Did I miss something? His father didn't want his son to grow up to be a successful rocket scientist? Instead he'd rather have his son work the dark dreary depths of a coal mine, risking death and never having a fulfilled life? Am I the only one that thought that was grossly exaggerated? I mean, come on, what kind of father prefers his kid to work a low paying, high risk, health detrimental job over being a smart and successful rocket scientist?
shareI read that the father was very supportive but the movie made up the conflict between them to add drama to it.
shareYeah, you gotta have an antagonist of some kind. Besides, I never really saw him as that bad of a guy. He seemed more like a man who didn't want his kid to be disappointed if something didn't work out so he wanted him to aim low to make sure he could achieve something.
shareI read the book years ago, so maybe I'm rusty, but I don't remember the father being particularly supportive.
shareIn the early/mid 1950s rocketry was still considered far-out crazy science fiction. Even the accomplishments of Von Braun and co. In WWII were not really widely known to the general public. It is not really that unrealistic that a coal mill foreman, who thought his own profession was the bedrock of US industry, would think that rocketry was just pie in the sky.
share