Has anyone here seen the movie Fern Gully? I watched it over the break (it was one of my all time favorites when I was little) and couldn't help but make a few observations. First of all, I'm not quite certain that there are rain forests in Australia, and I am positive that kangaroos don't live in them if there are -but that one's not too important. My second observation was of the character of Batty, a bat that escaped from a biology lab and still experiences side effects from some of the experiments performed on him. I caught many more references to his abuse watching it this time than when I was younger and from what he says, it's no wonder he's wary of humans. Finally, I can't thinks of any other film in which pollution itself is personified (maybe a Captain Planet episode, but that doesn't really count). Anthropomorphism as it is applied to animals is common, but personification of pollution isn't something we run across every day. I think this is partly because, unlike animals, it can't be portrayed as good or bad. Pollution has to be bad. I can't think of any legitimate reason it could be presented otherwise. And maybe this is why we shy away from it. If pollution is bad, one is left to infer that the cause of it (ahem, humans) is bad also.
Anyway, it was interesting to watch this movie with a new perspective. I certainly am able to see it in a different way than I did when I was six years old. Watch it sometime.
I am also familiar with this movie! I loved it growing up and specifically remember singing all of the songs around my house. One of the things that has always stuck with me from this film was the line, "Can't you feel it's pain?" In case you don't remember, this is something that the fairy says to the human when he places his hand on a tree that has been sawed in half. This idea of all living things having feelings and being impacted by our destructive tendencies has never really left me, and that quote often pops up in my mind when I least expect it. I think it is an important question to ask. Do you pay attention to how your actions affect the world around you? Do you notice when your behaivor is harmful to another living creature or thing? Do you feel ANY pain?
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