Solaris (1972) - A Psychologist Reacts

In the science fiction film SOLARIS (1972), a psychologist is sent to a space station hovering a distant planet to evaluate a crew of scientists suffering from serious emotional disturbances. When the psychologist arrives, he finds the station in disarray and the crew members seemingly disoriented, obstinate, and psychotic. However, it isn't long before the psychologist begins to experience inexplicable breaks from reality. He is afflicted with heart-wrenching hallucinations of his deceased wife, visions so realistic that he eventually succumbs to the emotionally fulfilling companionship and intimacy the fantasy offers him. The crewmates explain that she's nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

The psychologist initially relies on his logic and clinical training to explain his disturbing mental episodes, but he recognizes that the "visitors" on the space station are not random. Solaris (or its life forms?) seems to be sending the crew apparitions representing traumatic grief, personal loss, or unresolved ruptures from their pasts. As his "visitor" grows more self-aware and independent as an autonomous being, the psychologist understands that this is not meant to be a fantasy but a simulation for him to face and process his internalized shame.

Though much of the film is open to interpretation, its story succeeds in penetrating our defenses surrounding vulnerability, mortality, and loneliness. As the psychologist's "visitor" on the station grows more to resemble a living being with agency, her "human" like experiences develop both cognitively and emotionally. She has memories, desires, and...unbearable sadness. When the apparition attempts suicide to rid herself of emotional pain, audiences are tested on their beliefs about our constructs of consciousness and humanity.

Finally, since "space madness" is a common sci-fi trope, we correct myths about the suggestion that astronauts are more susceptible to mental illness during prolonged periods away from Earth. It's true that space travel can test the psychological limits of humans, but psychological deterioration is more related to the environment (closed spaces, little privacy, taxing workloads) and less about the influence of space itself on the psyche. Astronauts receive a tremendous amount of training and preparation, psychiatric testing, and resources to keep them emotionally functional throughout their missions - assuming, there are no alien interferences.

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