PAGBABAGO
I guess it is either because I have been in isolation for so long a time, or because I have been spending more time than I should watching Netflix, that I find myself reflecting on questions of future survival.
We all realize that even after Covid-19, we could still face added challenges – either from another pandemic, or events that are consequences of our neglect of Planet Earth. Hence, we must be equipped with the necessary knowledge, information, and skills to confront them.
Two recent Netflix movies provided more food for thought because they dealt with concerns on human survival. One is the acclaimed satirical film “Don’t Look Up” with Leonardo D’Caprio who plays the lead role of an astronomy professor and Ph.D student,Jennifer Lawrence who learned the hard way that leadership is not about titles or power but about influence, and sometimes, greed.
The two discover a comet headed for direct collision with Earth in six months. They approach the highest office of the land to share their findings to the President (Meryll Streep). But the latter dismisses the information saying “they will sit tight and assess.
But then, the White House changes its mind, eager to use the event to pull attention from the president’s plunging poll ratings and re-election effect. Then again later, she calls off the mission when she realizes that she might profit from the comet’s crash.
It is a move that provides a formula for disaster – a greedy leader who is surrounded by “people pleasers” who do not challenge her “half-truths.” Critics say the movie could become the “leadership style of the future.” Perhaps, as it is a mirror of ourselves.
The “Silent Sea is a Korean sci-fi series featuring a star-studded cast of space explorers assigned on a mission to the moon.
A horrifying picture of the world ruled by water, it shows how climate change had destroyed the earth’s ecosystem after a drought.
Water has become the most important resource and treated as a sign of status and a form of currency. The amount of water one is allowed to collect is based on one’s professional status.
The explorers, tasked to retrieve samples of research left by a 117-crew five years ago in an abandoned station, were given 24 hours to undertake the mission.
When we realize the dangers that confront those who try to address the consequences of our neglect of our natural resources, we may perhaps stave the onslaught of climate change by learning to care and protect our environment.
The lessons from these two films as well as from decades of watching the gradual destruction of our ecosystem, are the crucial need for a paradigm shift in several directions – from attitudes and behaviors characterized by greed, competition, wasteful consumption, to trust, sharing, “win-win”, cooperation, and hope. Our future survival will therefore depend on our tireless efforts to forge unity and participation. It will mean our willingness to break the vestiges of hierarchy such as the caste system, and patriarchy as well, as we continually try to encourage gender equality, and recognition of human rights. Information and technology will be our critical partners in this common effort to promote the survival of Mother Earth.
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