The One Scene In Interstellar That Made No Sense At All
Christopher Nolan's 2014 science-fiction epic "Interstellar" is quite possibly his most head-scratching work, which says a lot given his eclectic filmography. The film tells the story of a drought-ridden, dying Earth and the people who take it upon themselves to try and save humanity. To do this, a select group that includes former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) crew a shuttle to the furthest corners of space in search of a new planet that humans can call home. Meanwhile, Cooper's daughter, NASA scientist Murphy (Jessica Chastain), is back on Earth trying to figure out a way to save humanity when she believes her father has abandoned her.
Despite being considered science fiction, "Interstellar" relies heavily on actual science, as well as Nolan's unique use of time, to drive the narrative. The film undeniably left — and continues to leave — most audience members in the dust with some of its concepts, including its breakdown of black holes, the theory of relativity, space travel, and wormholes. Over the years, audiences have returned to "Interstellar" to understand and appreciate the complex ideas within the stand-out work of sci-fi cinema. While Nolan's immense attention to detail is worthy of admiration, there is one particular element to the film's complex narrative that doesn't make sense the longer you sit with it.
How can humanity be saved by a watch tapping out Morse code?
Throughout "Interstellar," it is stated that the only way to save the dying planet is to solve a gravity equation, which requires entering a black hole to retrieve data. Entering a black hole is something that has never been attempted, but near the end, Cooper manages to find a way to do just that. As he goes deeper into the black hole, he is transported to a dimension that replicates what is, theoretically, the space behind his daughter's bookshelf on Earth. Now that he has the information he needs, the question remains: How does he get that information back to Earth now that he's in this black hole?
Cooper gets TARS (Bill Irwin), the military robot that has been accompanying him on his quest, to run the equation through the long hand of a watch he leaves for Murph on the bookshelf. The message filled with essential data is spelled out in Morse code. The hope is that Murph notices the watch, sees the arms twitching about, and, rather than just assuming it's broken, she will realize that it's a Morse code message from her father, of all people. (Yeah, it's a stretch.)
Let's forget the fact that Cooper conveniently appears behind Murph's bookshelf out of all the places he could have shown up (the movie does say love defies the laws of space and time, but still), but to expect her to pick up on so many subtle messages at that moment is hard to accept. Although it's explained earlier that the father-daughter duo has a connection to the watch, it's not too far off to imagine this would cross Cooper's mind as a personal way of getting to Murph. Nevertheless, it's a moment that asks the audience to stretch their suspension of disbelief to an extent that transcends space and time.