Beyond the Beyond points the way to an important essay that acknowledges the reality of catastrophic climate change yet questions the wisdom of fear-mongering as a wake-up call to jaded coast-dwellers. I can relate. For no matter how heinous the likelihood of an underwater Miami, there's little point in arguing that such a prospect ignites a small bit significant vicarious thrill. In a media-dominated world of ever-receding frontiers, we've begun to crave ecocalypse on a level we scarcely dare acknowledge.
7 comments:
Mac,
I've never asked...Do you see a solution or mitigating factor that can be applied to solving the "ecocalypse?"
Zero population growth would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.
"...we've begun to crave ecocalypse on a level we scarcely dare acknowledge."
We? Crave? Ecocalypse?
Jeez, I hope not. Speak for yourself, not the collective "us/we"--anyone craving an ecological apocalypse has ...well, do I need to say it?
Great and interesting essay, I'm reminded of a post you wrote a while back and I criticized, about watching the post-apocalyptic wasteland of "28 Weeks Later" and enjoying it. I would say movies play as much a part in the desensitization: the Road, 28 Weeks later, Day After Tomorrow, I am Legend coming up. Reduces the horror to entertainment.
Jeez, I hope not. Speak for yourself, not the collective "us/we"--anyone craving an ecological apocalypse has ...well, do I need to say it?
I think the author of the essay makes a powerful, disturbing point. The prospect of a drowned coastal city 100 years from now is enticing in the sense that it suggests radical change in a non-immediate future. On a subconscious level, many of us look upon this sort of disaster as exciting even as we realize how debilitating it will be.
Henry--
Reduces horror to entertainment or gives voice to very real unspoken concerns? I'd argue that "28 Weeks Later" et al are doing us a *service*.
I've been saying something similar for some time now. The only problem with the essay is that, at the close, it just substitutes one kind of fear mongering for another, political apocalypse (governmental collapse, refugee camps for all) for geographical apocalypse. Big whoop.
--W.M. Bear
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