The Lorax-Environmental film for the ages?
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/movies/dr-seuss-the-lorax-with-ed-helms-and-danny-devito.html?ref=movies
The Lorax is a popular book by Dr. Seuss. It's about a fictional creature (the Lorax) who defends the cutting down of trees from the "Once-ler" who wants to use the trees' resources to make a seemingly useless item for consumption. This has always been one of Dr. Seuss's more controversial books, and it does not come as a surprise that the movie is stirring up the same type of buzz. A conspiracy theory has arisen that this book/movie is a ploy to brainwash children into becoming tree huggers who hate capitalism.
At the heart of the movie are themes of conservation and the dangers of over-consumption. The Once-ler uses the "leaves" of the tree to manufacture a garment called a "thneed" which everyone must have, but the garment serves no purpose, really. As the garment goes out of style, all of the trees have been killed, and the Lorax is upset that they are forgotten about. The metaphor here is plain and simple: conserve! I think it's important for children to learn at a young age, and what better way than with the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss? Apparently, this movie is about as synthetic of an environmental movie as you can get. (Technically this article is a movie review). According to the reviewer, The Lorax is "is a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the reigning imperatives of marketing and brand extension." These are extremely harsh words for a children's movie.
This got me thinking about other movies that have an underlying environmental message. The movies I thought of in particular were Happy Feet and WALL-E. Happy Feet shows the environmental problems in Antarctica-overfishing and pollution. Really, the main focus of this movie is the singing and the dancing with Antarctica as the setting and the environmental issues as a side plot. WALL-E, however, is completely focused on the environmental message, as Earth has been over-polluted is now inhabitable, and everyone now lives on a space station. One robot's sole mission in the entire movie is to bring life in the form of a green plant back to earth in order to restore it. WALL-E was produced by Pixar studios, and I believe you are never too old for Pixar, and absolutely adore all of the movies they make. Movies that are so impeccably produced, like WALL-E, are important to show to younger generations. If environmentalists want to make a larger impact, I suggest they start touting these sorts of educational movies to reach a broad base of people at a young age.
I agree! A lot of what people--especially young children--know about environmental issues can be related in some way to the media around them, and Pixar seems to know this. WALL-E, Happy Feet, Finding Nemo, even movies like Fern Gully and the Avatar movie we viewed in class highlight these environmental themes we've been talking about. It definitely seems to add to the emotional touch when you can say, "Save Nemo from pollution and the loss of habitat due to coral reef disappearance!" People will relate more to Nemo and his home than some foreign reef.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I wonder if the presence exoticness or of a happy ending almost depreciates our understanding of the seriousness of the conflict. I realize that Nemo dying in a coral bleaching would not sell, just as Terk (in Disney's "Tarzan") being shot and sold for ivory would depress all small children (though that movie was depressing in and of itself) even more. But is there a way that these movies, short of Avatar's three hour method, can express just how complicated yet important environmental issues are?
I’ve read similar reviews of “The Lorax” and was interested in seeing it for myself to evaluate what I thought about it both as a form of popular media and a method to promote the environmentalist method. I’ve not yet done so, but I look forward to viewing it from both an “entertainment” and “critical” perspective. Therefore, my comment about the use of children’s movies and other readily accessible popular media as a medium to express sentiments about preservation, conservation, and consumerism is entirely positive. I think they are an incredibly creative and effective way for environmentalists to “get the word out” and reach younger, impressionable generations. It is a very small percentage of the population that has access or the will to read scientific articles detailing these issues. Any method that “works” to raise awareness is a good method.
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