Monday, November 16, 2009

2012

I'd say "spoiler" alert, but if you're capable of being surprised by the outcomes of a Roland Emmerich plot, you really ought to be reading this blog with two helpers and a drool cup.

The ads for this movie have the phrase, "We were warned" emblazoned across them, and no joke: be warned, this is exactly the movie you think it is. But for all that, it's really not bad. There are bad parts to it, but overall I actually enjoyed it.

The science is atrocious, the writing is ridiculous, but the thing that has stayed with me -- and has kept me crabby -- is a moment late in the film, when they're unveiling the enormous arks that will preserve a remnant of humanity when the global crisis passes. The President's Chief of Staff exclaims, "Leave it China! Nobody thought we could do it in time."

Grrrr. Actually, America used to be capable of big things too. America used to be able to build the Hoover Dam. America used to be able to invent the Atomic Bomb. America used to be able to do the impossible and land a man on the moon.

You want a sign of hegemonic decline? Even in her fantasies, America is too tired to stand up anymore.

1 comment:

Flocons said...

I'm sure if America built their own arks, you wouldn't want to be in the one built on a Monday or a Friday.