For any social movement or revolution to be successful, popular culture must embrace it in film and literature. It’s difficult to think of any major American struggle and not associate it with the title of a well-known movie.
For example, Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing” stimulated conversation about modern day race relations and was a well-crafted, highly influential work of art. Lee succeeded at forcing issues of urban poverty into the forefront of public discussion.
Going back even further, Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle exposed the corruption of America’s meatpacking industry, which eventually led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration.
In a time when public outcry against big business and unregulated industry is prevalent in popular discussion, The Jungle is a telling example of how one novel can give birth to a movement.
Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” is the kind of film that has the potential to do the same. Originally published in 1971 as a children’s book, it was turned into a television series in 1972 and now a feature film.
Its message is a simple one — to beware of the danger that corporate greed poses to the natural environment.
Hollywood, of course, strayed away from the original book to thicken the plot and make it more relevant to the times. The movie constantly entertains and is filled with the language of current events.
Environmental works are usually associated with doomsday and less-than-feel-good titles, such as Davis Guggenheim’s 2006 documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which details Al Gore’s campaign to raise awareness of global warming.
There is also a wealth of documentaries that outline the harsh reality of our nation’s addiction to oil and the environmental, health, and economic impacts of its continued use.
“The Lorax”, however, is something entirely new. One of the film’s most wonderful aspects is that it is still by all means a children’s movie, yet is intellectually stimulating enough to keep adults entertained.
In one scene we see into the mansion of the Once-ler, a character who has gone raving mad with power and greed. A larger-than-life poster that appears to be a blown-up magazine cover depicting the Once-ler hangs in the hallway. Also featured on the poster are the ominous words, “Too Big To Fail,” in big, bold letters.
Not everyone thinks the film’s message is so great, though.
Before “The Lorax” had even hit theaters, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs accused “the president’s friends in Hollywood” of “targeting a younger demographic” using the film and “(indoctrinating) our children” with their left-wing agenda.
You know, the same way the 2010 children’s movie “Despicable Me” tried to brainwash kids to oppose an American space program, since it revolved around an evil villain’s plan to shrink and steal the Earth’s moon.
Or maybe Dobbs also sees “Finding Nemo” as dangerously anti-business propaganda against the fishing industry. Indeed, it does make dentists who keep saltwater aquariums in their waiting rooms appear exceptionally evil.
The truth is, “The Lorax” does send an anti-big business, pro-environmental message to young kids. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Reach the columnist at damills3@asu.edu
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