I think RLM highlights the biggest issue with modern science and Sci-Fi movies: Scientists and astronauts don't make good main characters.

I mean, we get that people like Neil DeGrasse Tyson wants people to be more interested in space exploration especially when China and Russia are now back into the Space Race, and I know that Hollywood is playing a huge role with these Call of Duty-esque yearly release NASA movies (Gravity in 2013, Interstellar in 2014 and The Martian in 2015).

But the problem is this: Scientists and astronauts don't make good leads in movies.

The thing about the Campbellian Hero's Journey is that heroes always start as blank slates: Everyday know nothings who got stuck in situations that makes them grow.

Scientists and astronauts are the opposite of that. They are supposed to be smart from the start. How can you grow when you've already grown? They are literally the definition of "Gary Stus" because they are already smart people with knowledge in their fields from the start. You can't make a scientist start off as a dumbass, because then you'll get the Prometheus problem of scientists acting like scared teenage girls in a horror film.

That's why I get it that they don't like The Martian and have problems with Gravity and Interstellar (all three films that I actually like). All these MCs are already grown, so what can we as an audience grow with them?

What's odder is that we have yet to see a movie that starts off as a scientist training to be an astronaut. For an era where NASA is pumping billions to encourage people to support its Mars and other space exploration missions, we have yet to see a film that asks 'What does it make to become an astronaut?". The only work of pop culture that does is the Space Brothers anime (which is also funded by NASA), but then again anime is for kids right?