Sunday, December 4, 2011

The Environmental Outlook of Pixar's Wall-E.

     Last Thursday in my Rhetoric of Literature class, my Professor presented an interesting movie to the class that seemed to be environmentally relevant to our world today. The name of the film that my professor presented in class was the Disney/Pixar movie called Wall-E. This movie is about a small robot from  Earth who makes his way into outer space. I say this because I watched Wall-E a few years ago and I thought it was one of the most entertaining movies I ever seen. When the first few minutes of the movie were presented in class, me and my classmates were asked to find some environmental aspects of the world of Wall-E. While examining the first scene I managed to come up with some conclusions of my own.
     In the opening scenes of Wall-E, I see that the planet has become a desolate, sand filled waste land filled with metal scraps and piles of junk. The robot Wall-E is the only operating character in the movie besides a cockroach that is seen popping out of the earth. To me, this film offers a glimpse of what could happen to our planet if some of us continue to pollute it and be inconsiderate of the its well-being. The planet is more human then we realize, and to see a fictional interpretation of the Earth's coarse existence just worries me. I also noticed that there are no human beings present on the planet. I later saw in the movie that the remaining inhabitants of Earth have traveled out of the galaxy on a traveling space colony searching for a new world to live upon. The damage than humans have done to the Earth in the future has resulted in the planets inability to sustain itself, and the exploding population that contributed to it's current state of shock. Relieving that Wall-E opening reminds me to recycle, and appreciate the beautiful, natural world that I am surrounded by. I don't want to live to be 85 and see the planet Earth transformed into a Tatooine like world where the landmass is desert, no water, no resources, no people, and no hope for the future. I understand that this is only an animated movie, but I still feel that our planet still has hope for a healthier existence. This world needs to find cleaner, renewable forms of energy, balance out the world population, recycle more, clear the skies, clean the water, and enrich the soil for future generations This planet deserves better than what people have been providing it. Earth should be treated like any other garden. It should be nurtured, respected, appreciated, and never abused for the sake of pride or profit. That is what I have come to understand from watching the first ten minutes of Wall-E, and I hope others feel the same way that I do.

Friday, December 2, 2011

The Existence of the Wolf and it's Journey for Survival.

     While searching for possible topics to write about for my Rhetoric of Literature blogs, I came across a recent story that doesn't exactly deal with the environment but certainly focuses on a creatures of the natural world inhabiting our surroundings. In the Jeff Barnard article titled "Wandering wolf inspires hope and dread," the story focuses on a particular wolf named OR-7 who has gained some attention in the media for his long journey from Oregon to California in search of a mate. The presence of the wolf has been met with interest and worry at the same time. This article on the Oregon wolf being spotted, along his journey through the Northwest, offers a contemporary perspective on a rare animal that is not as seen so much in the wildlife that it once inhabited, and a form of rhetoric that includes responses from people who are affected by the presence of wolves in their lives.
     One of the first accounts of the Oregon wolf is mentioned in the article when Barnard write, " Last February, OR-7 was in a snowy canyon in northeastern Oregon, when a state biologist shot him with a tranquilizer dart from a helicopter, then fitted him with a tracking collar and blue ear tags." I am actually relieved that the wolf was approached by a scientist with a tranquilizer rifle as opposed to a hunter who would hunt the wolf for the sake of sport, or payback for killing and eating farm animals on some one's property. I think wolves are great animals that possess many myths that are famous in works of fiction. More importantly, I'm scared to think that there are not a whole lot of wolves in the regions that the story takes place in. There is probably a reason for the lack of wolves in the farming communities, but I still feel that many wolves should left to exist in packs and roam the wilderness as functions of natural selection among the animal community. Returning back to the article, a cattle rancher named Nathan Jackson who lives on Oregon, gives his opinion of wolves such as OR-7 traveling across the Oregon state when he says, " In this country, we worked really hard to exterminate wolves 50 years ago or so, and there was a reason." I'm very troubled the way that the rancher used the term exterminate when mentioning wolves as if they were a nest of cockroaches that need to be killed immediately. I can understand the need to drive away the wolves or kill them out of self defense, but to "exterminate" them seems barbaric to me. The rancher Jackson offers another opinion that speaks toward the people who feel the need to protect the wolves by saying, "A lot of people who don't have a direct tie to the agricultural community tend to view wolves as majestic, beautiful creatures. They don't seem so majestic and beautiful when they are ripping apart calves and colts." So I guess the matter of having sympathy or conviction for wolves is a matter of point of view. I must admit, if I was a farmer who had cattle and other farm animals to care for, I would be very upset that they faced the possibility of a gruesome death by a pack wolves. I think I also might feel that need to drive away or eliminate any wolf that tries to harm me, my close friends, family, and animals under my watch. Then again, I don't have that responsibility. So I think that I must go on the defensive for wolves just a little bit here.
     The article also mentions the state of Oregon's attempt to legally protect wolves for the sake of wild life preservation. In the story Jeff Barnard writes, "Federal protection for wolves was lifted in Eastern Oregon, but they remain under state protection. West of U.S. Highway 97 they are back under federal protection." I'm somewhat grateful that the nation is willing to save the American wolves and some Canadian wolves that pass along our regions for breeding,hunting, or whatever. From the article I also learned some interesting facts about wolves as well such as, "When wolves reach about 2 years old, they typically strike out on their own, looking for a mate and an empty territory they can call their own. And that's what OR-7 has done"(Barnard). The age of two may be considered too young to go out and mate for a human, but for a wolf I assume that is considered as an adult age. This is a way of life for the wolf that may be overlooked by many people who are not experts on the animal, and don't quite realize the natural impact that could come from their demise. Since there are wolves that exist, I pray that they never go extinct so people don't have to find out what happens to the environment when the wolf is no longer around.