At the end of the film Interstellar, when Cooper enters the black hole Gargantua, he does not disintegrate due to the way the film approaches physical and artistic theories in a fictional and creative way.
- Fictional Representation of the Black Hole:
Black holes, according to science, have a region called the event horizon, where gravity is so intense that nothing can escape, not even light. After crossing this boundary, matter would be crushed by the enormous gravity, and atoms would disintegrate in a process called spaghettification, where tidal forces stretch and destroy anything.
However, Interstellar introduces a hypothetical concept called a navigable singularity black hole, allowing Cooper to survive his passage through it. This is a fictional choice to explore the narrative, inspired by speculative physical theories.
- Role of Black Hole as “Tesseract”:
When Cooper passes through Gargantua, he doesn’t encounter the “real” singularity (where conventional physics breaks down). Instead, he’s led into a tesseract — a three-dimensional representation of four-dimensional space-time. This tesseract was built by advanced beings (the “Them,” or future humans) to allow it to interact with space-time without being destroyed. This alleviates the need to abide by the physical laws that would govern a real black hole.
- Scientific Consulting and Artistic Freedoms:
Physicist Kip Thorne, a consultant on the film and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, helped create a scientific basis for the script. He ensured that many aspects of the black hole were physically accurate (such as its appearance and gravitational effects). However, Cooper’s survival was a narrative choice, not a scientific one. Thorne made it clear that in reality, survival would be impossible.
- Speculative Theories:
There are theoretical hypotheses, although unproven, that Interstellar takes advantage of:
• Rotating black holes (Kerr black holes): If Gargantua were a rotating black hole, the singularity could be a ring instead of a point. In theory, this would allow limited “navigation” through the black hole.
• Einstein-Rosen bridges (Wormholes): Gargantua could serve as a portal to another space-time, which would explain the tesseract and the absence of spaghettification.
Summary:
Cooper did not disintegrate upon entering the black hole because the film opts for a fictional and speculative approach, based on theoretical concepts such as wormholes and navigable singularities, allowing him to explore space-time in a way that is functional to the narrative. In a real-life scenario, survival would be highly unlikely due to the extreme forces present within a black hole.
Image, Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar © Melinda Sue Gordon I Via Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 2014
