A New York Times columnist has criticized the producers of the blockbuster ‘Twisters’ for failing to include a plot about climate change, after the film’s anti-woke plot was credited for huge box office takings.
Margaret Renkl slammed director Lee Isaac Chung in a scathing op-ed published Monday, criticizing his decision to omit any reference to global warming from the film’s plot, after saying she doesn’t believe movies are meant to be “message-driven.”
The film, a long-awaited sequel to the 1996 hit Twister, stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as storm chasers battling extreme weather conditions. It has been a box office smash, with many crediting its success to an approach that avoids political messages.
However, Renkl, who saw the film on “the hottest day ever recorded on Earth,” argued that “Twisters” missed a golden opportunity to address the climate crisis.
A New York Times columnist has criticized the producers of the blockbuster “Twisters” for failing to include a plot about climate change, after the film’s anti-woke plot was credited with huge box office takings.
Margaret Renkl slammed director Lee Isaac Chung in a scathing op-ed published Monday, criticizing his decision to omit any reference to global warming from the film’s plot, after saying she doesn’t believe movies are meant to be “message-driven.”
“I suppose the decision to exclude even a passing reference to climate change in a film about weather disasters has very little to do with cinematic artistry, or even climate science, and everything to do with avoiding the crosshairs of political polarity,” he said in the New York Times articleand Monday.
‘With moviegoing still well below pre-pandemic levels, who could blame the creators of ‘Twisters’ for wanting to protect their film from right-wing vigilantes targeting the public conscience?’
“I do it. I can’t help it. I blame them,” he said.
In her review, the columnist reflects on the dissonance between the film’s dramatic depiction of increasingly violent tornadoes and its complete silence on the broader implications of climate change.
She argued: ‘Artifacts of popular culture have always had immense power to articulate changing attitudes, generate empathy and open staunchly resistant minds.
“With MAGA politicians at all levels denying that climate change even exists, it’s now nearly impossible to pass real climate legislation,” he continued. “And with the Supreme Court determined to also strike down all executive branch efforts to address climate change, it seems we’re at the mercy of entertainers to save us.”
“I wish they would. In a missed opportunity the size of an F5 tornado debris field, we got no help from the creators of ‘Twisters.'”
Earlier this month, Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung opened up about why the blockbuster fails to address climate change or global warming.
Earlier this month, Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung explained why the hit film doesn’t address climate change or global warming.
Chung told CNN: ‘I just wanted to make sure that with the film we didn’t feel like it was sending any message.
‘I just don’t think films should be about conveying messages, I think what we’re doing is showing the reality of what’s happening on the ground… we’re not afraid to say that things are changing.
“I wanted to make sure that we never felt like we were preaching a message, because that’s not what I think cinema should be. I think it should be a reflection of the world.”
In 2021, the top U.S. emergency management official said more powerful, destructive and deadly storms will be the “new normal” due to climate change, following the devastating tornadoes in Kentucky.
“This is going to be our new normal,” Deanne Criswell, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN at the time.
“The effects we are seeing from climate change are the crisis of our generation,” the FEMA chief added.
