On Wednesday I wrote about how amazing this country and the open spaces is. It really is truly amazing and I enjoy being able to partake of it. There is a flip side to the coin though. I don’t really know why, but today I started to watch a couple of the Miyazaki films. It was probably spurred by watching Ponyo with the Jones’ last Sunday. The thing that got to me, which I always knew about the films, is the underlying environmental theme.
In some respects it then struck me as odd that people questioned or took issue with the underlying environmental themes in Avatar. I mean some people went so far as to say that Avatar was preachy on the subject. Maybe it is something that we actually need to think about. I mean, even The Matrix makes allusions to the environmentally destructive nature of humans. Must be that there is some truth, hindsight, and foresight in these ideas.
I don’t really know where I wanted to go with this train of thought when I started this post. I love the Miyazaki films. Yesterday I watched Pom Poko and Princess Mononoke which both have very environmentalist undertones. Both films deal with the destruction of the forests and humans forcing nature out. Pom Poko is definitely a little more light hearted, but the message is pretty clear. We need to find a way to be at peace with nature.
This is one of the biggest reasons that I applaud the foresight that many of the past leaders of this country had in setting aside land to be protected. We do grow at an alarming rate as a species and we take over the natural resources and the land so quickly. We are always building, trying to find more space to put people. Not only have we displaced animals, we americans have displaced peoples. It is crazy.
Now, I am not saying that we should all become tree hugging hippies and environmentalists. I know that there are things that I do that are wasteful, but I do try to minimize that as much as I can. I don’t think I could ever really be one of those people living out in the Earthships. I think they are amazing, but I am not sure that I could really take on the commitment. Maybe at some point in my life.
I suppose maybe my point is that I want my children and grandchildren and their children and grandchildren to be able to experience the same beauty in this world that I was able to. I want the things that I love about this world to be there for them. So maybe we should look at movies like this, that many people write off as children’s movies, and heed their warnings. All this has happened before, and it is still happening, and it will happen again.
Sorry, this post was a little disjointed, but I think that I got out what I was thinking.
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