Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term "third place" (a social space separate from home and work). The Passenger creates a "third space." The interior of a taxi, the middle seat of an airplane, or the back of a bus is a non-place. It is a vacuum of social obligation. You can be anonymous. This anonymity is liberating; it is the only time in modern life where you are legally allowed to do absolutely nothing for hours.

In film, the title often points toward suspense and isolation. The 2016 sci-fi film Passengers took a literal approach, placing two people on a spaceship bound for a distant planet, waking up decades too early.

In the 21st century, the passenger experience has been colonized by the smartphone. The window used to be the focus—the landscape rolling by. Now, is defined by the hunched neck, the glowing screen, and the earbuds. We have replaced the external journey with an internal scroll. You are physically in a moving metal tube, but psychologically, you are on Instagram.

If you're reviewing or discussing the 2022 novel by Cormac McCarthy, focus on its heavy themes of grief and quantum physics. "Just finished McCarthy’s The Passenger

With its iconic "La-la-la-la" refrain and rolling guitar riff, the song romanticizes the detachment of the traveler. It’s about the freedom found in not having to steer—of simply seeing "the city's ripped backsides" and the "bright and hollow sky." It transformed the "passenger" from a passive role into a cool, existential choice. 3. The Passenger in Cinema and Sci-Fi

Discussion around the 2016 film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. "Rewatching Passengers