Media-Stream Reception: “ecc. perché la minestra si fredda” (2107)

Document Type: Compiled Public Commentary and Media Excerpts

Date: Early 2107

Following its release on the global media networks in late 2106, the experimental media-stream “ecc. perché la minestra si fredda,” exploring the interwoven lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Malina, and Amara Varna through the metaphor of soup, generated significant discussion across various human settlements. Presented here is a selection of reactions, reflecting diverse perspectives from Lunar stations, orbital habitats, and Earth.

Source: Luna Station Resident, ‘Selenite Daily Digest’ Forum Comment: “Saw that ‘Soup’ film everyone’s talking about. Honestly, felt a bit slow in parts, very… artsy. But the stuff about Varna, seeing her early life in Mumbai, then later in orbit… it makes you think. We use ITT every day here on Luna, takes it for granted. But seeing where it came from, and how she wrestled with what happened after… makes her feel less like a historical plaque and more like, well, a person. The bit about Malina and rockets, then his art? That resonated with some of the engineers here, the jump from brute force to something more… controlled. With speeds not really getting faster since that big push around 2090, maybe thinking about things differently, like the film tries to, is important. Didn’t quite get the soup thing, though. Gave me a craving for something other than recycled protein paste, I’ll give it that.”

Source: Luna Station Environmental Technician, Internal Report Addendum Comment: “Regarding the recent media-stream ‘ecc. perché la minestra si fredda’: While primarily cultural, the film’s visual emphasis on different Earth soups and the underlying theme of reconciling grand ideas with mundane realities struck a chord. Down here on Luna, maintaining our closed-loop systems, recycling every drop of water, every nutrient… it’s a constant, practical struggle. The film’s artistic approach, using something as simple as soup to connect centuries of human effort and the persistent need to sustain life, resonated with the daily work of ensuring our environment remains stable. It wasn’t just about history; it was about the fundamental act of making something life-sustaining from limited resources, a challenge shared by da Vinci’s engineering, Malina’s systems, Varna’s vision, and our own efforts here. A surprisingly relevant piece, despite its abstractness.”

Source: Orbital Horizon Resident, Personal Blog Post Comment: “Watched ‘Minestra Fredda’ last night from the observation deck. The view of Earth below while they talked about da Vinci sketching flying machines and Malina building rockets… it was quite something. The film’s style, the way the soups linked everything, felt… intuitive. It wasn’t a history lesson; it was more like a meditation on human nature. Varna’s story is always complex, isn’t it? The inventor of ITT, the architect of the Airpocalypse… but the film focused on her philosophy, her ‘Perceptionism.’ How we perceive technology, how that shapes its reality. With speeds staying stubbornly around 0.01c+ despite the hopes from a decade ago, and the ongoing issues on Earth… maybe how we perceive our current situation is more important than the situation itself. A lot to chew on, like a good, rich stew.”

Source: Wengo Haifa Station Lead (Bakery Assistant, female), Station’s Internal Memo Excerpt Comment: “They showed that soup movie in the common area during break. The soups looked so nice, made me really hungry, you know? Glad me and my friend had a reservation right after, we got that nutrient paste special, almost tasted like actual food. But the historical details in the film… holy shit, I didn’t know all that before! Like, about da Vinci sketching flying machines centuries ago, or Malina building rockets then switching to art. It was fascinating. But I’m mostly attached to Amara Varna, though. Seeing her early life in Mumbai, the colors, the energy, then the resettlement to Iceland… wow. It makes her feel so real, not just a name on the ITT hub. And Darius Voss’s death… What a heartbreaking tragedy - a great man! I heard he even cured cancer, is that true? The film showed his story too. And seeing Varna’s anger in the film, about how things turned out, about how it ‘still does persist!’ I can feel it, you know? It felt so real, that frustration. And all the art they showed, da Vinci’s paintings, Malina’s light sculptures, Varna’s kinetic computer stuff, how is it called, awesome. I have to go to the museum-galllery. It was more than just history lessons, it felt… connected. Like all those lives, all those struggles and breakthroughs, are connected, stirring together, don’t we? Like different ingredients in one big soup.”

Source: Earth Resident (Europe), Online Commentary Section (Angry Rant) Comment: “SOUP?! Are you KIDDING ME?! They make a whole damn movie about SOUP?! Sitting up there in their fancy stations, looking down at us, eating their gourmet garbage while we’re drowning or burning or just plain starving! Minestrone? Miso? French Cauliflower?! We haven’t seen food that real in YEARS down here! We’re eating recycled sludge and praying for a ration pack! ‘The soup is getting cold’?! Yeah, well, the whole DAMN PLANET is COOKED, flooded, burnt-out mess! This isn’t art, it’s an OBSCENITY! It’s them rubbing our faces in what they have and what we’ve lost! They don’t get it! They don’t get anything about what life is like down here! All their ‘philosophy’ and ‘perception’ means NOTHING when you’re fighting for clean water! NOTHING! This movie is just another reminder of how far away they are, how little they care! It makes me want to throw something at the screen! THAT’S the ONLY thing WE can do HERE ON EARTH. They betray us, leaving us, HELPLESS!”

