0:00:07.039,0:00:11.520 Disney’s Strange World is a colorful, [br]sometimes silly 0:00:11.580,0:00:16.416 adventure through an exotic [br]alien landscape 0:00:16.799,0:00:20.958 It's definitely a movie that feels geared [br]towards a younger audience 0:00:21.242,0:00:25.522 but that doesn't mean its message is[br]childish or shallow 0:00:26.716,0:00:30.435 To explain why, let’s jump to[br]the halfway point in the story where 0:00:30.435,0:00:35.134 we find our heroes have paused their journey[br]to play a board game called Primal Outpost 0:00:35.494,0:00:37.604 Ethan: A little Primal Outpost? 0:00:37.604,0:00:41.861 It’s sort of a mashup of Magic The Gathering[br]and Settlers of Catan 0:00:41.861,0:00:45.898 but the goal isn’t to defeat monsters[br]or expand territory 0:00:45.898,0:00:47.638 Ethan: A daemon spider![br]Jaeger: Kill it! 0:00:47.638,0:00:50.955 Ethan: Ah ah the point is not to kill it. 0:00:50.955,0:00:54.994 instead the players are supposed to [br]cooperate to build a better world 0:00:54.994,0:01:00.293 Ethan: The objective of Primal Outpost is[br]to live harmoniously with your environment 0:01:00.718,0:01:05.942 That goal is also a distillation of[br]the larger message of the movie 0:01:05.942,0:01:11.139 There is no Disney villain to defeat. [br]Instead the heroes must convince their society 0:01:11.139,0:01:16.579 to abandon the fuel source that powers the[br]comforts and conveniences of their daily lives 0:01:16.579,0:01:19.523 before it destroys their world 0:01:19.523,0:01:25.395 As far as ecological parables go[br]that’s a surprisingly radical one. 0:01:25.714,0:01:30.025 Strange World's visuals are borrowed [br]from old pulp adventure magazines 0:01:30.365,0:01:37.370 but its theme has much more in common[br]with solar punk narratives. 0:01:39.245,0:01:44.797 Solar punk is a relatively recent artistic,[br]literary, and media trend 0:01:44.797,0:01:51.297 that uses science fiction as a lens to tell[br]stories about regenerating ecosystems, 0:01:51.297,0:01:58.559 futuristic permaculture farming, mutual[br]aid networks, and sustainable urban living. 0:02:02.182,0:02:08.423 The idyllic themes and visuals are evocative[br]of and often inspired by Studio Ghibli films 0:02:08.423,0:02:12.041 that predate the term by decades, 0:02:12.647,0:02:18.060 especially Castle In the Sky, Princess[br]Mononoke, and Nausicaa of the 0:02:18.060,0:02:21.042 Valley of the Wind. 0:02:22.004,0:02:26.023 At the moment, solar punk is less of a full[br]fledged genre in its own right, and 0:02:26.023,0:02:32.608 more of an aspirational idea of a genre. But[br]it's growing rapidly to now include video games. 0:02:33.007,0:02:40.281 Game narrator: Use toxin scrubbers to cleanse[br]the soil and sea. Pumps and irrigators 0:02:40.281,0:02:45.852 get clean water everywhere it needs to go,[br]allowing the natural greenery to grow. 0:02:46.336,0:02:50.526 My favorite example of works explicitly[br]written as part of the solar punk trend 0:02:50.560,0:02:56.404 are a pair of novellas by Becky Chambers[br]published as the Monk & Robot series. 0:02:57.639,0:03:03.371 At its core solar punk is an optimistic [br]reaction to the cynical dystopian narratives 0:03:03.371,0:03:08.747 that saturate much of popular culture[br]wherein hyper-capitalism has thoroughly 0:03:08.747,0:03:12.635 ruined the world in one terrible way[br]or another. 0:03:14.003,0:03:19.168 At this point most of us have seen so many [br]spectacular global catastrophes that the 0:03:19.168,0:03:25.461 end of the world can start to feel both[br]mundane and inevitable. 