Summary: Yesterday’s post looked at the rise of dystopias in modern film, discussing what this reveals about America. In keeping with the trademark optimism of the FM website, today we look at the opposite – inspirational films about humanity working together to build a better future. It tells us something important.
Just as we looked at depressing films about the future of society, let’s look at films about humanity uniting to overcome a common threat (not other people), acting preemptively and boldly. Films set in a recognizable present day showing how together we build a better future.
These are a sub-genre of inspirational films, different from the more common kinds of inspirational films. Such those are about wars amongst ourselves, sports triumphs, heroic deeds of lone saviors, or visions of the glorious distant future.
The #1 inspiring film: Gorath
This is the most inspirational film of the modern era! Gorath was released in Japan as Rogue Star Gorath (妖星ゴラス Yōsei Gorasu). The director Ishirō Honda and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka created the Godzilla films.
Set in 1982, Gorath is a star plunging into the solar system. Fortunately, we have an active deep space exploration program. An expedition to Saturn is re-routed on a suicide mission to explore this visitor.
Scientists determine that it will hit Earth. The people of Earth unite to implement an awesome plan — “Operation: South Pole”. An armada of ships carry supplies to build a massive base in Antarctica. From it people build hundreds of giant atomic rocket engines. Each has a base 500 meters below the surface. The rockets are in an area 600 kilometers in diameter, producing a force of 6,600,000,000 megatons (per second?). (That is too low by a factor of 1,000.)
The cost is fantastic. Time is short. Spoiler: at the last minute the engines successfully push Earth out of Gorath’s path. The devastation is great, but Earth survives.
Gorath is a typical low-budget “B grade” science fiction film. The plot is simplistic, the dialog stilted and formulaic, the special effects are good for that time (but crude to us), and the science is bizarre. But the scale of their vision is immense and the premise is inspiring. A threat unites humanity. Together we accomplish a great work. It reminds us what we could do if we spent less on war and instead worked together.
Gorath approaches the Earth.
The giant atomic engines move Earth!
The trailer for Gorath.
The #2 inspiring film is ____________________!
I do not have a second film on the list. I find it depressing that there are so few inspirational films about humanity working together in our time. No wonder the peoples of the world find it difficult to work together. We, at least Americans, find it difficult — or uninteresting — to even imagine such a thing happening. Without seeing a path to a united humanity, however improbable, can we make it happen?
Cinderella can only dream about a better future for herself if she believes that only the Blue Fairy can make it happen.
Perhaps you can create a happy ending for this post by nominating more films for this list — according to the criteria described above. If not, perhaps somewhere there is a writer gifted by the muse who will write an inspirational story that catches America’s imagination.
Why we don’t see more articles about good news?
The answer can be seen from readers’ reaction to the 4,000+ posts on the FM website. “If it bleeds, it leads.” Posts about good news get less traffic. People want to read news about horrors and deeds of lone valor. We also like exciting stories cheering our side’s angelic warriors and hissing at our foes, satan’s minions. We love scary stories. The reason why reveals a secret about America.
This post will get few views because it looks inspirational.
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