I nominated 3 movies for the applied plant ecology film festival. The first is the David Attenborough: A life on our planet (2020) which goes over the effects of climate change on the ecology of forests and natural habitats. However, I am writing this blog post is to explain why I chose Wall-E and Our planet as my second and third choices.
I decided to choose Wall-E because as a kid watching that movie I remember thinking how “real” this actually could be. The chances of humans extinguishing life on Earth are not low. I believe this movie does a good job of showing humans the consequences of our actions and what they could potentially lead to. However, on a realistic note, we wouldn’t be able to live in space on a ship for the rest of our existence like portrayed in the movie. Although, the part where the ship itself was programmed to erase the fact that a plant was found on Earth is something that a capitalistic society would try and push on us. Because the majority of billionaires don’t care about this planet, all they care about is their money and assets.
I chose our planet as my third choice as I found it to be an amazing show that uses the art of ‘storytelling’ to explain and capture ecological interactions between species. Many of which are plants and their ecology/ interactions. This show is also narrated by David Attenborough which makes it that much better, as he excels at wildlife commentaries. I personally love this show because it does a great job at capturing both funny, knowledgeable yet entertaining moments. I would suggest this movie to anyone who is looking to have a nice time and to increase their general knowledge of ecological interactions, especially plant and aquatic-focused.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 