credit: 2012
2012 is a science fiction, end-of-the-world movie that was released in 2009. It was based on the Mayan eschatological accounts that the world, as we know it, would cease to exist around four days before Christmas day of the year 2012. It encompassed some humanitarian aspects such as privilege, politics, and cooperation. In this article, we will see how those elements combined make 2012 a great or bad movie while intertwined with fictional supernatural elements.
credit: 2012
A movie with a lot of science involved which was, unfortunately, barely explained
The movie can be classified as science fiction because of a ton of scientific ideas that revolved around the movie.
In the beginning, for example, it was stated that a tiny particle (a neutrino, to be more specific) was heating the core of the Earth. However, its implications were not explained very much. It was as if the creators of the movie just decided to throw in heavy scientific terms so that the audience would just accept what was going on.
But that wasn’t a good thing. It would leave the reader wondering what its correlation was to the incoming disaster. Why and how would a particle changing the temperature of the core cause cataclysmic events to happen? That question was left unanswered as the story fast-forwarded to a year later, where we saw the construction of arks to save some people. Not everyone is good at physics, but this was left underlooked. This is among the movie’s setbacks.
credit: 2012
A movie with humanitarian aspects
As mentioned earlier, the movie 2012 showed at least three things that had woven the life of every one of us: privilege, politics, and cooperation.
The privilege was shown in wealth. In the movie, the rich were sold tickets to be able to enter the arks for a huge sum of a billion euros per head. Because of this, only the rich people had the chance to obtain a “pass” to safety.
We don’t need an apocalypse to see the fact that the rich have an advantage in life. In our daily endeavors, we can also see this happening. For example, rich people can afford to buy their vehicles (a car, for example), while those who are just earning enough to sustain themselves (or even less) are forced to take public transportation. They have to endure a very long line that only God knows how long it will take. Since they don’t have the luxury to afford a vehicle of their own, they are to wait hours on end for a public vehicle and cramp themselves in it sometimes.
The role of politics was manifested in the character of president Thomas Wilson. In the movie, he was the representation of the idea that a politician is a servant to the people and not the other way around. Also, a high-ranking politician, such as the president, can break or make the will of his people.20
In the movie, President Wilson, although having the ability to enter the arks at any time, chose not to. Instead, he opted to die while addressing his nation.
He showed a leader’s true moral meaning by not fleeing when his country needed his reassurance.
This can also be seen in real life. Ten months ago, as Russian forces approached Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky did not run away. Instead, he broadcasted a video of himself in the city, declaring his presence and boosting the morale of his people. The movie wanted to show that people like that are true leaders that won’t be cowards and storm away.
Lastly, we have cooperation. It was the cooperation of everyone that our characters in the arks managed to evade the disaster. It is because of Jackson’s master’s aircraft that they were led to safety. It is with Adrian’s help that the gears on the closing door of the ark are cleared, saving them from potential drowning. Each one may not know the role he had to play in every situation, but when the time comes that one can cooperate for everyone’s safety, one must take the chance. It truly went to show that once the first two no longer mattered in the world, this last one would be the most important thing of all.
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