Monday, October 2, 2017

NYT asks: ''Can Hollywood 'Cli-Fi' Movies About Climate Change Make a Difference?'' THE ANSWER IS YES!

NYT asks: ''Can Hollywood 'Cli-Fi' Movies About Climate Change Make a Difference?''

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/movies/mother-darren-aronofsky-climate-change.html





EXCERPT:

One bright spot in showing environmental alarm onscreen is children’s programs, Ms. Levin said, which “work beautifully for everyday practices and overall awareness. Parents often watch with them, and they learn together.”
 
And climate change is a frequent topic of visual artists and writers, where the genre known as cli-fi  [see hot link here cli-fi] is growing.
 
 
One thing too few people do, according to Mr. Boykoff, the University of Colorado researcher, is laugh about climate change. Alexander Payne’s forthcoming “Downsizing,” in which people are shrunk to tiny versions of themselves — thereby using less resources — takes a swing at that approach.
 
Mr. Boykoff has had his students perform a comedy show about environmental destruction; a research paper on the outcome is being readied for publication. “If just scientists talking about their research and findings were successful” in motivating the public, “we’d be sorted by now,” Mr. Boykoff said. “But that’s not true. A lot of people don’t engage with these things through scientific ways of knowing. So the arts, the cultural sphere, is a really important part of this that’s underexplored so far.”
 
 
Mr. Maibach, the George Mason professor and an expert in polling on climate understanding, said the greatest problem facing climate communicators is that Americans are not talking about climate change enough — in any shape. “We call it the climate silence,” he said, “and it’s pretty profound.”
 
 
So, said Mr. Hoffman, the University of Michigan professor, we need “more movies, more TV, more music.”

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