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Article Summary by Mila B.
As an audience, we embrace this use of human bodies because we are able to connect enough to pay attention and care, but also keep a far enough distance to effectively analyze and criticize the film as a representation of a larger issue. Rust uses Pink Floyd's movie The Wall as an example of this "material ecocriticism" by juxtaposing music and imagery to reflect a connection between humans and the world around them (ecological, social, political, etc.). Rust goes into detail about the many strategic cinematographic techniques used in the film which contribute to the portrayal of one person as a representative for a larger issue.
So what do horror movies have to do with ecocriticism? Rust claims that "Under postmodernity, our perceptions of the discursive relationship between each other and between society and the natural world have become wildly out of sync with our material relationships. When putting our own perceived needs first becomes institutionalized, we cannot help but put the actual needs of the planet second" (Rust, 555). The Wall invites participation and critical analysis from the audience by shaking them out of their postmodern, individualistic bubbles, into a discussion of the larger issue. In an interview, Roger Waters (Pink Floyd lyricist) divulged that the creation of The Wall was sparked by frustration over the audience's response to an earlier album, Animals. While Animals is as another example of ecocriticism, as it "combines complex musical arrangements with lyrics to zoomorphically represent human sociopolitical relationships," Waters felt that the audience was not receiving the deeper message behind the music (559).
In the "horror" film The Wall, Pink Floyd seeks to connect with the audience by using humans and spark an ecocritical conversation by evaluating the human position in regards to its environment. Sadly, as Rust points out, "humans in modern Western culture have long sought ways of distancing themselves from the rest of nature in order to justify the rampant disruption, commodification, and consumption of the environment" (557). This gap can only be bridged with the understanding that humans and nature are inevitably interconnected, constantly affecting one another. Although some may think of ecocriticism as being critical of the environment, when it is understood that humans are the environment, it becomes clear to see that ecocriticism is just as (if not more) critical of humans themselves and their relationship to the rest of their surroundings.
Rust, Stephen A. "Comfortably Numb: Material Ecocriticism and the Postmodern Horror Film." Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 21.3 (2014): 550-61. Web.