0:03:26.574,0:03:30.050 Robot: You've seen one post-apocalyptic [br]city, you've seen them all. 0:03:30.071,0:03:34.992 You might have run across a paraphrased version[br]of this oft quoted passage by author 0:03:34.992,0:03:39.144 Fredric Jameson from his 1994 book, [br]The Seeds of Time. 0:03:39.959,0:03:45.700 "It seems to be easier for us today to imagine[br]the thoroughgoing deterioration of the earth 0:03:45.700,0:03:50.033 and of nature than the breakdown of late capitalism..." 0:03:50.033,0:03:53.957 "...perhaps that is due to some weakness[br]in our imagination." 0:03:55.064,0:04:00.506 I'd argue that failure of imagination is,[br]at least in part, the fault of an entertainment 0:04:00.506,0:04:05.289 industry that keeps churning out stories[br]set in neon-infused corporate dystopias 0:04:05.289,0:04:09.810 and devastated post-apocalyptic landscapes, 0:04:09.810,0:04:14.718 where the fate of the natural world has[br]already been sealed. 0:04:15.044,0:04:20.497 At their best dystopian stories can serve as[br]warnings about the trajectory of our own world. 0:04:21.033,0:04:26.381 Ad Announcement: A new life awaits you in[br]the off-world colony. The chance to begin 0:04:26.381,0:04:29.685 again in a golden land of opportunity... 0:04:29.685,0:04:33.816 But bleak visions of the future have[br]become so ubiquitous 0:04:33.816,0:04:37.816 and so defanged of socioeconomic critique,[br]that much of the genre 0:04:37.917,0:04:43.840 has been reduced to a series of [br]stylistic choices and narrative cliches. 0:04:47.672,0:04:54.290 From time to time, we do see fleeting glimpses[br]of possible better futures momentarily peeking 0:04:54.304,0:04:58.814 through in otherwise dystopian settings... 0:04:59.343,0:05:01.693 Vi: Is that a real tree? 0:05:01.693,0:05:05.287 Ekko: Pretty cool huh? When I first saw it[br]I knew this was the place. 0:05:05.780,0:05:08.762 Ekko: If a single seed can male it down[br]here, so could we. 0:05:09.467,0:05:14.517 But even those brief visions of ecological[br]sustainability only seem to exist as part of 0:05:14.932,0:05:22.564 an impossibly distant future, in some alternate[br]universe, or inside of a virtual simulation 0:05:26.062,0:05:29.264 Strange World offers a refreshing[br]break from that pattern 0:05:29.597,0:05:32.224 because although the environment[br]is in great peril, 0:05:32.224,0:05:34.328 there’s still time to save it. 0:05:35.327,0:05:40.858 In the opening scenes we learn Avalonia has[br]progressed from a pre-industrial village society 0:05:40.858,0:05:47.597 to a techno-futuristic one thanks to a newly[br]discovered energy source called Pando. 0:05:48.142,0:05:54.799 Though grown and harvested like vegetables, [br]Pando is set up as a clear metaphor for fossil fuels. 0:05:54.799,0:05:57.473 Searcher: Hmm, Pando battery is dead. 0:05:57.473,0:06:01.080 Meridian: That doesn't make any sense,[br]I picked those pods an hour ago. 0:06:01.080,0:06:05.638 When Pando begins to mysteriously fail,[br]The Avalonians embark on an expedition 0:06:05.638,0:06:07.564 to save their way of life. 0:06:08.066,0:06:11.903 Callisto: Our mission is to follow these[br]roots until we reach the heart of Pando... 0:06:11.903,0:06:14.693 Callisto: ...and stop whatever's harming it! 0:06:14.693,0:06:17.719 They're determined to find a way to keep[br]their fuel flowing. 0:06:17.719,0:06:22.950 Even if that means going to war and[br]exterminating an entire alien species. 0:06:27.399,0:06:31.829 Since this is an on-the-nose allegory for[br]climate change, it turns out that 0:06:31.901,0:06:36.454 Pando is a parasite, which is very literally[br]killing the world. 0:06:36.829,0:06:41.057 Ethan: This place is alive. It's a living thing! 0:06:41.057,0:06:49.688 Searcher: So, all this time we've been[br]living on the back of this giant creature? 0:06:49.688,0:06:55.221 Ethan is the first to make the connection[br]and understand the severity of their situation. 