Spring Break
Colloquium speakers find 'kernel of truth' in science-fiction movies
Tyler Will
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: News
10/01/08 - In an evening with popcorn, entertainment and spotlights on the speakers, the Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium evaluated the truth behind movie excerpts pertaining to global climate change and other science fiction topics.
University of Rhode Island Professors Kathryn Moran of oceanography and Tom Zorabedian of film studies and communications, showed clips, followed by a brief evaluation and commentary period.
While many of the films contained "a kernel of truth," many of them were exaggerated or dramatic. Phenomena resulting from climate change can be addressed from topics in the movies.
While the films portrayed real issues in a fictional or hyperbolized way, the threat of climate change is very much a fact, Moran said.
"At the rates we're exporting [carbon dioxide], I think, and many people would agree, we're seeing a major shift" of environmental patterns, Moran said.
Zorabedian provided cinematic history and filmography information, while Moran provided the environmental and science insight. Most of these revolved around "The Day After Tomorrow," a movie that shows the rapid formation of an ice age as a consequence of global warming.
Though the films gravitated toward climate change, not all films were about the environment. One clip was from a 1951 science fiction film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," about an alien who came to the planet with a message of peace, which Zorabedian said was intended as a commentary on fears of Communism during the Cold War.
Zorabedian said films traditionally use fiction to deliver a warning and often involve traumatic situations. They also help educate audiences about science in a down-to-earth manner, he said.
"These kinds of films are crisis films that allow us to reveal the profile of science ... to the public," Moran said. "Not all of it is fact, but there are pieces that certainly are."
In "The Day After Tomorrow," polar ice caps melt and reduce the salinity of the ocean, which changes ocean currents that warm the planet.
University of Rhode Island Professors Kathryn Moran of oceanography and Tom Zorabedian of film studies and communications, showed clips, followed by a brief evaluation and commentary period.
While many of the films contained "a kernel of truth," many of them were exaggerated or dramatic. Phenomena resulting from climate change can be addressed from topics in the movies.
While the films portrayed real issues in a fictional or hyperbolized way, the threat of climate change is very much a fact, Moran said.
"At the rates we're exporting [carbon dioxide], I think, and many people would agree, we're seeing a major shift" of environmental patterns, Moran said.
Zorabedian provided cinematic history and filmography information, while Moran provided the environmental and science insight. Most of these revolved around "The Day After Tomorrow," a movie that shows the rapid formation of an ice age as a consequence of global warming.
Though the films gravitated toward climate change, not all films were about the environment. One clip was from a 1951 science fiction film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," about an alien who came to the planet with a message of peace, which Zorabedian said was intended as a commentary on fears of Communism during the Cold War.
Zorabedian said films traditionally use fiction to deliver a warning and often involve traumatic situations. They also help educate audiences about science in a down-to-earth manner, he said.
"These kinds of films are crisis films that allow us to reveal the profile of science ... to the public," Moran said. "Not all of it is fact, but there are pieces that certainly are."
In "The Day After Tomorrow," polar ice caps melt and reduce the salinity of the ocean, which changes ocean currents that warm the planet.
