Ask McFartnuggets: “Why is the Movie ‘Elysium’ So Stupid?”

Matt Damon in "Elysium."

Dear McFartnuggets: 

In “Elysium” Matt Damon gets accidentally trapped in a room that exposes him to deadly radiation that forces him to fly to Elysium in order to get cured. Almost the second the radiation starts filling the room he’s trapped in the people at the factory get a warning that says “Human Tissue Detected.” How come those radiation rooms can’t just run a quick human tissue sensor BEFORE the radiation starts? If it detects human tissue, DON’T START THE RADIATION. That would seem like a pretty obvious failsafe to prevent workplace fatalities. It must be a common problem too because they yell “Extraction!” and a special robot designed specifically for dragging an irradiated corpse out of the room shows up to pull Matt Damon’s unconscious ass out. The factory is run by the rich people who don’t want people to come to Elysium for radiation cures so why not limit the number of people exposed to radiation by installing the failsafe in their factory? How stupid is that! If they just did that, Matt Damon wouldn’t have gotten radiation sickness and the whole movie wouldn’t have even taken place! Why is this movie so damn stupid?! -- Becca from Green Bay, Wisconsin

Dear Becca:

Yeah, it has its flaws… The point you bring up isn’t really so much of a plot hole as a common sense issue that might lead to an inability to suspend disbelief. I doubt THAT is the problem most people have with the movie, but it is a fair point. Thanks.

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