Why Cooper’s Mission in Interstellar Shows the True Meaning of Sacrifice

The movie starts with scenes of dust flying around and crops dying one by one. The atmosphere is dark, and hope for survival is getting smaller by the hour. The planet isn’t as habitable as it used to be. Cooper is a farmer with acres of corn spread around his house. He has a daughter and a son along with their grandfather. He used to be a pilot who has now retired to take up agriculture.

As the story unfolds, he is required to be a part of a crewed-mission to a nearby wormhole which leads to a different galaxy. It isn’t clear when he is supposed to return and he might be gone forever. This creates a psychological rift inside him. What is he supposed to do? On one side, there’s his family who needs a father. On the other side, there are the scientists looking up to him as a saviour. What’s bigger? The duty to his family or his responsibility towards humanity as a whole? Which meaning is he willing to take upon in his life?

Viktor Frankl’s concept of logotherapy resonates with Cooper’s journey. He was a Holocaust survivor who faced one of the worst periods of human history in its raw form. While he was in the concentration camp, he wrote that meaning must be the greatest motivator in a man’s life. He saw people around him who were being treated brutally, people who were having night terrors, and so much more. Even then, they kept on going.

What kept them alive? The environment certainly didn’t because the food was scarce and the sky was pouring down snow like never before. What kept them alive even in the worst of times? It must be meaning. It must be the hope of getting back to one’s family, the goal of fulfilling one’s dream, or even the attitude of never giving up.

The Dilemma

Isolation must be so haunting out there. To know that there is absolutely nothing millions of miles around you. It is all empty, and it is all capable of literally squeezing the life out of a human. A world so big yet so small when seen from a distance. All the progress we made, all the fights we fought, all the laughs we had, and all the tears we cried—all of them bundled up into that small dot in the distance.

Cooper set out on this journey knowing that he might not return to see his daughter. Can any sacrifice trump leaving one’s own family behind? The thought must have crossed his mind. Is this even worth it? I am leaving my young daughter behind on a dying planet. She will be here without me. Will I return in time? Perhaps the conversation with Professor Brand changed his mind.

When asked if he would be willing to pilot the mission which could take decades, he said in a grim tone, “I’ve got kids, Professor.” Brand replied with his eyes staring into Cooper’s, “Then get out there and save them.” Cooper ventured into space for something greater than himself. It was a mission that gave meaning to not only his life but the lives of the future generation as well. 

Messages from Home

There is an interesting scene in the movie when he returned from Miller’s (the scientist who was stationed there) planet. Even though he was there for just 3 hours, 23 years had passed away on Earth because of the time dilation. Messages stored on the computer for more than two decades played in front of him. He saw his son grow up in the span of minutes.

He had met a girl, married her, had a child and lost the child. All of it in flashed away in a few minutes for Cooper. So much had happened in just the 3 hours that he was on the planet. To see his children’s lives play out in front of him on a screen must have hurt. He missed out on so much. He missed out on 23 years. There was no communication from his side all this time. His son eventually gives up on him and says, “I don’t know where you are, Dad. I hope you are at peace. Bye.”

A loud silence takes over him when he suddenly hears, “Hi Dad.” It was Murph. She was an adult now, all grown up. Murph’s journey had begun through resentment towards her father. In her mind, he had abandoned her for a mission that was more important to him than the bond between them. As she got older, she came to terms with the fact her father was out there not just to save humanity but to ensure that his daughter lived on.

Cooper’s absence, although painful, was a catalyst for Murph’s emotional growth. Existential psychology talks about this. Philosophers and psychologists have stated time and time again that suffering is an essential part of our life. It hurts, but it helps us cross our mental blocks and fixed mindsets. In Frankl’s words, suffering can be endured when an individual finds meaning in it. She had her emotional closure and psychological growth because of the fact that she forgave her father in the end. Reconciliation and finding meaning in one’s existence are a major part of an individual’s transformation according to Existential Psychology. 

Dr Mann’s Betrayal

Mann’s planet was not habitable for humans. He knew that and he still sent out the signal out there in the hope that somebody would rescue him. Somewhere in the back of the mind, he must have known that this would cost humanity but he did it anyway. It raises a deep question about ourselves. How willing are we to sacrifice ourselves in order to save the others? Dr Mann certainly wasn’t willing to do so. He tried to sabotage the whole mission in order to keep himself alive. Was he wrong for doing this?

It depends on the viewer. There are no right or wrong answers here. It is our basic survival instinct to do anything to preserve our own life. He had the right to save himself. But at the cost of humanity? Maybe some viewers will see it as a selfish move but when an individual’s life is at stake, his morals, ethics and values fly out of the window just like that. The ‘ID’ part of our mind, the primal mind is activated which does everything in its power to keep the person alive.

Dr. Mann may have been portrayed as a villain in the story but his perspective showed us another side of our ourselves. It showed us how much we value ourselves. It showed us that our principles can fizzle away in the air the moment we are threatened with death. Cooper was lucky to make it out alive out of there but he learned a valuable lesson nonetheless. “Everyone is here for themselves.”

Conclusion

The climax hits the hardest when he returns to see that Murph has grown into an old lady, much older than himself! She has wrinkles and is laying on a hospital bed with her new family surrounding her. The 10-year-old daughter he had left behind was now someone’s grandmother. It brings chills to even imagine this. All the while, Cooper had remained rather unchanged, physically. He didn’t look much different, but the world inside him had turned upside down. Also, cooper had seen his crewmates die one by one. He had seen his children’s lives breeze past him in a few minutes. He had seen things beyond his wildest imaginations. 

It is interesting to see what humans would do for love. Cooper left his home planet for it. He went out there into a new galaxy to find a new home for his daughter. The existential question of what is the meaning of human existence in this vast universe is answered in a subtle manner in the end. The film suggests that the meaning exists in the very fabric of human relationships. It says that meaning is not something external but rather it is something that we can create on our own through our actions, relationships and choices. 

Life is suffering. It is difficult out here in this world. Things are usually not how we want them to. But we keep going on. Why? Why do we get out of our bed in the morning every day? Each day brings new suffering and yet we don’t give up. All of us have a reason to live. All of us have our own purpose and our own goal. Viktor Frankl talks about this in depth. He once famously said, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.” Cooper’s ‘why’ was Murph. And he endured every ‘how’ just to see her again.