There are a lot of questions about culture’s response or lack of it, towards climate change. Where are the great climate change novels? The great climate change films?
As far as films are concerned the lack of great climate change films may be explained by the fact that the perfect climate change film has already been made. It is The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
As an allegory it is perfect.
Let’s walk through it. (There are a few spoliers if you haven’t seen it, but you have had 49 years)
The ship is sailing with no stabilisers for economic reasons. The economy renders the ship unable to survive the environmental shock
At the time of disaster all the people are having a party oblivious to the danger coming. While not everyone around the world can be said to be currently partying, western societies that have historically driven the majority of emissions certainly are.
When the wave strikes, those most exposed, mostly crew, are killed pretty much instantly and never mentioned again. The movie focus is on the party goers. We are only concerned about their plight.
I expect there are several upside down deniers who maintain that it’s a hoax and that the ship is actually the right way up. These scenes must have been cut.
Only a handful of people get it. Only a handful of people are prepared to take action and climb the tree. The vast majority of the passengers do nothing led by institutional figureheads (in this case an old priest) extolling them to stay where they are.
They all wait for the authorities to do something.
It is a school child that initiates the action (he knows where the thinnest part of the hull is)
A few “activitsts” climb the tree.
ONLY when the water literally comes crashing in do the rest of the people scramble to save themselves. They are unable to understand the danger until they see it by which time it is too late.
After a series of reverses it is only when the activists get to the hull that the authorities cut them out.
Even though the remaining heroic activists get out. The ship is still upside down.
Let’s hope that in the non-allegory version there are a few more survivors.