Tag: planet Earth

‘Extrapolations’ – TV Series Review and Analysis

“Recent wildfires in Canada that have caused the worst air pollution in decades across the Northeast U.S. this week have made me think about how our lives are becoming more and more impacted by the effects of climate change.”

Recent wildfires in Canada that have caused the worst air pollution in decades across the Northeast U.S. this week have made me think about how our lives are becoming more and more impacted by the effects of climate change. Growing wildfires, powerful hurricanes, sea level rise, melting glaciers, species extinction, and more acidic oceans are all causes for concern for people around the world and no country or people is likely to be exempt from at least one of the effects that have already been documented. What happens though in the next 50 years when we don’t take enough action now and in the past to reverse a possible future of no return?

That question is the premise for the first mainstream drama to focus on a future where climate change wins the battle that we are currently on track to lose if we don’t make drastic changes to our impact on the world around us. ‘Extrapolations’ is not a run of the mill documentary about climate change nor is it a disaster film that has become popular in Hollywood regarding disastrous storms. Instead, it is a rather intelligent take on the world soon when humanity cannot prevent global temperatures from staying at or below a 1.5-degree Celsius increase. The show covers what happens when humanity fails in its objective to keep the warming of the planet to a tolerable level. What starts out as 1.5 degrees Celsius becomes 2 degrees than 3 degrees until we become way past the point of no return past mid-century when 3.5 – 4 degrees Celsius is where the planet is headed.

Throughout the show’s eight episodes, we see the effects on the planet from Miami, Florida to New York City to London to Tel Aviv, Israel to Mumbai, India. From sea level rise wiping out the most popular nightlife areas in Miami including a historic synagogue to the constant wildfires that engulf Israel and the Middle East to limited outdoor time in Mumbai each day due to the overbearing heat and polluted air that causes deleterious effects to one’s health, the writers paint a grim yet realistic picture on what will happen if our climate change efforts fail miserably. More so than just the settings that are portrayed accurately in terms of how these popular cities may face their own negatives based on their geographic location, the characters in ‘Extrapolations’ have fully developed backgrounds, and you really get to know each of them over the course of the TV series.

There is a wide berth of society who are represented in this show from the wealthy billionaire who is interested in maximizing profits and takes advantage in his corporation from a dying planet to the Rabbi who is trying to wrestle with his faith in God as his synagogue slowly floods from the rising sea. What ‘Extrapolations’ does well is that it acknowledges that no one is purely innocent or purely guilty because of how badly climate change has warped the planet. Everyone is responsible in their own way, some more than others, but humanity is to blame for how we did not act quickly or unite fast enough to overcome our differences to reverse the worst effects to come.

The human effects of climate change are also explored such as how we are affected when we cannot go outside or must stay indoors to avoid heart or lung issues, why the extreme heat can prevent any work or leisure to take place, and how loneliness, depression, and atomization becomes more common when we despair at the worsening state of the planet.

My favorite episode in the eight-part TV series is ‘2066: Lola’ where we see how much augmented and virtual reality has come by then so that people are paid essentially to pretend to other people as a gig job and earn credits or money that can help improve their lives and insulate themselves more from climate change’s effects. The desire to connect with other people to distract ourselves from a dying planet is truly the TV series’ most impactful episode and makes you think about how much the emergence of augmented reality will make us both lonelier than ever and wanting to connect with others in untraditional and sometimes unseemly ways.

‘Extrapolations’ as a show really gets the A-list attention for a futuristic take on climate change’s effects on humanity with movie stars like Meryl Streep, Forest Whitaker, Kit Harrington, Edward Norton, Matthew Rhys, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, etc. All eight episodes are boosted by a stellar cast who really pour their hearts into the performances they give. I believe that they all truly cared about the project and how important it is to have a show like this become the center of attention. While Apple has been rightly condemned for some corporate practices that are harmful to the planet, it is a major TV show and movie distributor and should be commended for being the first major studio to have a series that doesn’t shy away from the brutal honesty of where we are headed if we don’t mitigate the worst effects of climate change to come.

