The Looming Deluge of Eco-Disaster Flicks

Since green is the new black, it’s no surprise that eco-themes are creeping into all aspects of life – including entertainment. Though we’ve yet to see a flood of environment-themed music a la Corey Feldman just yet, we’re definitely starting to notice the rising number of eco disaster flicks being made right now – and we’re not the only ones. Scott Brown of WIRED warns of the deluge of global warming- and environment-related flicks that are to come, wondering whether we’ll see a parade of camp or films with actual credibility.

From WIRED:

The dopiness of so-called ecotainment—environmentally virtuous entertainment—rises in direct proportion to its message-mongering. In this way, it’s no different from the Christian inspirational flick. To be sure, many classics prey upon our ecological anxieties—The Birds, Jaws, and Jurassic Park come to mind. But these highlight the indomitable and inscrutable brutality of nature, not the need for better stewardship of a beleaguered planet. They’re the children of Moby-Dick, not Silent Spring. Even in these jittery, post-Inconvenient Truth days of rising seas, killer storms, and T. Boone Pickens TV spots, blockbuster-scale ecotainment is still the poseur spawn of Towering Inferno-style disaster matinee and Silkwood-esque docudrama. The subject matter simply resists Hollywood idiocy: Environmental problems are complex and holistic, whereas mainstream movies thrive on conspicuous good/evil dichotomies that flatter our binary human minds. To oversimplify: Nature is Gore-ville; blockbusters are Bush country.

Brown points out recent films with eco themes or story lines: The Happening, Wall-E, Hellboy II and Quantum of Solace as well as some that have yet to debut, including The Thaw, Strays, a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon and 2012.

We’ve also got a new Keanu Reeves vehicle to look forward to: an environmental-minded remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. You’ve probably seen the trailers, in which Keanu uses his vapid “acting” method to portray an alien who comes to earth to give a violent tough-love message about our planet-destroying ways.

Hey, more attention to all of these problems is definitely a good thing. Since entertainment seems to be the only way to get to many people these days, perhaps it’ll help raise awareness about the problems we’re facing, and the fact that they aren’t going to go away unless we do something about them.  So, bring ‘em on – and, as Brown says, “Hope that we’ll someday remake The Day After Tomorrow as a campy commentary on our catastrophic overabundance of fresh air and bluebirds.”

Link [WIRED]

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