The NeverEnding Story is a delightfully 80's movie that intended to have message showing the power of the imagination and the importance of books. Implicitly in the film is a constant theme about the preservation of nature. Fantasia is a lush, wondrous place. Even though it has its fair share of horrors, like the Swamp of Sorrow, it is still beautiful. The primary antagonist in the film is the gaping void that is destroying all of Fantasia—the Nothing. With these explicit and implicit themes the film tells the audience to use their imagination to save the environment.
Although these themes are still present in this movie, environmental ideological critiques are present in the film. It critiques the separation of nature and civilization, the public and private attitudes concerning the environment, and it critiques the gendered nature of ecofeminism.
Once Bastion begins to read the book, the audience sees a direct contrast between the urban New York City with the mystical Fantasia. However, this contrast is not seen again until the final scene where Falcor flies Bastian through the city streets. The NeverEnding Story breaks down the false dichotomy of civilization/nature by showing a diverse population that has its own culture in this wilderness. There is no dividing line between “This is where we live” and “This is where nature begins.” Even the capital of Fantasia is carved out of a mountain. The populations of Fantasia have performed a “way of foregrounding interconnections among [their] communities” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 539). This elimination of difference between nature and civilization relates to another binary broken down by the movie—public/private.
What actually occurs in the film is remarkably simple; a boy reads a book. This private action, however, has public consequence for the denizens of Fantasia. His interaction with the characters in the text destroys the public/private binary. The physical act of reading and imagining effects Fantasia and ultimately saves it.
Throughout the movie, the audience believes that the source of Fantasia's salvation lies in the Childlike Empress. Atreyu's mission is to find a cure for her illness. After she is cured, she will be able to restore Fantasia. This supports one of the core beliefs of ecofeminism, that men cannot directly help protect the environment and that they can only work as a supportive role (Perez 4/7/2010).However, that is not how the plot unfolds. The cure for the Childlike Empress is a new name bestowed by a human child. Bastian, the reader of The NeverEnding Story, saves the day by naming her Moonchild.
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Women and the Environment." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 535-49. Print.
The NeverEnding Story. Dir. Wolfgang Petersen. Netflix.com. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.
Perez, Jeannina. "Eco-Feminism." University of Central Florida, Orlando. 7 Apr. 2010. Lecture.
I thought about doing this move myself, however in remembering the film, I was having a hard time relating back to specific ideas that we had discussed in class. In reading your blog, I think you really hit home with the deeper connection this film has with the ideas we are learning about. I would have never connected the public/ private argument, but after reading this I see where it would play in to the film and the ecofeminist ideals being displayed .
ReplyDeleteI found this movie to surprisingly easy to analyze from an ecofeminist perspective. I loved how you analyzed the environment of the movie rather than the characters. One part in the movie I found to be interesting was how when Atreyu was with his horse in the beginning of his quest the environment was very lush and beautiful. Then when Atreyu lost his horse in the Swamp of Sorrows the atmosphere was very dark and dismal. It was as if the environment directly interacted with the emotions of the story.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said to use imagination to save the environment. It sometimes takes a different point of view on your own society/environment to understand it better or to see what others see. I think this movie may have done something like that, with the imaginary world being the real world in a different view.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time that Atreyu's role in saving the Empress demonstrates "that men cannot directly help protect the environment and that they can only work as a supportive role", doesn't it also portray women as dependent on male support to accomplish their goals?
ReplyDelete