0:06:56.117,0:06:58.376 Ethan: And Pando is killing it. 0:06:58.795,0:07:03.605 And after convincing his family to join[br]the cause, they all demand change. 0:07:04.480,0:07:08.160 Ethan & Searcher: A giant creature![br]Others: What? A giant creature? You can't be serious. 0:07:08.160,0:07:13.083 Searcher: Okay, listen, this place, this world[br]that we live on is a living thing 0:07:13.083,0:07:17.879 and Pando is killing it. If we wanna [br]survive Pando has to go. 0:07:17.879,0:07:20.178 Others: What? [br]Callisto: You want us to Pando? 0:07:20.178,0:07:22.650 Jaeger: They don't know what they saw[br]out there! 0:07:22.650,0:07:27.352 But their leaders are dead set on maintaining[br]the status quo, and deny the truth of 0:07:27.352,0:07:29.374 what's happening to their ecosystem. 0:07:29.374,0:07:30.321 Searcher: Callisto? 0:07:30.321,0:07:31.652 Ethan: Dad![br]Meridian: Get your hands off me! 0:07:31.652,0:07:34.394 Callisto: Emotions are running really[br]high right now, and I don't know 0:07:34.394,0:07:40.515 what you think you saw, but we came down[br]here to save Pando. That plan hasn't changed. 0:07:40.515,0:07:41.983 Searcher: You have no idea what you're doing! 0:07:41.983,0:07:46.358 Ethan and his family are even arrested and[br]briefly imprisoned for pointing out 0:07:46.358,0:07:48.146 the scientific reality. 0:07:48.146,0:07:51.542 Searcher: You're making a big mistake! [br]You can't do this!! You have to listen to me! 0:07:51.542,0:07:55.297 The conflict is short-lived and the deniers[br]are soon convinced. 0:07:55.297,0:07:59.190 Meridian: Now do you see what we're [br]dealing with? That's a heart. 0:07:59.190,0:08:04.164 But the scenario mirrors our own struggles[br]over the environment here in the real world. 0:08:04.164,0:08:08.642 Ethan: ---aaaand, times up! [br]Okay, fine. It's dead. See. You killed it. 0:08:08.642,0:08:10.148 Jaeger: That's what I'm talking about! 0:08:10.148,0:08:15.421 Just like we saw during that game of Primal[br]Outpost, the goal of ecological sustainability 0:08:15.421,0:08:18.069 is self-evident to younger people. 0:08:18.069,0:08:23.350 Ethan: For the 27th time, there are no bad[br]guys. The objective isn't to kill or destroy 0:08:23.350,0:08:28.495 monsters. You're just supposed to build a[br]working civilization utilizing the environment 0:08:28.495,0:08:29.607 around you. 0:08:30.242,0:08:34.546 But the older generations express confusion[br]and frustration at the idea. 0:08:34.546,0:08:37.383 Jaeger: Uh-huh, yeah, I don't get this game.[br]Searcher: Ptth! Me neither. 0:08:37.383,0:08:39.920 Ethan: Oh come on! It is not that complicated! 0:08:39.920,0:08:42.299 Searcher: No bad guys? What kind of game[br]has no bad guys? 0:08:42.299,0:08:44.306 Jaeger: That's just poor storytelling. 0:08:44.306,0:08:48.372 Ethan: Okay, you know what? You want bad[br]guys? Fine! You two are the bad guys! 0:08:48.372,0:08:54.291 They're stuck in their ways, comfortable in[br]their lifestyle, and they can't fathom making 0:08:54.291,0:08:57.344 the sacrifices necessary to solve the crisis. 0:08:58.247,0:09:01.348 The real villain in this story isn't a person. 0:09:01.348,0:09:07.247 It is instead a rigid worldview that [br]refuses to accept the need for change. 0:09:08.917,0:09:13.840 In the end the people of this strange world[br]are convinced to destroy Pando and 0:09:13.840,0:09:19.765 give up the creature comforts that it[br]provides in order to save their world. 0:09:23.237,0:09:28.458 On one level, this is exactly the type of[br]happy ending we've come to expect in 0:09:28.488,0:09:31.838 animated movies--the revelation that the[br]planet and everything living on it 0:09:31.838,0:09:35.723 are all interconnected is something[br]we've seen before. 