When I was younger, I was read a great deal of the superb Dr Seuss, and one of my favourites was The Lorax, a whimsical (well, it is by Seuss!) tale with a moral of saving the world and being against capitalism.
However, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I went to see the movie- in fact, I was so against the whole idea that I very nearly refused to go at all.
Why? A few reasons. Firstly, the last film I went to see that was based on a favourite childrens book was Where The Wild Things Are. The book is lovely; the film was, to put it nicely, dire- it was a huge insult to the book. Therefore, I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk seeing another fab kids book done a terrible injustice.
Secondly, let's face it- the movie industry is largely capitalist. It's all for the money. The Lorax is very stoutly anti-capitalist. Hence another reason for not wanting to go.
Thirdly, clips of The Lorax were used in an advert for cars. It's about stopping air pollution, for crying out loud!!
So. There you have it. Three huge reasons to not see it. However, after a lot of persuading, I agreed to see it- and I'm happy I did.
I've since heard reports that people are calling the movie 'propaganda' and 'indoctrination'. I see their point, and I think it's brilliant. The movie is very VERY clearly anti-capitalist, pro-eco friendly- which, with a target market of young children and families, could be hard to pull of. However, through skilful use of songs and cute animals, this was very successfully pulled off.
It conveyed the message perfectly, yet was still funny and upbeat. Produced by Universal, there were jibes at Disney (the capitalists wore uniforms with symbols not dissimilar to pictures of The Mouse) which were quite funny. Furthermore, they effectively used quotes from the truly amazing Seuss.
To give you something to think about, I'll also end on a quote from the original wearer or the striped hat:
'Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.'
However, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I went to see the movie- in fact, I was so against the whole idea that I very nearly refused to go at all.
Why? A few reasons. Firstly, the last film I went to see that was based on a favourite childrens book was Where The Wild Things Are. The book is lovely; the film was, to put it nicely, dire- it was a huge insult to the book. Therefore, I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk seeing another fab kids book done a terrible injustice.
Secondly, let's face it- the movie industry is largely capitalist. It's all for the money. The Lorax is very stoutly anti-capitalist. Hence another reason for not wanting to go.
Thirdly, clips of The Lorax were used in an advert for cars. It's about stopping air pollution, for crying out loud!!
So. There you have it. Three huge reasons to not see it. However, after a lot of persuading, I agreed to see it- and I'm happy I did.
I've since heard reports that people are calling the movie 'propaganda' and 'indoctrination'. I see their point, and I think it's brilliant. The movie is very VERY clearly anti-capitalist, pro-eco friendly- which, with a target market of young children and families, could be hard to pull of. However, through skilful use of songs and cute animals, this was very successfully pulled off.
It conveyed the message perfectly, yet was still funny and upbeat. Produced by Universal, there were jibes at Disney (the capitalists wore uniforms with symbols not dissimilar to pictures of The Mouse) which were quite funny. Furthermore, they effectively used quotes from the truly amazing Seuss.
To give you something to think about, I'll also end on a quote from the original wearer or the striped hat:
'Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.'