What The Movie Changed About Neil Armstrong Only4Media.com

Summary

• First Man
  closely follows Neil Armstrong’s life, highlighting his struggles and emotional journey.
• The movie is fairly accurate regarding the space race and Moon landing events but with a focus on Armstrong’s experience.
• While the flag is shown on the Moon,
  First Man
  chooses not to depict the crew planting it, focusing instead on Armstrong’s personal moment.

Damien Chazelle’s First Man revolves around Neil Armstrong and his experience as an astronaut, including during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. Of course, since it’s a movie, the 2018 biographical drama changed a few small details about Armstrong’s life and the Moon landing. However, as it turns out, Chazelle and screenwriter Josh Singer still stayed relatively close to how the major events of Armstrong’s life played out.

First Man
was nominated for four Academy Awards — Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects, winning in the last category.

First Man stars Ryan Gosling as legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong and chronicles his journey to becoming the first man to step foot on the Moon. Thanks to the years of work it took for Armstrong to get to this point, First Man shows almost a decade of the astronaut’s life. The movie begins with a brief look at his pre-NASA days and then focuses on his life once he is training to go to space. So how does First Man deal with a story that was years in the making?

Did Neil Armstrong Leave His Daughter’s Bracelet On The Moon?

The Bracelet Moment Is Inspired By James R. Hansen’s Book

The main emotional thread for First Man is actually related to Neil’s personal life, but one that ties into his astronaut career. The movie begins by showing Neil’s relationship with his daughter, Karen, who passed away at the age of 2 following health complications related to a brain tumor. In the film, after she dies, Neil takes one of her bracelets and locks it away. He then begins to shut off most of his emotions and rarely discusses the death of his daughter with anyone. But, once he lands on the Moon in First Man, Karen’s bracelet returns.

[Leaving the bracelet on the Moon] isn’t confirmed to ever have happened, but it is plausible given Neil’s life. It fits with Neil’s closed-off personality and gives him a sense of closure in the film.

The historical biography movie First Man shows Neil tossing the bracelet into the Little Crest Crater on the Moon. Although this moment is not confirmed to have actually happened in real life, the concept of Neil doing this is taken from First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, the movie on which Chazelle and Singer’s script is based. This act isn’t confirmed to ever have happened, but it is plausible given Neil’s life. It fits with Neil’s closed-off personality and gives him a sense of closure in the film.

How The Space Race & Moon Landing Were Different

First Man Is Fairly Accurate Regarding The Space Race & Moon Landing

The space race and Moon landing as depicted in First Man is largely similar to how events actually played out. The major difference between First Man and real history really comes down to its focus. Since this is Neil Armstrong’s story, the movie largely focuses on his experience and not on how NASA is racing to be the first to the Moon.

First Man still shows Neil becoming part of Gemini 5 and Gemini 8, before the film centers itself on the Apollo missions. The Damien Chazelle movie shows his reaction to the Apollo 1 fire, and then his drive to get the space program right in order to make Apollo 11 successful. The main difference that comes with First Man is just the truncation of the events, and the focus moving from NASA’s perspective to Neil’s.

Planting The Flag & What First Man Missed Out

First Man Doesn’t Depict The Astronauts Planting The American Flag On The Moon

A point of controversy for First Man was the apparent omission of the Apollo 11 crew planting the American flag on the Moon after a successful landing. The flag is indeed planted on the Moon. But the difference is that First Man doesn’t show the actual act of the crew sticking it into the lunar surface.

The movie elects to just show it in the background. Whether or not this is a reasonable move may be up to the viewer, but it makes sense with the movie presented. Again, First Man is told from Neil’s perspective and the planting of the flag is a major accomplishment for America. This is why the emotional payoff of the third act comes with the bracelet toss and not the flag planting.

What NASA & Real Astronauts Have Said About First Man’s Historical Accuracy

Of course, real-life astronauts from NASA had comments about the space movie First Man‘s accuracy following its premiere. Buzz Aldrin, who is played by Corey Stoll in the film, didn’t say much, but he did seemingly respond to the flag controversy via X in 2018. Aldrin posted photos of the American flag being planted on the Moon with the hashtag, “#proudtobeanAmerican,” alongside a few other patriotic hashtags. Many interpreted Aldrin’s post as his disapproval of the movie omitting the flag scene.

However, many others in the space community were happy with the 2018 biopic’s accuracy, including Michael J. Neufeld, a senior curator in the Space History Department of the National Air and Space Museum. NASA also consulted with Josh Singer while he was writing the script, which could partly account for its accuracy and their and other’s approval of First Man.

Sources: X, The National Air and Space Museum