Damon's Martian Has "Bro" but Lacks Soul

While it was impossible to not be on the edge of my seat the whole time, something about Ridley Scott's new film The Martian disturbed me. There is the obvious "go science!" aspect, which is understandeable as Damon's character, a botanist-astronaut is stuck on mars.

(And give him a soul)

And there was a lot of upbeat positivity bouncing around portraying the struggles he faced in not losing his sanity. It also bounced back to earth in Apollo 13 style to explore the complexities of the rescue mission, and also to the earth-bound Hermes crew.
Through all this hoopla I still think there was a lack of focus on Damon's character. He listens to music a lot, which is great, but what else does he do? He is there a long time, over 500 days!
Surely there were ebooks, and I thought it would have been a nice touch to see him strive to do something creative, perhaps sculpt the martian earth into designs, or draw, or write. Even Tom Hanks in Castaway "painted" a face on volleyball.
I just wanted him to do something besides the video logs which really, is it just me, or is this increasingly standard sci-fi trope (a la Avatar) grows tiresome. Is it supposed to make it seem more real?
After seeing a dozen vlogs, I couldn't help just wanting to see his character, who is utterly convincing by the way, inhabiting the actual scene undistorted or unaffected by "diary-speak."
The whole thing just had a bit too much of a bro-science vibe. The need to dazzle and be constantly moving tended to overwhelm.
There was simply a missed opportunities for more soul searching expected of a marooned voyager.
It was the bravado of Odysseus without the tears and heartache. But this is still big hollywood, so what did I expect. People must be entertained, not enlightened. And Damon's character's creativity was perhaps fully expressed (or subsumed) in his efforts to stay alive. He is a science nerd, not an artist.