Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. The Climate Crisis as Satire.
In 2006 we considered Idiocracy over-the-top satire. Today some people think it's a documentary.
Today we're churning out movies that satirize climate breakdown.
Which films kept you entertained over the holidays? Was it Silent Night, the sweary festive Britcom starring Keira Knightley? The courtroom drama Naked Singularity, with John Boyega as a crusading lawyer? Or did you watch Leonardo DiCaprio as a dorky astronomer in Don’t Look Up, a slapstick political satire? Whichever it was, I hope you poured yourself a large one, because none of those films are quite as light as they seem. All take place in the shadow of imminent Armageddon.
That’s right: the end of the world is nigh, and it’s no longer the preserve of megabudget disaster movies or bleak survivalist thrillers. These days the looming obliteration of our species can just as readily form the backdrop to some governmental mockery or a boozy country-house drama.
A new movie genre - kitchen-sink nihilism.
It’s a credo that unites this current crop of films, which all provoke angst rather than excitement, defeatism rather than hope. This is the way the world ends: not with a bang, but a shrug. Or as Arnold Schwarzenegger grumbles in End of Days, while the scenario of the title closes in: “We have some real serious problems here – and we’re not solving any of them!” And when it comes to the annihilation of humankind, there’s a man who knows what he’s talking about.
So glad you've caught on to the new sci-fi sub-genre 'cli-fi'!
ReplyDeleteFor a longer, broader view of the venerable sci-fi field, check out a recent, insightful post from our fellow Canadian, Cory Doctorow:
"You really couldn’t ask for a more science-fictional setup: someone invents a couple of gadgets and everything changes. A whole industry of skilled workers is threatened. Ancient settlements are razed and replaced by sheep, their residents turned into internal refugees, wandering the land. Slavers sail around the world, murdering and enslaving distant strangers to feed the machine. The entire material culture of a nation is transformed. Guerilla warfare breaks out. Machines are smashed. Factories are put to the torch. Guerrillas are captured and publicly executed. Blood runs through the streets."
Long live General Ludd!