Source: Earth Resident (USA), Online Commentary Section (Reflective Voice) Comment: “That media-stream was… moving. The way it wove together the lives of da Vinci, Malina, and Varna, finding common threads across centuries… it gave an almost epic historical context to our own time. The soup transitions were a bit abstract, yes, but the historical parts, seeing their struggles, their moments of breakthrough and frustration, really resonated. And Varna. We live with the consequences of ITT every day on Earth – the relocation zones, the economic shifts. Looking at her concerns about how her invention was used… it makes you reflect on where we are now. It’s hard here in the US. The climate extremes – droughts, torrents of rain, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, all more frequent and violent now – they’ve rendered whole counties uninhabitable. Meanwhile, you see the relative stability in Canada and the rise of Mexico with their green energy grids, geothermal, solar… it’s hard not to see how our own nationalist isolationism during the 21st century contributed to this decline. The film touched on grand visions clashing with reality, and that’s our daily life. Honestly, watching it made me think about my own situation. I’m still trying to get an immigration visa for my family to Canada, but it’s not so easy these years. The film’s message about the blend of the profound and the mundane, the big picture and the cold reality of a cooling soup… that feels incredibly relevant right now.”

Source: Earth Resident (Ex-Nigeria, West-African-Union), Community Network Post Comment: “I watched ‘The Soup Gets Cold’ – that’s what we’re calling it here. It resonated deeply. Amara Varna, a woman from Mumbai, changing the world… it speaks to the potential that exists everywhere, even in places facing immense challenges. The film’s focus on the mundane, the ‘soup getting cold,’ alongside the grand ideas… that is our reality here. We are rebuilding, adapting to the climate, managing our population growth. It is painstaking, everyday work. But we also look to the stars, we use the ITT, we are part of the network. The film’s soup metaphor… it’s like each soup presents a different taste, like people are different, from different places, with different lives. But we are all in the big bowl that is Earth, stirred together by history and circumstance. I think, It’s on us, what we’re cooking now, isn’t it? Malina’s conflict between science and its use, Varna’s concerns about how her invention was perceived and used by corporations like Ares Dynamics – this is not abstract for us. We see the impact of these forces, the inequalities. The film reminds us that progress is not inevitable, and it is not just about technology. It is about the choices we make, the values we carry forward. It is about ensuring that the ‘soup’ of humanity, in all its diverse ingredients, is shared equitably, and that we do not let the vulnerable go hungry while others feast on grand visions. We must continue to build, to adapt, to change, carrying the lessons of the past, even when the present is difficult. This film encourages that reflection.”

Critical Retrospective: “The Soup Gets Cold” - A Look Back (Circa 2130s)

Decades on from its initial, somewhat polarizing, debut on global media networks in late 2106, the media-stream “ecc. perché la minestra si fredda” – affectionately, or perhaps dismissively, known to many as “The Soup Movie” – stands as a curious and unexpectedly enduring cultural artifact of that era. At the time, its abstract, non-linear structure and its central metaphor of linking historical figures through bowls of soup proved challenging for some viewers, particularly those grappling with the harsh realities of a climate-stressed Earth and the growing socio-economic divides. The visceral, angry reaction from one Earth-based commentator, triggered by the very imagery of food, remains a stark reminder of the inequalities of the time.

Yet, viewed from the perspective of the 2130s, the film’s artistic choices seem less like affectation and more like prescience. Its focus on the mundane (“the soup getting cold”) as a counterpoint to grand visions of technological progress now feels particularly poignant, reflecting an era when the initial heady optimism of ITT had settled into the persistent reality of technical limitations and unresolved planetary crises. The film’s exploration of Amara Varna’s legacy, highlighting not just her revolutionary invention but her own struggles with its unintended consequences and the way her vision was ultimately perceived and co-opted, resonates deeply in a time still grappling with the long-term impacts of early ITT deployment and corporate dominance.

The film’s quiet insistence on the interconnectedness of human experience across centuries, symbolized by the blending ingredients of a soup, offered a subtle counterpoint to the centrifugal forces of time – the physical separation of the colonies, the growing divergence of cultures, and the widening gap between earth’s elite, the orbitals, and those remaining on Flat-Earth. While not a box office smash or a critical darling universally, “ecc. perché la minestra si fredda” found its audience, a classic, particularly among those who appreciated its philosophical depth and its willingness to find profound meaning in the everyday. It remains a valuable lens through which to view the anxieties and aspirations of the transitory period from the 21st into the 22nd century, a reminder that even amidst technological leaps and the now starting galactic expansion, the most fundamental human truths – the struggle between vision and reality, the importance of connection, and the simple, persistent demands of life – continue to simmer beneath the surface.