Arts: Mars

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The Middlebrow Mars Can John Carter make the red planet cool again? By Bryan Curtis Posted Thursday, Mar 08, 2012, at 04:50 PM ET This Friday, John Carter has two missions. First, he must save the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris from the ravagings of Sab Than, win the friendship of Tars Tarkas, and hammer out a peace agreement between the kingdoms of Thark and Helium—the Israel and Iran of Barsoom. Then comes the hard part. The hero of the new movie John Carter has to make Mars cool again. For a century, Mars was the place where a fictional astronaut made his bones. Where, under the light of twin moons, he could explore great, ruined cities, slay 15-foot-tall aliens, and marry a princess. Now, director Andrew Stanton has gone so far as to remove the word "Mars" from the title of the movie. His official explanation is that it made the movie sound too dorky for women. But I think the real problem is that Mars feels too retro—too George Pal Atomic Age—for the 13-year-old blockbuster audience. What happened?   A century ago, Mars was alluring because of its proximity to Earth and … certain signs of life. In 1877, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli had observed canali—channels—upon the Martian surface. Percival Lowell, an astronomer from Boston, was one of many to conclude these canali were bona fide canals—that is, the work of intelligent life forms. Writing with the imagination of a novelist, Lowell speculated that Mars was a dusty, dying planet, and the Martians had built canals as part of a Hail Mary plan to bring in water from ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Saletan: What Happens to Students' Sex Habits When Colleges Stop Subsidizing Birth Control The Hidden Downside of the Super-Speedy New iPad How Would a "Contested Convention" Really Work?	Advertisement
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