If you are reading this article in 2023, you already know that the sea levels are starting to rise, wildfires are growing in both size and scale, bigger and stronger hurricanes that are also becoming more powerful, and deadly heat waves are becoming more common. While the first episode in this series takes place in 2037 and the last one ends in 2070, climate change is already here in 2023 as recent news events make clear and it has been affecting us for quite some time.

I encourage ‘Extrapolations’ to be watched by viewers with an open mind but also a commitment to do better for the planet. Do not shy away to act and make your voice heard regarding climate change after watching the series. You may think you know how bad it can get in the future from watching this series but ‘Extrapolations’ importance as a show is that it is as clear as day to where we will end up if we don’t hit the collective climate target goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius or keep as close to 1.5 degrees as possible.

While the show does mention possible stopgaps and solutions that can mitigate the damage, by that time in the 21st century, these solutions are risky with side effects on the planet that can only be speculated about. While the billionaire tycoon character was likely modeled after a few people who are prominent in our current age, as the show makes clear, the blame does not fall on him alone. We all can do our part by taking action to reduce our own carbon emissions, to encourage others to petition for policies and solutions now instead of 10 to 50 years down the line.

If the show has one central message after its eight impactful episodes, we all have stake in making sure this planet is livable for future generations. Even if you won’t be around to see the worst of climate change, we all should do our part, advocate for solutions now, and to hold people in power and of great wealth accountable if they do not action as well on a larger scale. The clock is ticking and as ‘Extrapolations’ highlights from 2037 to 2070, it can go downhill and get worse than what are experiencing already in 2023. Let’s not make the show a reality but keep it as a cautionary tale of what would have happened if we did not act strongly enough in these first decades of the twenty-first century.

I recommend ‘Extrapolations’ based on its great acting, stunning visuals, excellent writing, and interesting plots, but most importantly, because it focuses on the biggest issue of our time and one that we cannot ignore or downplay anymore.   

A Premonition from Wall-E

“You cannot argue against the fact that the creators of Wall-E were trying to warn the adults in the audience that this vision for humanity is a lot closer to reality than we would like to imagine.”

The beauty of Pixar movies is that they are not only for children to enjoy but adults as well. Many Pixar movies from Toy Story to Finding Nemo to The Incredibles carry important lessons regarding how to be caring, how to look out for one another, and how to stand up to injustice. Children enjoy the characters and the visuals while adults enjoy the lessons behind the main storyline. We understand how it can be painful to give up childhood toys in ‘Toy Story’, we understand the value of a new friendship earned as in ‘Finding Nemo’, and we deeply get the humdrum of the 9 to 5 day job that’s unfulfilling, but you need the money to survive or to feed a family as in ‘The Incredibles.’

The most powerful example of Pixar bringing adult anxiety and familiarity to life would be in its central ‘premonition’ in their hit film, Wall-E. What the movie ‘Wall-E’, released back in 2008, did was essentially predict where we are heading in 2021 potentially and where we could be by mid-century even though the movie is set in another eight centuries in the 2900s. The central ‘premonition’ or prediction that the film Wall-E makes is about the state of our beloved Planet Earth in the far future although that future in 2021 seems a lot closer to our collective reality than it was even thought of back in 2008. In the Pixar film, the Earth has become a garbage-strewn, hopelessly polluted planet with corporate greed, blatant consumerism, and environmental collapse being the norm rather than the exception. On top of all that, there are robots who do 99% of the labor that humans used to do.

In a particular scene that has stuck with me over the past decade is the sight of exceedingly overweight people in electric motor-scooters being hypnotized by their screens, totally oblivious to the environmental damage and neon advertising signs now in their periphery. In this bleak vision of the future, humans have let themselves go while robots have picked up the slack. Robots steer the ships through space and like Wall-E, they are forced to find a planet for recolonization that can suit humans now that the Earth has become an open-air garbage dump. Poor Wall-E.

Although you could say that this vision is a bit nonsensical in that everyone on Earth has become hopelessly dependent on robots, screens, and consumer goods to make it through the day, you cannot argue against the fact that the creators of Wall-E were trying to warn the adults in the audience that this vision for humanity is a lot closer to reality than we would like to imagine. 

