Filmic eco-warnings and television: Rolf de Heer's "Epsilon" (1995) and "Dr. Plonk" (2007)
(2007) Filmic eco-warnings and television: Rolf de Heer's "Epsilon" (1995) and "Dr. Plonk" (2007). Forum: The University of Edinburgh Postgraduate Journal of Culture and the Arts(5).
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Abstract
The possibility is considered that Australian film-maker Rolf de Heer has followed Epsilon (1995) with another filmic eco-warning, Dr. Plonk (2007), in which, as Mark J. Lacy despairs, heroic “dynamic individuals” unhelpfully “reinforce a (neo)liberal imaginary” (2001: 636), thus obliging Judith Hess Wright’s allegation that genre films maintain the social status quo by offering “absurd solutions to economic and social conflicts” (2003: 42). But rather than ‘shouting’ the message that a messianic hero-figure can save the world as in his first eco-politically correct film, it is argued that de Heer has subsequently made a silent film in which the saviour fails: the eponymous Dr. Plonk is imprisoned and makes a subtle, unspoken plea to the audience to get out from in front of their television sets and save the world from ecological apocalypse themselves. De Heer has expressed considerable disdain towards television but this paper suggests that to maximise reception of their eco-warnings the eco-conscious film-maker needs to recognise the potential of interactive television and other new media technologies to increase voter turnout and to effect the aversion of global apocalypse through audiences taking individual responsibility.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Keywords: | Rolf de Heer; Epsilon; Dr. Plonk; eco-warning; television |
| Subjects: | 410000 The Arts > 410300 Cinema, Electronic Arts and Multimedia > 410301 Film and Video 410000 The Arts 410000 The Arts > 410300 Cinema, Electronic Arts and Multimedia > 410303 Multimedia 220000 Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts - General 420000 Language and Culture > 420300 Cultural Studies > 420304 Screen and Media Culture 410000 The Arts > 410300 Cinema, Electronic Arts and Multimedia > 410302 Cinema Studies |
| ID Code: | 8877 |
| Deposited By: | Starrs, D. Bruno |
| Deposited On: | 26 October 2007 |
| Alternative Locations: | http://forum.llc.ed.ac.uk/issue5/starrs.html |
| Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2007 The Author |
| Additional Information: | For more information, please refer to the journal’s website (see hypertext link) or contact the author. Author contact details: db.starrs@qut.edu.au |