Ecological Justice and Ecocriticism in Science Fiction Cinema

Abstract

Capitalism, encouraging continuous growth by ignoring ecological limits, exploits all the resources of the planet by bringing the developments in science and technology to the service of the capital. There is a need for a social sciences approach to reveal ecological problems that can not be handled independently from political economy, to be discussed by broad masses and to produce solutions. When eco-cinema and eco-criticism are considered as important for the struggle for social and environmental justice for all living creatures bringing ecosystem to the fruition, building an ecocentric paradigm instead of a anthropocentric world view, considering the power of creating awareness and publicity of cultural texts reaching wider masses such as cinema role to be undertaken. The ecological apocalyptic scenarios often used in recent science fiction cinema are films that criticize the system with a class perspective in the form of changing forms, having everyone on an equal footing in the destruction of the ecosystem, and all people suffering in the same way as disasters. While studying ecological problems and putting forth the post-apocalyptic vision, science fiction films that put system criticism and environmental justice at the center of the narrative were examined. Selected films have been dealt with in the context of social and environmental justice, nature / culture dualism, colonialism, social issues in an ecocentric manner.