Koyaanisqatsi Response Paper
Koyaanisqatsi is a movie like none that I have ever seen before. After watching it for the first time, I was left puzzled. There was no plot, no commentary, nothing concrete that my mind could really grasp onto. But that is the beauty of this film – to be left open to the viewer for interpretation. I viewed the movie for a second time, and I was able to appreciate it in a much greater sense. I thought that Koyaansqatsi parallels some very interesting ideas and events that are relevant to our MHC 200 course and leaves a strong message in the viewers mind.
Koyaanisqatsi starts off with panoramic views of unaltered nature. Shots of the Grand Canyon, sand dunes, and clouds are all shown, and then paralleled with monstrous power lines interrupting the beautiful landscape. This is the first view of human action in the movie, sending a profound message to the viewer. Humans are willing to sacrifice nature’s intrinsic value so that they can route electricity from power plants located hundreds of miles away to their homes. In the past, nature was thought of as a disposable entity. It was thought that we could do what we wished without any responsibilities and without any repercussions. Oil drilling, for instance, was and still is a way to obtain a source of energy. Koyaanisqatsi depicts oil drilling and power plants, and immediately after shows video footage of nuclear bomb test sites. This style of cinematography is used to instill the thought that we are in fact destroying our own land, as a nuclear bomb would. We are making the land uninhabitable, destroying ecosystems, and throwing life out of balance by disrupting equilibrium.
The movie then shifts towards corporations and the development of automobiles and airplanes. People were in awe of the first skyscraper – they have never seen a building of such magnitude before in their life. It was the beginning of the corporate era. Cars were produced efficiently with the development of the assembly line, and airplanes were invented. However, all of this technological development was not used for good. Instead, this technology was utilized for the war effort and weapons of mass destruction were created. One scene that caught my eye in particular was when they paralleled a parking lot full of cars with a parking lot full of tanks. Was it really necessary to mass-produce this many war machines?
The human race constantly wants more than it needs. Foods with almost no nutritional value, such as hot dogs and Twinkies, were and still are being mass-produced in the United States. This surely is a sign that Americans are indulging themselves in non-essential items. Many people were spending hours in a bowling alley, playing video games, or watching television, oblivious to the world around them. People appreciated these items simply for what they were and took no consideration in how they were created. If something tasted good, people ate it without question. If Americans had fun doing something, nobody questioned how the machinery was produced. In the 19th and even 20th century, there was an overwhelming stench of anthropocentrism.
There was an interesting scene in which the cinematographer filmed people walking on the sidewalk. Each person went about with their life until they realized that they were being filmed. Upon realizing that somebody was watching them, they seemed to become more self conscious about what it was they were doing. This is a common occurrence on both the individual and corporate level. When corporations were unregulated, they would dump huge amounts of hazardous chemicals into surrounding waters. No care was taken to maintain the environment, and corporations took any action necessary in order to raise profits. Once the EPA began to watch these companies closely, more careful in their actions were taken. I find it sad that people have different ideologies when they are being watched than from when they are not being watched. People should practice what they believe is right, regardless of if their actions are being overseen. People’s morals should ring true with how they wish to be viewed ethically. The EPA should not have had to mandate the Hazardous Waste Management Program in order to get Exxon Mobil and GE to regulate their hazardous waste. Chemicals should have never been disposed of in waterways to begin with.
There is always the publicly traded side of corporations as well, centered on Wall Street. In the last few moments of the movie, there is a time lapse of what seems to be the New York Stock Exchange. What grabbed my eye was that the actual infrastructure was apparent, but the traders had a somewhat transparent aspect to them. They were depicted as ghost-like. It seems like there is so much going on within Wall Street, yet these peoples’ lives are so transparent that they have no true significant meaning. These investors have become so focused on earning money and put all else aside. The final scene in the movie is directly after this typical day on Wall Street. It is a scene of a rocket being sent into the air, exploding, and disintegrating into a small piece of burning metal, which falls for the final duration of the movie. This last scene, juxtaposed with the Wall Street scene, leaves me with a strong message. Society has become something that values money above all else. By valuing our own self-interests above all else, we will make progress, but in a self-destructive manner.
Koyaanisqatsi is a moving film that depicts how society has become so disconnected from Nature. It is a perfect portrayal for the rise of the arc, showing the many problems that the Earth faces as a living organism. However, I feel that a lot of progress has been made and is still currently being made to address the many issues that were represented in the movie. When this movie was filmed, I believe that many people were practicing what their current technology allowed. For instance, people were only able to utilize oilrigs because that was the only available source of energy for the human population. However since the 20th century, there has been a slow, but sure, shift in how people think.
The only thing that worries me is how much time it will take for this shift in ideology to fully take place. In my eyes, the world is currently in a state of emergency. Even after twenty years from Koyaanisqatsi’s release, we are only beginning to propose solutions to the problems at hand. There should be more strain put on the importance of shifting to renewable energy. The problems that humans have created thus far continue to get worse on a daily basis, and until the day that BP or Exxon begins to supply renewable energy, this downward trend will remain. As said in the Hopi Prophecy sung in Koyaanisqatsi, “If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster.” People will exploit these non-renewable minerals until humanity realizes that there is much more to gain than just money. The Earth is in our hands, and it is in our power to decide the world’s fate. We must stop inviting disaster, and shift our values to those of a sustainable future. We must find another way to live that better suits the environment.
