Aquaman might not mind if the oceans rise, but moviegoers might.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 one of the takeaways from a new study conducted by researchers who set out to determine if todayB次元官网网址檚 Hollywood blockbusters are . The vast majority of movies failed the B次元官网网址渃limate reality checkB次元官网网址� proposed by the authors, who surveyed 250 movies from 2013 to 2022.
The test is simple B次元官网网址� the authors looked to see if a movie presented a story in which climate change exists, and whether a character knows it does. One film that passed the test was the in which Jason MomoaB次元官网网址檚 Aquaman character says, B次元官网网址淗ey, I donB次元官网网址檛 mind if the oceans riseB次元官网网址� to Ben AffleckB次元官网网址檚 Bruce Wayne.
But most movies fell short B次元官网网址� fewer than 10% of the 250 films passed, and climate change was mentioned in two or more scenes of fewer than 4% of the films. ThatB次元官网网址檚 out of touch with a moviegoing public that wants B次元官网网址渢o see their reality reflected on screen,B次元官网网址� said Colby College English professor Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, lead researcher on the study.
B次元官网网址淭he top line is just that the vast majority of films, popular films produced over the last 10 years in the United States, are not portraying the world as it is,B次元官网网址� Schneider-Mayerson said. B次元官网网址淭hey are portraying a world that is now history or fantasy B次元官网网址� a world in which climate change is not happening.B次元官网网址�
Researchers at MaineB次元官网网址檚 Colby College along with Good Energy, a Los Angeles-based environmental consultancy. The results were peer reviewed, and the authors are seeking publication in scientific journals. The researchers view the test as a way for audience members, writers and filmmakers to evaluate the representation of climate change on screen.
Some results were surprising. Movies that at first glance appear to have little overlap with climate or the environment passed the test. Marriage Story, Noah BaumbachB次元官网网址檚 emotive 2019 drama about the collapse of a relationship, passed the test in part because Adam DriverB次元官网网址檚 character is described as B次元官网网址渆nergy conscious,B次元官网网址� Schneider-Mayerson said.
The 2022 whodunnit Glass Onion and the 2019 folk horror movie Midsommar were others to pass the test. Some that were more explicitly about climate change, such as the 2021 satire DonB次元官网网址檛 Look Up, also passed. But San Andreas, a 2015 movie about a West Coast earthquake disaster, and The Meg, a 2018 action movie set in the ocean, did not.
The authors narrowed the selection of movies by excluding films not set on Earth or set before 2006 or after 2100. They found streaming services had a higher percentage of movies that included climate change than the major studios did.
The study is B次元官网网址渧aluable for marketing purposes, informational purposes, data accumulation,B次元官网网址� said Harry Winer, director of sustainability at the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Winer, who was not involved in the study, said it could also help serve as an incentive to connect audiences with climate stories.
B次元官网网址淭he audience will be more open to hearing a dialogue about what is right and what is wrong,B次元官网网址� Winer said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a conversation starter.B次元官网网址�
The study authors said they see the climate reality check as a kind of Bechdel-Wallace test for climate change. Alison Bechdel, a cartoonist, is credited with popularizing that test in the 1980s by incorporating her friend Liz WallaceB次元官网网址檚 test about gender representation in film into a comic strip. The test asks if a movie includes at least two female characters who have a conversation about something other than a man.
Bechdel herself spoke highly of the studyB次元官网网址檚 climate test, which she described as B次元官网网址渓ong overdueB次元官网网址� during this yearB次元官网网址檚 Academy Awards season. Bechdel said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that B次元官网网址渇or a movie set in the present to ignore this existential threat just doesnB次元官网网址檛 make sense anymoreB次元官网网址� in the age of climate change.
B次元官网网址淚 do worry that screenwriters might do it in a kind of rote way, which could be counterproductive, just like rote B次元官网网址榮trong female charactersB次元官网网址� are,B次元官网网址� Bechdel said. B次元官网网址淏ut injecting an awareness of our communal plight into the stories we ingest seems like a no-brainer.B次元官网网址�
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