(ECO-CRITICISM) 2012, Movie

THEORY

ECO-CRITICISM

-It is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation.

-It is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment.

-Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies.

TITLE

2012, MOVIE

SYNOPSIS

In 2009, Adrian Helmsley, an American geologist, visits astrophysicist Dr. Satnam Tsurutani in India and learns that neutrinos from a massive solar flare are causing the temperature of the Earth's core to increase rapidly. Adrian reports to White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser, who takes Adrian to meet the President of the United States.

In 2010, President Thomas Wilson and other international leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. More than 400,000 people are chosen to board "arks" that are constructed at Cho Ming, Tibet, in the southwest Chinese Himalayas under the guise of building a dam. A Buddhist monk named Nima is evacuated while his brother Tenzin joins the workers in the Ark project. Additional funding for the project is raised by selling tickets to the private sector for €1 billion per person. By 2011, humanity's treasures are moved to the Alps under the guise of protecting them from terrorist attacks with the help of art expert and First Daughter Dr. Laura Wilson.

In 2012, Jackson Curtis is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles who works part-time as a limousine driver for the Russian billionaire, Yuri Karpov. Jackson's ex-wife Kate, and their children Noah and Lilly, live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon Gordon Silberman.

Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park. After an encounter with Helmsley, they meet Charlie Frost, who hosts a radio show from the park. Charlie plays a video of Charles Hapgood's theory that polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar predict that the 2012 phenomenon will occur. He has a map of the ark project in addition to information about officials and scientists from around the world who were murdered because they wanted to reveal the truth to the public. The family returns home asseismic activity increases along the San Andreas Fault. Jackson grows suspicious and rents a Cessna 340 to rescue his family. He collects his family and Gordon as the Earth crust displacement begins with a magnitude 10.9 earthquake, and they narrowly escape Los Angeles as California collapses into the Pacific Ocean.

As several hundred million die in catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve Charlie's map, escaping as the Yellowstone Caldera erupts. Charlie stays behind to broadcast the eruption and is killed. Learning that the arks are in China, the group lands in a devastated Las Vegas to find a larger plane. They run into Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg, girlfriend Tamara and pilot Sasha. The group secures an Antonov An-500 aircraft and they depart for China as the Yellowstone ash cloud engulfs the city. Anheuser, Helmsley and Laura Wilson are aboard Air Force One, also heading to the arks. President Wilson remains in Washington D.C. to address the nation one last time. With the Vice President dead and the Speaker of the House missing, Anheuser assumes de facto leadership.While the ash cloud engulfs Washington. Earthquakes strike Washington, Japan and Rome. President Wilson is killed by a megatsunami that sends the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy crashing into the White House.

Arriving in China in a crash landing that kills Sasha, the group is spotted by helicopters from the Chinese army, carrying animals for the Arks. Yuri and his sons, possessing tickets, are taken to the arks, leaving Tamara and the others behind. They are picked up by Nima and are taken to the arks with his grandparents. They stow away on Ark 4, where the contingent of the United States is on board, with the help of Tenzin. As a megatsunami approaches the site, an impact driver becomes lodged in the gears of the ark's hydraulic doors, preventing a boarding gate from closing and preventing the ship from starting its engines. In the ensuing chaos, Yuri, Gordon and Tamara are killed. Tenzin is wounded by the hydraulics, and Ark 4 is set adrift. Jackson and Noah dislodge the impact driver and the crew regains control of the ark before it collides with Mount Everest.

After flood waters from the tsunamis recede, the arks travel to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where the African continent has risen in elevation. Jackson rejoins with his family, and Helmsley starts a relationship with Laura.

ANALYSIS

In connection to the Eco Criticism Theory,

2012 movie is indeed an intense and violent movie about natural disasters that may occur on our planet if we continue to take it for granted. 

It's undeniable that we are now living in a modern world where everything can be instantly done with the use of science and technology. We enjoy the advantages of the innovations yet we ignore the disadvantages it brings. The more we continue to discover new things, the more we destroy our planet. Reality bites it.