stratt asks Grace to go on a suicide mission that involves a one-way trip to Tau Ceti, the only undimmed nearby star, so that collected material can then be launched back to Earth in crewless drones.

When Grace refuses, Stratt orders him to be drugged against his will and placed onto a spaceship along with one man and one woman who volunteered for the mission. This constitutes a form of conscription, as Grace’s civil liberties were violated by a governmental representative.

For context, given my small-l libertarian beliefs, each fallible human being (not necessarily states or governments) has a right to exist. I have an inalienable right to live, as do you. If you violate my right to exist, then in so doing you forfeit your right to live, as a matter of justice.

Thus, in Project Hail Mary, male expendability through ostensibly enforced conscription was depicted. Yet, as stated in the song “Mistakes” by lyricist Immortal Technique, “Extended my tour, treating me like a sucker. That’s the reason officers get fragged, motherfucker!”

For clarity, one source states, “Fragging is the deliberate or attempted killing of a soldier, usually a superior, by a fellow soldier. U.S. military personnel coined the word during the Vietnam War, when such killings were most often committed or attempted with a fragmentation grenade.”

In Project Hail Mary, Grace was portrayed as having lacked bravery or courage (the ability to meet a difficult challenge despite the physical, psychological, or moral risks involved in doing so) by not volunteering for a suicide mission. However, I see matters differently.

Grace was a conscientious objector, as it was well within his inalienable right of existence to reject Stratt’s absolutistic demand, though she infringed his right. “That’s the reason officers get fragged, motherfucker!” You may disagree, as I offer what I said in Tragedy of the Commons:

Within my blog, I provide many psychoeducational lessons on [REBT]. Often, this method of teaching involves the matter of thinking or believing which is rational (in accordance with both logic and reason), or not (i.e., irrational).

Here, “logic” is the interrelation or sequence of facts or events when seen as inevitable or predictable, and “reason” is a statement offered in explanation or justification. For instance, a modus ponens syllogism uses the following logical form: If p, then q; p; therefore, q.

If continuation of the human species is the foremost concern for humanity (p), then forced breeding absolutely must be required (q). Continuation of the human species is the foremost concern for humanity (p). Therefore, forced breeding absolutely must be required (q).

Although this moral and ethical proposition follows logical form, I argue that this sort of moral absolutism isn’t reasonable. Thus, I consider this syllogistic belief as that relating to irrationality. Nevertheless, I have little doubt that at least one person on this planet disagrees with my outlook.

Noteworthy, my worldview is subjective (characteristic of or belonging to reality as perceived rather than as independent of mind). Thus, not everyone agrees with what everybody else deems as rational or not. No matter how you may’ve been misled, not everyone is equal in our outlook.

Furthermore, a rational view for one person may not be considered rational by members of a group. For instance, the American Psychological Association thusly describes tragedy of the commons:

[A] social dilemma that occurs when a course of action benefiting individual members of a community in the short term is detrimental to the long-term welfare of the community.

In the original example of this dilemma, if each herdsman in a village seeks to maximize his individual gain by keeping as many of his cattle as possible on common grazing land, this will eventually make the land unusable by all, because the grass of the pasture is a limited resource.

The tragedy is that complete freedom in a society brings ruin to all. Also called commons dilemma.

I admit that my small-l libertarian perspective remains in contrast with a tragedy of the commons worldview. Specifically, I want to leave people alone and be left alone by others. Thus, I do what is rational for me, you do what is rational for you, and we don’t aggress upon one another.

From the perspective regarding tragedy of the commons, forced breeding (i.e., rape) could be argued as a reasonable solution to declining birthrates. Personally, I don’t support this position. All the same, some people may advocate rape as a strategy for the survival of the human species.

Let’s flip the Grace-Stratt scenario on its head. If women were involuntarily drugged and then raped by volunteers, in the view of saving humanity—even though there’s no guarantee that such actions would actually protect our species, would you condone this sort of behavior?

Would you oppose the violation of a woman’s inalienable right not to be raped? If so, I presume you also reject an argument supporting male expendability and conscription—as ostensibly advocated in Project Hail Mary. Or is it that you support only women’s rights, not those of men?

If so, then hello, feminist; I imagine you enjoyed Project Hail Mary! If the U.S. is heading down the path of conscription, as is reportedly being considered, then I doubt the feminists of our nation will advocate human rights (i.e., men’s rights). Cue the Immortal Technique!

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

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