First Man, which tells the story of astronaut Neil Armstrong and his famous moon landing, opens this weekend in Ireland. Its debut at the Venice Film Festival in August was not without controversy, as it played a part in the larger awakening of nationalistic and right-wing Americans. “Space”, it appears, is the latest industry to be used by the Trump administration to generate dissonance between the United States and its perceived rivals, in this case global space-faring superpowers. First, there was the creation of the US space force, with the presumed aim of creating an modern-era space arms race. It was followed by Republican politicians and supporters harshly criticising First Man for not depicting Armstrong planting the American flag on its newly conquered land. In a one-size-fits-all condemnation of anything and everything that does not celebrate nationalism, right-wing TV pundits labelled Ryan Gosling – who plays Armstrong – an “idiot” for defending the decision