2023-11-25 16:00:24
Carl Sagan, Lynn Margulis or Ramon Margalef They would have blessed the films, novels and comics that, against the background of global climate change, today proliferate in cinemas, platforms and bookstores. It is true that, when it comes to climate catastrophes, there are precedents; This is the case of the film ‘Planet of the Apes’ (1968). A world of primates devastated by the feared nuclear war that worried Sagan so much, and that brought him so many enemies. Indeed, whether in relation to the threat of intercontinental missiles, the covid pandemic or climate change, science has always encountered deniers; from religious fundamentalists, through uninformed hordes and interested elites, to a long list of political leaders. Therefore, as a scientist, I believe that we will always have cinema and literature to make visible a more than probable apocalyptic future. And I say probable, because we don’t have a crystal ball. Now, following models taken from archeology and paleontology (biological extinctions, collapse of ancient civilizations, illogical human decisions…) it is easy to infer that, if we do not show any cards in the matter, the human species – not life or the planet – has its decades numbered. And it is not science-fiction but science-real.
I understand that historian friends suffer breakdowns when reading or watching gross errors in historical novels and films. I always tell them that the “creator” can allow themselves certain freedoms. Spielberg He did not dress his velociraptors with feathers, and I still like ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993). The same thing happens to me with movies, novels and comics about climate change. It is difficult for science to achieve the projection of the literary and, above all, cinematographic industry; Therefore, it is legal to take advantage of their dystopian stories to do pedagogy among the population.
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For example, as a kid, during a triple session at the Victòria cinema in L’Hospitalet, I discovered ‘Mysterious ships’ (1972). After a climatic catastrophe on Earth, a transport travels through space with large greenhouses; the last plants that humanity has been able to save. In addition to the gardening robots, I was struck by the clear conservationist message. Nobody except Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, He told us, in the 70s, about the need to preserve nature. Today, half a century later, at 79 Calle de Tallers I bought the bluray edition of ‘Vesper’ (2022). Our planet’s environment has collapsed and Vesper, a biohacker girl, survives in the midst of post-apocalyptic chaos. It was one of the films that, last year, took me to the Sitges – International Fantastic Cinema Festival of Catalonia; many of them, as in the 2023 programming, with climate change in the background.
Fantasy, without a doubt, is a valuable tool capable of simulating some of climate catastrophes about which science theorizes. We have to rectify so that, when we wake up, the nightmare disappears.
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