0:09:36.421,0:09:40.745 What's different here are the messages[br]about our future and how we get there. 0:09:41.414,0:09:45.305 Meridian: Alright, next stop no power,[br]cold coffee, and angry masses! 0:09:45.305,0:09:47.723 Meridian: Who's ready to go home? 0:09:49.092,0:09:53.243 In most family-friendly movies with[br]environmental themes, saving the earth-- 0:09:53.243,0:09:58.136 Linda: There are rare birds living around[br]here! You can't cut down these trees! 0:09:58.302,0:10:02.574 --is framed in terms of conservation[br]rather than systemic change. 0:10:02.858,0:10:05.706 Ted: And we can start by planting this! 0:10:06.127,0:10:11.387 And the solution almost always involves[br]promoting some small, personal action 0:10:11.387,0:10:17.509 like picking up litter, turning off the[br]lights, or planting a few trees. 0:10:18.790,0:10:21.629 Planeteers: Go Planet! 0:10:21.806,0:10:27.061 Captain Planet: The Planeteers want you to join[br]them in keeping our planet clean, healthy, and beautiful. 0:10:28.563,0:10:31.561 Wheeler: Don't litter! [br]It's completely uncool. 0:10:31.873,0:10:33.993 Captain Planet: The power is yours! 0:10:33.993,0:10:39.153 This type of message is designed to shift [br]the onus for change away from the large 0:10:39.153,0:10:44.144 institutions who are actually at fault and[br]onto individual people. 0:10:44.144,0:10:49.625 What makes Strange World so different is[br]that the environment isn't saved as a 0:10:49.625,0:10:55.301 result of a bunch of personal choices. It's[br]saved by fundamentally transforming 0:10:55.301,0:10:58.709 the way an entire society operates. 0:10:58.709,0:11:02.210 They must quit Pando cold-turkey. 0:11:03.687,0:11:09.630 The allegory for us in the real world is pointed.[br]We must follow the example of the Avalonians 0:11:09.630,0:11:13.563 and stop extracting and burning fossil fuels. 0:11:13.563,0:11:19.164 And we can't do it slowly over ten, twenty,[br]or thirty years. The transition to green energy 0:11:19.164,0:11:21.929 needs to be immediate. 0:11:21.929,0:11:28.961 Contrary to what big energy companies want[br]us to believe, there's no quick technological 0:11:28.961,0:11:33.058 fix just around the corner that will stave[br]off climate collapse. 0:11:33.058,0:11:34.401 Husband: Smells so clean![br]Wife: Mm-hm! 0:11:34.401,0:11:37.297 Coal Rep: Is regular clean clean enough for[br]your family? 0:11:37.297,0:11:42.744 False solutions like clean coal, carbon[br]capture, or hydrogen fuel are just 0:11:42.744,0:11:47.473 smoke-and-mirrors greenwashing campaigns[br]meant to distract the public from our 0:11:47.473,0:11:50.086 continued investment in dirty energy. 0:11:50.086,0:11:54.376 Coal Rep: Clean coal is supported by the[br]coal industry--the most trusted name in coal. 0:11:54.376,0:12:00.065 If we really want to save planet Earth, we[br]simply cannot keep producing and consuming 0:12:00.065,0:12:04.089 in the wildly unsustainable ways that[br]we do now. 0:12:06.339,0:12:11.681 Now of course reorganizing an entire society[br]that's been dependent on harmful energy 0:12:11.681,0:12:17.119 will require enduring an uncomfortable[br]inconvenient period of readjustment. 0:12:17.119,0:12:22.619 But eras of great transformation can also[br]spark creativity and innovation. 0:12:22.619,0:12:28.774 The Avalonians in Strange World don't need[br]to permanently return to an agrarian way of life. 0:12:28.774,0:12:34.245 They work through a period of hardship,[br]with no power, and cold coffee, but they do 0:12:34.245,0:12:38.806 it together as a community, and eventually[br]start inventing renewable, wind-powered 0:12:38.806,0:12:43.207 technology to get the lights back on and[br]the airships flying again. 