Nicholas GrossmanWhen artists/entertainers say their work isn't political, they usually don't mean "my work has nothing to say about human society." They usually mean "it's not a culture war polemic, it doesn't directly say you're a bad person if you don't agree, don't tell millions it's only for the 'other side.'"
Michael WymanA lot is unavoidably political. Characters of different races getting along is political nowadays. "I'm not political" often means "my views are treated as default."
Still, most people use the term "political" to mean something else, something more akin to polemical, didactic, and in your face.
Unavoidably political things in Project Hail Mary include:
-Science is great
-Govt should support science
-Govts should cooperate to solve shared problems
-(more book than movie) stopping environmental catastrophe outweighs copyright, patent and profit
Powerful forces today oppose all that
But...
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RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3nsf5dd47kbhtjjugnlipp3z/post/3micowjzhc22r
Project Hail Mary, while unavoidably political in some ways, is not polemical or explicitly didactic. It can be an escape.
People closely attuned to politics aren't wrong to see most art as unavoidably political. But that's not what the average person means by "politics."
Take that as an opening.