Luca Malatesta - ISU Project

Nature: Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder, Or Is It?

During their time on this planet humans have consistently desired to improve the way things look and function.  Over thousands of years, the reckless and oblivious ways of humans has destroyed multiple unique and awe-inspiring parts of nature as they sought to create newer and better things.  In doing so, and moving towards what humans believe is always a new era of aesthetic beauty, they destroy in their path that which is already so beautiful on it’s own. The world is already a beautiful place that needs no fixing or changing, and humans must soon realize what true beauty looks like. It is has become clear that humans can no longer distinguish the importance of natural beauty from fake beauty. If humans are unable to wake up from their own apathy towards the environment, humanity will not realize what it has destroyed, and what it has lost until it is too late.

The movie The Lorax is an excellent example of humans’ new era of aesthetic beauty or “fake beauty”. The screenshot(right) illustrates multiple metal and colorful flowers, that have been planted due to the fact that there is a lack of fresh air and green space within the town. As a result, it is impossible for anything natural to grow, and as a repercussion people are forced to plant aesthetic flowers to simulate lost natural beauty. Evident to left side of the screenshot is the “O’Hare Air Delivery Man”. His significance to the image is that he is delivering air which is a commodity that most humans take for granted in the natural world. In relation to the metal flowers, the delivery of ‘air’ represents the missing air within the environment that both nature and humans need to survive. In addition, the lack of air resulting in need for both the “O’Hare Air Delivery Man” and the aesthetic flowers is a direct result of the carelessness and recklessness of a human. On the hunt for prosperity a man quickly lost sight of the joy and beauty surrounding himself, and unknowingly destroyed a forest, a home, a community, an amazing sight, and the source of air to survive, and only began to realise the error of his ways far too late. As a result of this one man’s careless actions, a town, and a community of people have been deprived and starved of the ability to live in a place filled with natural air, and are forever lost to the true beauty that once surrounded the town. The screenshot(right) is a clear representation that as a result of humans apathy towards the environment, they quickly lose sight of the true beauty of nature and regretfully destroy pieces of it without realizing the error of their ways until it is much too late.

The image(below) is another example of the reckless endeavors of humans to consistently expand and improve what already exists. The finished product leaves what was once a stunning part of nature as an aesthetic sight, lost of the beauty and natural landscape it upheld previously. The image(left) depicts what appears to be rows upon rows of forest set in front of the mountains with a beautiful river flowing through the trees, and a woman admiring it’s natural beauty. However, in reality, the image(left) depicts rows  of brown houses with green topped roofs set in front of the mountains, and at the bottom is a city flooded due to the lack of earth to absorb the rainwater. In the water is a woman beholding the aesthetic beauty of the landscape. As a result of humans reckless attempts at expanding a city and over building, a forest was destroyed and with it was lost the natural beauty and uniqueness of the landscape. Unfortunately, being replaced with what humans consider a more functional and admirable landscape. Set as one of the main focal points within the image is a woman standing in the lake, and who is arguably to her dismay admiring the aesthetic beauty of the landscape, and attempting to remember the natural beauty that once dominated the landscape. The image(above) is a clear demonstration that humans constant desire to expand and improve things is a directly correlated with their apathy towards the environment, resulting in humans destroying beautiful and unique landscapes without realizing their errors until there is nothing left.

In comparison to their apathy towards the environment, and the results of their reckless and oblivious ways, humans just as consistently realize the natural beauty surrounding them. In an attempt to preserve the landscapes, their oblivious and unintentional ways also cause them to destroy those landscapes as they watch, without realizing the error of their ways. Many humans understand and admire the significance of the natural landscape and all its beauty, and understand that in this current world it will not last unless a change is made. Yet, ultimately,  they are the source of the problem and make things worse because it is easier to watch and do nothing than make the change. The image(right) entitled Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica portrays a winter cruise ship with plastic chairs and tables set up to view the polar ice caps, which as a result of humans, are slowly beginning to melt and are soon to be forever lost. The plastic chairs serve as a main focal point for this image and they are symbolic of humans clear apathy towards the environment. Cruisers rest on plastic chairs, a main source of the problem, and obviously admire the polar ice caps one last time,  before they are gone forever and accept the future ahead of them, rather than use their time, money and efforts to preserve the natural beauty of the landscape. The image(above) clearly illustrates that if humanity is unable to awaken from their own apathy towards the environment, and create a better future, they will surely destroy all that remains beautiful and unique within nature without realizing the enormity of what they have lost, and the error of their ways until it is far too late.  

In addition to humans’ realization of their destruction of the environment and their acceptance of a world lost of all its natural beauty, humans fail to make a change because it has no immediate effect on them. The screenshot(left) from the film Tomorrowland  illustrates Tomorrowland, a world in the future which has been created to make up for the destruction of our current world as result of humans apathy towards the environment and the planet. “Every moment there is the possibility of a better future, but you people won’t believe it, and because you won't believe it you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality, so you dwell on this terrible future, and resign yourselves to it for one reason. Because that future doesn't ask anything of you today”(Chernov, Lindelof & Bird, 2015) describes Nix, the creator of Tomorrowland as he explains to the few humans left from the original Earth what was the reason for the destruction of their planet. In the film Tomorrowland people are unable to realize the destruction they are causing towards the environment and their world, and soon destroy it without having a way to fix it. Tomorrowland is created as a new world that adheres to the needs of humans and maintains, respects, and preserves the natural beauty of the planet. Similar to earth's destruction within Tomorrowland like Nix describes, is caused by humans’ non acceptance to believe their world is not perfect.  As a result of that, humans will not attempt to fix what they have ruined, but satisfy themselves with the fact that there is nothing they can do but to dwell on a terrible future. Why not make the change and make a brighter future a reality? Because that future does not affect them right now, and as result humans’ apathy towards the environment and the planet, mixed with their constant desire to improve things causes their unwilling destruction of the environment. The image(above) and the film Tomorrowland are both clear representations that humans’ apathy towards the environment results in destruction, and for humans’ to not realize the immensity and effect of their ways until it is too late to be fixed.

In conclusion humans constant desire to improve the ways things look and function has caused them to no longer be able to distinguish the importance of natural beauty from aesthetic beauty, and if humans are unable to wake up from their own apathy towards the environment, humanity will not realize what it has destroyed, and what it has lost until it is too late.

Works Cited

Bird, Brad, dir. Tomorrowland. Prod. Brad Bird, Jeffrey Chernov, and Damon Lindelof. Walt Disney Pictures, 2015. Film.

Anne Noble. New Zealander, b. 1954 Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica, from ICEBLINK, 2005

The Lorax. Dir. Chris Renaud. Prod. Janet Healey. Universal Pictures, 2012. Film.

Thomson, Sarah L. Imagine a Day. Illus. Rob Gonsalves. Canada: Simon & Schuster, 2005. Print.