The Martian, released Oct. 2, follows astronaut Mark Watney’s struggle to survive alone on Mars. Rife with repartee, the movie encourages interest in the sciences by depicting scientific discovery more accurately than most films manage to accomplish.

For many Americans, science is as austere and profane – unrelatable, uninteresting, and unintelligible. The Martian attempts to counter this image by presenting science in a way that engages the general public. But this is not necessarily what stuck with me: what I found most interesting was its uncompromising depiction of science.

While many movies and television shows mean to make science more approachable, such as Mythbusters and Cosmos, they paint a distorted picture of scientific inquiry.

To my chagrin, television increasingly tries to depict science as “cool.” I appreciate their intent of increasing scientific interest and literacy, but I believe that they are taking the wrong approach. People are being encouraged to join the science workforce not by depictions of science itself, but through oversimplified, cherry picked spectacles.

We sit back and watch as the Mythbusters destroy Bugattis in a variety of ways. In Cosmos, pages and pages of theory are simplified to voiceovers and cute animations. One component is glaringly missing from all of these shows: hard work. Where are the calculations? Did the math do itself? Where did these theories come from? Through the magic of TV editing, there is only glorious fruition and none of the labor.

The Martian does not gloss over the methodology behind finding a solution. And this, I feel, is what sets it far apart from other scientific films and shows.

Scott Ridley’s movie could have instead been a documentary about Mars and space in general. Instead, it is a movie with depth and intent. It focuses on Mark Watney’s goal as well as his journey.

Although the movie does not delve into the math behind the numerous space launches (and rightfully so), it recognizes that nothing is ever accomplished without effort. Watney is only able to return home through persistence, ingenuity and menial labor.

Though Watney is alone on Mars, the movie still stresses that science is a team effort. Once he reestablishes contact with Earth, scientists at NASA, his fellow astronauts in the Hermes and the researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory collaborate to help him get home. Watney, a botanist and astronaut, would not be able to create many of the solutions NASA’s engineers provide.

While it is possible to scrutinize any movie and try to derive meaning from it, The Martian has an obvious lesson.

“At some point, everything’s going to go south on you and you’re going to say ‘this is it – this is how I end.’ Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work,” Watney said at the end of the film to a batch of prospective astronauts. “That’s all it is – you just begin. You do the math, you solve one problem, then you solve the next one. And then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home.”

Movies are often concluded formulaically: say a cheesy punchline, fade to black and cue the credit roll. Instead, The Martian finishes by delivering a coherent and complete message to the audience. Its meaning extends beyond the boundaries of the movie, and is applicable to all fields of science, real or fictional.

While completing a problem is extremely satisfying, the solution is never free. Discovering an answer is only satisfying if effort is involved in finding it. While it is still entertaining to watch the results of someone else’s labor, it is not nearly as fulfilling as having finished the problem yourself.

The Martian expresses this somewhat daunting fact in a way that is both encouraging and unintimidating. It glorifies the process of scientific discovery, not just the product, while demonstrating that science is very, very hard work.