Watch Hollywood films long enough and you might get overly concerned about the environment. Apocalyptic movies like 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow serve one purpose, and that’s not to warn us, but to try to entertain us. Radical ideas on the fringes are just that, radical. Instead of using films like these as warnings or positioning them as foreshadowing some event, society needs to realize that pseudoscience has no place in our national discourse.

Science education needs to embrace the creativity inherent in human beings. As a matter of fact, so does Hollywood. Doom and gloom scenarios fail to accomplish any reasonable objective. Instead of focusing in on the improbable events, filmmakers ought to consider the possibilities of a future made brighter by innovation and ingenuity. By inspiring the general population, Hollywood can take a leading role in securing a sustainable future. Post-apocalyptic worlds can be replaced with science nonfiction. Abandoned cities can become sustainable communities instead of breeding ground for the undead in movies like I, Robot.

Perhaps Hollywood is not ready for an optimistic look at what the future could hold. Maybe there would not be an audience for such a film, but people love happy endings (as does Hollywood), so why not? It just might be what people need in a time of sustained weakness in the economy, environmental degradation, and social unrest.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: HollywoodSign.org]