Analysis and Comparison of two Climate Change films: “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“The Day After Tomorrow (TDAT)” refers to an American climate change film that was directed by Emmerich Roland in 2004. The film focuses on the disasters caused by global warming. “The contest over global warming is a challenge for the referee because it's a tag-team match, a real free-for-all” (Al Gore, 2011 p.2).In the movie, the weather scientist Dennis Quaid tries to warn people on the issue of climate change, but he fails. Quaid finds themselves horrified after finding out that all their predictions about global warming were coming true faster than they could imagine. According to the film, climatic changes triggered the occurrence of hailstones as well as typhoons that destroyed New York and Los Angeles (Emmerich, 2004). The floods experienced in the two cities led massive loss of lives. Furthermore, the movie portrays some survivors who are trying to fend off cold due to the big freeze that crossed the Northern hemisphere. In essence, the film prepares the world for the dramatic climatic changes.
“Beasts of the Southern Wild (BotSW)” is another climate change film produced by Zeitlin Benh. The movie focuses on the storm that affected Bathtub residents. According to the film, the approaching storm forced the people of Southern Louisiana to flee away from their homes. The encroaching storm brings Hushpuppy and Wink together. From the movie, Wink is trying to ferry his younger girl and other souls to save them from the devastating impacts of the storm (Zeitlin, 2012). The upriver journey appears difficult and resembles a war. The two movies portray the devastating effects associated with changes in climate.
TDAT explores the consequences caused by changes in climatic conditions. “Climate warming caused sudden collapse of the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation” (Emmerich, 2004).The circulation led to disasters such as apocalypse that covered most parts of Northern Hemisphere with snow and ice, the hailstones in Tokyo and the tornadoes experienced in Los Angeles are also featured in the movie. In the film, the disasters unfold over stressful and unlucky days. Ideally, global warming is responsible for the unexpected catastrophes featured in the movie. The hero climatologist Dennis Quaid argued that the extreme conditions were due to desalinization. The scientists thought the world had hit desalinization point (Emmerich, 2004). However, the environmental groups had a divergent regarding the extreme weather conditions. Some environmental specialists had sensitized the public to the issue of global warming.
TDAT extrapolates and condenses the significant causes of climate change. Notably, the movie prods anxieties, especially on ecological catastrophe. In addition, political action is encouraged as the appropriate response in mitigating global warming. The movie raises an alarm concerning deadly effects of changes in climate. From the film, Quaid argues that “Kenneth Welsh, the vice president shrugs off the concerns raised by environmentalists," the negligence of the vice president made people suffer (Emmerich, 2004). “The despair of individuals is being responsible for saving the earth from climate change and want to see the action from political leaders around the world” (Williams, 2007). The vice president should have encouraged people to conserve their environment to avoid earthquakes, floods, storms, and icebergs. Everybody except the vice president experienced the devastating effects of climate change. Global warming triggered the occurrence of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis and other climatic calamities that claimed many lives.
“The Beasts of the Southern Wild” focuses on prophesied catastrophes that happened. “Epochal hurricane caused idyllic and harsh life" (Zeitlin, 2012). In the film, Hushpuppy is shocked with the climatic calamities experienced in Louisiana. She predicts that in future scientists will understand about her and the climatic changes experienced in Louisiana bayou, their home place. Ideally, Hushpuppy is vulnerable, and the environment may not offer the protection to her. Her father who lived in a swampy area termed as Bathtub went through a hard time because of floods witnessed in this location (Zeitlin, 2012). Notably, the residents of Bathtub relied on fishing as a source of livelihood, but the floods could not allow fishing to be conducted; therefore, the catastrophe made people suffer. Hushpuppy, her father, and the residents of Bayou felt the effects of climate change because the floods that befell in Bathtub because of global warming made people suffer. The floods left them without food and some people contacted water-borne diseases.
The two films show that fabricated global warming majorly causes climate change. Ideally, harmful gases released to the atmosphere deplete the ozone layer, thus allowing the penetration of ultraviolet rays into the atmosphere. The ultraviolet rays cause global warming (Zeitlin, 2012). Basing on history, deforestation has caused drought, especially in Texas. “Green consumption can serve as a get a way solution to eliminate climate changes” (Assadourian, 2015). In Russia fires and droughts has taken the lives of approximately 56000 people. Nature is represented in the two films. Conservation of nature can minimize the climatic changes observed in future.
In TDAT film, the knowledge and experiences shown by scientists such as Quaid are valuable Scientists can assist in reducing the climate crisis experienced by limiting global warming pollution (Emmerich, 2004). Similarly, in BotSW play, Hushpuppy’s experiences seem valuable since her actions reduced global warming conditions. Hushpuppy says, “Global warming causes the climatic calamities” (Zeitlin, 2012). She predicted the changes in climate and prepared people for the disaster in waiting. She urged people to stop emitting harmful gasses into the atmosphere.
Concisely, the “Beasts" symbolizes the adverse effects of climate change in the play, “The Beasts of the Southern Wild”. Similarly, Ice Age in “The Day After Tomorrow” symbolizes the period that the people felt effects of climate. Both beasts and the ice age suggest the severe conditions caused by climatic calamities especially to humanity.
References
Zeitlin, B. (2012, January 20). Beasts of the Southern Wild - The Bathtub. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6ESnzuBomk
Emmerich, R. (2004, May 24). The Day After Tomorrow (2/5) Movie CLIP - Super-Sized Tsunami (2004) HD. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmjAp2eRDH0
Al Gore: Climate of Denial | Rolling Stone. (2011, June 22). Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-of-denial-20110622?
Assadourian, E. (2015). We can't spend our way out of climate change. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/feb/03/green-credit-card-mastercard-carbon-offsets
Williams, A. (2007). Buying Into the Green Movement. The New York Times.
