A Lunar Journey

“Wow! What a hilarious film that was!”

Assuming that I lived during the year the film, “A Trip to the Moon”, was aired, the above statement would probably be my first exclamation after watching it. This 1902 silent film was rather funny since I got to imagine the dialogues between characters. The scene wherein the astronomers were arguing about the proposal of going to the moon was my best favorite. Another was when they were fighting the lunar inhabitants, who explode when hit hard. They all looked too comical!

But, on the other hand, watching it as a citizen of that time period when science was still in its infancy, I would feel a little uneasy and quite excited. The possibility of going to the moon and meeting people, who live there, were just too overwhelming during that time. The technology that was used by the astronomers to go to the moon – using cannon to shoot their bullet-shaped ship – may be laughed-at and criticized by us today. Yet, considering only the technology that was present before – gunpowder and cannon – people that time (including myself) would find it a possible way to visit the lunar surface. It was like making steps for a scientific breakthrough. The excitement and anxiety about the probable effects of such a trip might have stirred researchers and inventors to go deeper in their researches and inventions.

I, for one, would be among those who would also wait for any new updates about this certain lunar endeavor. But, I would still be worried about the effects it might bring in the society and the lives of the people. The shown possibility of living creatures inhabiting outside Earth was also a little disturbing. What if these creatures were monsters? Would they take over Earth when we try to visit them? What would we do when that happens? These questions I might have thought with the growing fear within my stomach. Then again, the excitement to prove the probability of these creatures would remain greater.