0:12:46.272,0:12:51.360 The optimistic message that ecological[br]harmony is in fact achievable puts 0:12:51.731,0:12:57.198 Strange World squarely in the solar punk[br]camp, despite the lack of solar panels 0:12:57.198,0:13:02.215 in the story. It is a little ironic that a[br]story about radical environmental 0:13:02.215,0:13:05.887 sustainability comes from the Walt [br]Disney company, 0:13:05.887,0:13:11.791 though it's not the first time filmmakers[br]have snuck calls for systemic change 0:13:11.791,0:13:14.644 into a piece of corporate media. 0:13:15.229,0:13:21.098 These clips of a beautifully animated[br]futuristic farm, for example, are part of 0:13:21.098,0:13:23.785 a yogurt commercial of all things. 0:13:24.485,0:13:27.992 Brands have long tried to associate[br]themselves with visions of the future, 0:13:27.992,0:13:33.275 and we can appreciate the rare positive[br]message while also recognizing that 0:13:33.275,0:13:37.312 in a truly better world there is simply[br]no place for the corporate structures 0:13:37.312,0:13:41.205 and systems that have brought our planet[br]to the brink of annihilation. 0:13:43.415,0:13:48.014 When Strange World was released in theaters[br]it faced calls for boycotts from reactionary 0:13:48.014,0:13:54.055 pundits who were angry about its diversity[br]and its storyline, where being gay is 0:13:54.055,0:13:57.585 framed as a completely normal thing[br]that's no big deal. 0:13:57.585,0:13:58.731 Ethan: That's really sweet! 0:13:58.731,0:14:03.843 The film's choice to center characters of[br]color is reflective of another critical 0:14:03.843,0:14:09.022 element in solar punk world building[br]because it acknowledges that many of 0:14:09.022,0:14:14.711 the ideas surrounding sustainable ecology[br]aren't drawn from far-future science fiction 0:14:14.711,0:14:19.007 but are instead rooted in African and[br]Indigenous traditions developed 0:14:19.007,0:14:22.629 well before Europeans colonized the planet. 0:14:23.381,0:14:27.637 Lyla June: By tapping into preexisting[br]natural systems, Native farmers have 0:14:27.637,0:14:34.916 been able to cultivate the same plots of[br]land for centuries without ever depleting the soil. 0:14:34.916,0:14:39.713 The rise of solar punk media underscores[br]an important truth-- 0:14:39.713,0:14:43.403 Computer: Mega-restricted area. 0:14:43.448,0:14:47.661 --while it is necessary to understand the[br]severity of the climate crisis that we face 0:14:47.661,0:14:53.970 grim proclamations of our impending doom[br]aren't enough to spur people to mass action. 0:14:53.970,0:15:00.784 Stories that instead helps us envision the[br]kind of future we actually want can be 0:15:00.784,0:15:06.998 motivating, inspirational, and, critically,[br]make that better future feel like it's 0:15:06.998,0:15:10.155 within our grasp. 0:15:10.895,0:15:13.649 Thanks so much for watching! 0:15:13.649,0:15:17.399 Now on other videos on YouTube this is[br]where you'd see some sort of sponsorship 0:15:17.399,0:15:23.374 or corporate ad. But since this channel[br]is 100% funded by viewers like you, 0:15:23.374,0:15:26.291 here are my cats instead. 0:15:26.291,0:15:29.621 If you do like this kind of long-form[br]video essays, please consider going 0:15:29.621,0:15:34.409 over to Patreon to support this project.[br]I've also left a link to PayPal donations 0:15:34.409,0:15:39.257 and a wishlist below, if you prefer.[br]Every little bit helps keep the channel going. 0:15:39.257,0:15:43.275 I've got a bunch more video essays in the[br]works, including one on colonialism in 0:15:43.275,0:15:47.441 board games, one on the myth of the alpha[br]male, and another about how male 0:15:47.441,0:15:51.775 characters often find redemption only[br]through death in Hollywood media. 0:15:51.775,0:15:56.921 So make sure you're subscribed for those.[br]And I'll see you again very soon.