Portraits of activism

By Isabelle Naimo

It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that change is human nature. Many of us are constantly seeking out greener pastures. Whether it is the desire to travel, longing for a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood, changing our hairstyles or improving our skin, finding a new career, shedding those extra pounds before bikini season, or any other changes, we are always looking out for ways to improve our lives and ourselves. Julia Corbett in the last chapter of her book Communicating Nature says, “When someone seeks change, it signals a dissatisfaction with the way things are now.” Personal changes such as a new diet or renovating a home can be minuscule but that drive, that motivation, to take action is what makes this trait of human nature something admirable and inspiring.

Hollywood tried to capture a story of activism in the movie The East. Directed by Zal Batmanglij, The East follows an operative, portrayed by Ellen Page, for an elite private intelligence firm as she attempts to infiltrate an underground eco-terrorism organization. The film’s line-up, also featuring Alexander Skarsgard, Toby Kebbell, and Brit Marling, strive to give the story life but good acting can only do so much. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the chemistry between Page and Skarsgard’s characters believable and the plot fell a little short. Overall, The East failed to be a film about activism through its habit of relaying too heavily on stereotypes; for example – the activists all came off like rich brats with an attitude for angst. One scene that distinctively comes to mind is when Sarah, Brit Marling’s character, was taken to The East in need of help. Instead of lending a helping hand, the group treated her with hostility and isolation. The writer’s intentions are noble but they poorly took on such a vast and complex subject and failed to really say anything other than “big corporations are bad.”

I found Bidder 70 to be a powerful story of activism. I think in part due to the fact that the main subject, Tim DeChristopher, was a college student like myself, who couldn’t quietly stand by and let the darkness of energy and mining companies prevail over Utah’s wilderness. DeChristopher’s reluctance to stand by and sacrifice of his own freedom (he landed himself in jail) ignited a movement for climate justice. Technically speaking, the film is modest – it’s nothing that’s going to give you that “WOW” factor – but the beauty of that is that it serves as a sort of portrait for ideal American values: selflessness, patriotism, and liberty. Bidder 70 goes beyond modesty with an inspiring message that any ordinary citizen can fight for justice. 

Tales of activism certainly took a unique, and rather trippy, spin in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Year of the Flood. As a reader, I felt very much unprepared as I was introduced into this post-apocalyptic world. Without having read her other works, I was a little lost until I was able to grasp onto the plot line. The story is in different points of view, varying from a third person view from one of the two main characters Toby to Ren’s first person point of view. I found Ren’s part of the novel more easy to connect with and easier to follow. The usage of “I” really helped me to develop a relationship with Ren. Through her viewpoint, readers learn that she worked as a stripper and reading some of the obscene sexual acts she had to perform really brought on this feeling of disgust and empathy. Since her story is told in first person, I believe it allows us as readers to find a certain depth that wasn’t in Toby’s chronicle. 

Margaret Atwood tackles many different real life themes throughout The Year of the Flood. Given, Atwood’s world is pretty out there – pigs have human brains, sheep have human hair, people actually consume the ‘meat’ from a joint called SecretBurgers, and there’s a deadly plague outbreak. There’s definitely an issue of women’s rights in this world. One prime example of this is the legalization of the sex industry. Women are viewed as commodities and this can be seen in Ren’s pole dancing profession and Toby being the victim of sexual assault at the hands of her perverse boss.  Atwood also covers environmentalism. The novel features a group referred to as the Gardeners. They condemn harm to any living organism, from a stepping on an earthworm to eating a cow, frown upon materialism, and avoid using anything non-recyclable. The Gardeners believe that it’s God’s purpose for them to survive the flood and go on to pretty much breed a generation of tree-hugging vegan hippies.

Another prominent theme, similar to that found in The East and Bidder 70, is corporate corruption and control. The world is split into two social classes – basically the corporate vs. the poor. The police, known as the CorpSeCorp Men, are corrupt and unsettlingly powerful. Atwood’s use of allegory allows The Year of the Flood to serve as a warning for readers. Even though these themes are set in a very imaginative future, we could be heading towards similar consequences if our already troubled society manages to escalate to this altitude.

There is no single correct way to define “activism” or to determine what makes someone an activist. Smallville’s Oliver Queen said it best in the show’s fourth episode of the final season, entitled “Homecoming.”  When Queen is accused of comparing himself to an American fallen hero, he proclaims, “[John F. Kennedy] saw the hero in all of us. I'm not dwelling on revenge for past atrocities or looking ahead to what I can personally gain from a few tax breaks, drilling oil wells in the ocean. In this world of armchair bloggers who created a generation of critics instead of leaders, I'm actually doing something, right here, right now, for the city, for my country. And I'm not doing it alone.” I have always found this quote to be completely moving, simply because of how authentic it is. It’s important to realize that we don’t need to have corporate power or an army behind us to make a change. We don’t have to consider ourselves environmentalists. We also don’t need to make a documentary or write a novel to be an activist. All we have to do is find our own voice and actually do something.