The movie I will be talking has a target audience of little kids. It involves fuzzy monsters and a little girl... Monsters, Inc. So how is the movie related to energy? Even though the movie's main theme was about saving the girl and good friends, there is an underlying theme in regards to energy and the growing demand for it. In fact, the title of the movie is the name of the energy company. In the movie, monsters creep into little children's rooms and scare them. The scream is then converted to electricity that powers this monster world. The company is having energy extraction issues, the kids aren't afraid anymore. As the movie progresses, we find out that the CEO of this company has created a device to strap kids into a chair and extract the scream more efficiently, basically torturing the kids. In the end of the movie, everything is back to normal and they realize that laughter is more potent than screams. So the monsters now sneak in to kid's rooms and try to make them laugh. There are a couple points I want to bring up. One is that there is a theme of energy scarcity and growing demand. The other is the issue of how far are people willing to go to extract more energy? Are they willing to risk the lives of children? Over all the movie does not cast a negative light on energy business as a whole, since both of the main characters are workers for the power plant. The bad guy ends up being the CEO. Its interesting to note that the movie's city has an energy crisis and there are people willing to do anything to feed the demand. I would not say the movie was anti-corporate. I would say that the movie attempts to shed light on finding alternative ways to obtaining energy. Instead of focusing and intensifying the extraction of scream, the main characters end up finding an alternative way of getting energy. Therefore it is all about thinking outside the box. In real life, it is an important issue. Power is becoming a huge issue and instead of simply focusing solely on the conventional forms of energy, there is a growing move to diversifying energy sources as well as clean sustainable sources.
4 comments:
Dude, awesome.
Mr. Kay, I also have to commend you on this one. Fantastic!
There is a short included on the DVD called "Mike's New Car", where Mike Wazowski is obsessed with his new six-wheel drive car. Another interesting energy parallel from our friends at Pixar.
I have children and often watch cartoons and cartoon movies with them. I had never deduced this theme from Monsters, Inc. Excellent analysis of this film. I will be watching shows with my kids with a much more attentive eye.
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