While the film does not mention how did the Earth get so polluted where it’s become inundated with garbage everywhere or how did humans get so overweight, you can tell the writers were using a possible worst outcome scenario if we don’t try to look after ourselves better and to look after the planet that we love. ‘Wall-E’ takes the dystopian vision of the future to the extreme, but I would say that they are trying to take us to the worst-case scenario to make it clear how bad things could still get if we don’t start cleaning up our own act.

In 2021, who could argue with the fact that there are some sadly overweight people who cannot get around without motorized scooters, the fact that there are certain people who interact more with screens than other human beings, and that the fact that there are certain areas of the planet that have ceased to be livable because they are indeed open-air garbage dumps. The brilliance of a premonition is that it is essentially one vision of the future, and it does not necessarily mean that it will come true. This premonition of the movie Wall-E is not just a dystopian vision but a warning to humanity. Even back in 2008, we were warned that if we don’t start taking care of ourselves and the planet, life as we know it in the future will be worse. To those of you reading this article who would say, “It’s just a Pixar movie and is just fiction! Why should we take a fictional Pixar movie seriously?”

To that critique, I would say that there is often truth found in fiction and just because it’s not a true story and is an animated movie does not mean we should not take the film’s central message seriously. If you see the entire film, the average viewer should realize the main message of Wall-E is to always take responsibility for one’s actions because if one person doesn’t in terms of neglecting their health, their lack of care for others and the planet, and to obsessed with the latest technology, that one person’s behavior causes ripples throughout society causing life for everyone to get progressively worse.

The first part of the premonition where we can change our actions so that this warning does not come true is to stay active, eat healthy, and exercise. To end up like a person who is carried around on a motor scooter and can’t even walk around or push buttons anymore is no good way to go through life. Many people today live sedentary lifestyles and are less physically engaged than previous generations. Each person really must work at it to stay physically active if their work or lifestyle does not encourage it. Hopefully, Wall-E encourages more people to take the initiative to take their health seriously because being tied to technology, to consumer goods, and to the latest food fad can end up causing this part of the premonition to become a reality for more and more individuals.

The second part of the premonition where we can change our actions to stop this premonition is to lessen our addiction to technology. Screens are inevitably part of our present and our future, but we must continue to monitor our screen usage, encourage reading and other activities that are not done on screens, and to be able to take a day or more away from screens from time to time. In Wall-E, the people being carted around were staring at their screens continuously like zombies without being aware of the outside world. They didn’t even pay attention to Wall-E when he zips on by and he’s a living robot! I’m sure each of you reading this article has your own story of seeing someone on their phone as they walk across the street not aware of cars driving by or of someone else driving a car and staring at their phone screen rather than paying attention to what’s ahead of them on the road. Technology can help our lives out in many ways, but it is addictive, it is invasive, and it also can cause us to make deadly mistakes. Wall-E clearly warned us back in 2008 about the setbacks of being addicted to our screens.

The last part of the premonition that is most worrisome not just for individuals or for society but for the entire planet. Rampant pollution, poor air quality, lack of trees and vegetation are the main planetary problems highlighted by Wall-E. While the movie doesn’t cover how Earth became uninhabitable, it lays the blame squarely on human beings and our lack of care for the environment. The planet as depicted is filled with garbage, essentially having become an open-air landfill. Because of the Earth being ruined, Robots have must help humans find a new home but there is an underlying message there that how can we not ruin another planet when the Earth was not taken care of? When you can no longer breathe the air or drink the water, what good would a new planet do if the same mistakes are to be made? The environmental impact we are having on our planet has been known for decades and it was made known to the audience in Wall-E back in 2008 but it’s now getting late into 2021 and sadly, it seems as if environmental damage and climate change is getting worse, having greater impacts, and causing us to look more seriously at the fact that the planet might not be habitable for future generations to come.

When you look at Wall-E, you see an animated robot who is both goofy yet cares enough in trying to save Earth, which is seemingly past the point of no return in the movie. I hope we never get to the point in the far future when robots care more about the planet than we do to save it. Wall-E’s central premonition has come true in some aspects of life, but we do still have enough to change ourselves, our society, and our planet so that the premonition does not become a reality. There is indeed truth in fiction and Wall-E is an excellent film that shows us how if we don’t pay attention to the warnings laid out before us, we will make the same mistakes as the human characters do in Wall-E.