Without being clearly stated in the movie, one could
easily conclude that the natural destruction that Interstellar revolves around
is closely similar to what we experience ourselves—our decidedly real problem
which is Climate Change. Interstellar basically tells us a story about a bunch
of people trying to save their species from being extinct by sending people off
to space to find new planet to inhabit and populate, leaving the wasted earth
behind. It is logical and in the future it might be possible. But I don’t agree
that jetting off to space is the right way to solve our problem of Climate
Change. Saving the species, maybe, but it wouldn’t be long until the humans are
faced with similar problem with their destructive nature.
First of all, it should be emphasized that while earth
would be able to withstand Global Warming, it is the human that wouldn’t be
able to survive it. With today’s technology, it seems far-fetched for the
current generation to be able to find suitable planet to live in, or even
survive living and adapting to the non-earth atmosphere for a long time;
although it might be easily solved sometime later in the future. In reality,
the only planet that astronomers found similar to earth in capability of
sustaining life is Kepler-186f. The planet is located 500 light years away from
earth with similar size and distance from its star in habitable zone that would
allow liquid water to pool on its surface and therefore might be able to sustain life. It is also a very loose ‘might’ used
because being in habitable zone doesn’t mean it would be habitable for human to
live in.
Moreover, it would immoral and irresponsible to wreak
havoc in the earth and then choose to leave it behind. “We are not meant to
save the world. We are meant to leave it”. That is the direct quote expressed
by the genius NASA scientist in the movie. It is refusing to take consequences
of what they have done and it is cowardice. Life in earth is more than humans;
there are plants and animals which are also God’s creature, and compared to human’s
superior mind, they are helpless to save themselves from the disaster human
helps to accelerate that is Climate Change. Therefore, as the one blessed with
most, we are responsible to save them. Not just animals and plants, it is
immoral to leave other humans behind while a small group get to survive. Some
say it is a sacrifice for the sake of the species, but I don’t think it is a
noble sacrifice when the one being sacrificed is unaware of what’s happening. It
is a deception and no one should has the right to decide who gets live or gets
to be sacrificed.
Also, who’s to say that it wouldn’t happen again? If
humans manage to run away and build a new generation in a brand new planet, it
bounds to happen all over again because humans have learned nothing. Humans,
consciously or unconsciously, would exploit the source in the planet and help
accelerate the destruction of that planet in the same way or different, and it
would be back to square zero for humans, having to find another planet to
colonize without really fixing anything. Humans would move around leaving path
of destruction in their wake. Humans would be stripped of their humanities and
would be no different with the monsters they used to tell their kids in fairytales.
That’s why I think the best solution for Climate
Change and Global Warming is to fix it and prevent it from getting worse, especially
while we still can. The earth is not just ours, we coexist with other creatures,
and we’re responsible with what we might have done to the earth to help accelerate
its (maybe) impending destruction. There might come the time that human has no
choice but to abandon ship and jet off to space to preserve the species. However,
even if the worst has come to worst, human has to remember what they’re leaving
behind and what they have to learn so that it wouldn’t be happening all over
again. As for now, human has to give all they have to avoid of that happening.
Reference List:
1. Lofgren,
Kristine. 2014. http://inhabitat.com/astronomers-reveal-the-most-livable-earth-like-planet-ever-discovered/.
14 December 2014.
2.
Knapp, Alex. 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2014/04/17/nasa-has-discovered-the-first-potentially-habitable-earth-sized-planet/.
14 December 2014.
3.
Bunch, Sonny. 2014. http://freebeacon.com/blog/interstellars-rejection-of-climate-change-hysteria/.
14 December 2014.
4.
Gittell, Noah. 2014. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/why-interstellar-ignores-climate-change/382788/.
14 December 2014.
5.
Shoard, Catherine. 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/29/interstellar-michael-caine-christopher-nolan-climate-change.
14 December 2014.
6.
Romm, Joe. 2014. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/21/3593599/interstellar-climate-change/.
14 December 2014
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