This week my Netflix movie was "An Inconvenient Truth" and Billy's was "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". After watching them both, I realized what a perfect complement they were to each other. If you haven't seen Al Gore as the ultimate classic hero, spreading the message of personal responsibility for stopping global warming, I highly recommend the experience. Actually, I think I'm the last person I know who hasn't seen it, so..uh..I finally caught up to ya'll. Watching Nausicaa (I know, I thought that was a very unfortunate name too, but I've abandoned my name prejudice since seeing her in action) right afterwards was so perfect for me, who likes the storytelling better than the slide show exposition. The backstory of this excellent Studio Ghibli anime is similar to our near-future-if-global-warming-continues-scenario plus some mile-high fire warriors that destroy all the cities and kill most of the people. So then Nausicaa is this brave, smart, glider-flying princess that learns the secret to living in harmony with the toxic jungles and their enormous insects that are killing what people are left on earth. The strategies that win the day in both of these movies are personal sacrifice for the greater good and living in harmony with the natural world instead of fighting and destroying it. I can get with that. The best part for me was hearing about what our environmental problems are and some examples of how to solve them from Al Gore, and then seeing a movie where someone actually solves a problem facing her people with her own actions. Very inspiring.
Posted by Bahiyyih at March 14, 2007 11:54 AMI think I'd better take another stroll through the umpteen Ghilbi movies we have and re-experience Nausicaa and a few others. Some of these tales are so sad, I have to gird my loins to see them. Thanks for the eco-connection. We've been working to supprt the UN's Decade of Education for Sustainable Development at B*, and making connections to materials kids and their parents can take in is so helpful. He has quite an imagination.
Posted by: Nana at March 16, 2007 05:13 PM