By Patrick Whittle
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) --Aquaman might not mind if the oceans rise, but moviegoers might.
That's one of the takeaways from a new study conducted by researchers who set out to determine if today's Hollywood blockbusters are reflective of the current climate crisis. The vast majority of movies failed the "climate reality check" proposed by the authors, who surveyed 250 movies from 2013 to 2022.
The test is simple — the authors looked to see if a movie presented a story in which climate change exists, and whether a character knows it does. One film that passed the test was the 2017 superhero movie "Justice League," in which Jason Momoa's Aquaman character says, "Hey, I don't mind if the oceans rise" to Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne.
But most movies fell short — fewer than 10% of the 250 films passed, and climate change was mentioned in two or more scenes of fewer than 4% of the films. That's out of touch with a moviegoing public that wants "to see their reality reflected on screen," said Colby College English professor Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, lead researcher on the study.
"The top line is just that the vast majority of films, popular films produced over the last 10 years in the United States, are not portraying the world as it is," Schneider-Mayerson said. "They are portraying a world that is now history or fantasy — a world in which climate change is not happening."
Researchers at Maine's Colby College published the study in April along with Good Energy, a Los Angeles-based environmental consultancy. The results were peer reviewed, and the authors are seeking publication in scientific journals. The researchers view the test as a way for audience members, writers and filmmakers to evaluate the representation of climate change on screen.
Some results were surprising. Movies that at first glance appear to have little overlap with climate or the environment passed the test. "Marriage Story," Noah Baumbach's emotive 2019 drama about the collapse of a relationship, passed the test in part because Adam Driver's character is described as "energy conscious," Schneider-Mayerson said.
The 2022 whodunnit "Glass Onion" and the 2019 folk horror movie "Midsommar" were others to pass the test. Some that were more explicitly about climate change, such as the 2021 satire "Don't Look Up," also passed. But "San Andreas," a 2015 movie about a West Coast earthquake disaster, and "The Meg," a 2018 action movie set in the ocean, did not.
The authors narrowed the selection of movies by excluding films not set on Earth or set before 2006 or after 2100. They found streaming services had a higher percentage of movies that included climate change than the major studios did.
The study is "valuable for marketing purposes, informational purposes, data accumulation," said Harry Winer, director of sustainability at the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Winer, who was not involved in the study, said it could also help serve as an incentive to connect audiences with climate stories.
"The audience will be more open to hearing a dialogue about what is right and what is wrong," Winer said. "It's a conversation starter."
The study authors said they see the climate reality check as a kind of Bechdel-Wallace test for climate change. Alison Bechdel, a cartoonist, is credited with popularizing that test in the 1980s by incorporating her friend Liz Wallace's test about gender representation in film into a comic strip. The test asks if a movie includes at least two female characters who have a conversation about something other than a man.
Bechdel herself spoke highly of the study's climate test, which she described as "long overdue" in a social media post during this year's Academy Awards season. Bechdel said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that "for a movie set in the present to ignore this existential threat just doesn't make sense anymore" in the age of climate change.
"I do worry that screenwriters might do it in a kind of rote way, which could be counterproductive, just like rote 'strong female characters' are," Bechdel said. "But injecting an awareness of our communal plight into the stories we ingest seems like a no-brainer."
Sinners and Saints Adds Apple Pie To Its Branded Menu
Bicoastal Sinners and Saints--the multidisciplinary studio overseen by managing director/executive producer Heather Heller, and partners/EPs Yann Henric and Thomas Carroll--has added Apple Pie Tabletop to its roster for branded content. Known for its food and beverage content creation, Apple Pie comprises the husband-and-wife team of director/DP Gene Dubin and director/art director Alisa Volodina. In addition to representation, the move expands Apple Pie’s production capabilities through the combination of its centrally located full-service studio in New York and a newly established mobile studio in Los Angeles. Apple Pie recently teamed with Sinners and Saints on a Wienerschnitzel project created by Innocean.
“We believe that our dual studio strategy positions us uniquely in the competitive landscape of food and beverage storytelling,” said Heller. “By blending the artistry of the New York studio with the flexibility of our Los Angeles location, we can tailor our productions to meet the unique demands of each project, regardless of geography.”
“Working with Sinners and Saints in the demanding field of tabletop was an absolute pleasure,” shared Apple Pie Tabletop in a joint statement. “Warm welcome, unwavering support and dedication--everything a director can ask for. The entire experience was both enjoyable and rewarding. We will not miss an opportunity to collaborate with them again.”
“The first thing you notice is that Apple Pie has beautiful work,” Heller observed. “Having worked with them, I can say that Gene and Alisa are extremely meticulous and detail-oriented; their combination of talent and agility appeals to agencies and clients.” Also appealing to Heller is Apple Pie Tabletop’s brisk international... Read More