McGreavy's research on race and gender stereotypes in climate-related movies picked up
From the article "Climate change fiction gets hot in Hollywood (if you still don't get it, it'll get you)" on ClimateWire:
To see climate change cropping up in popular media is encouraging, because it means that society as a whole is talking more about this pressing issue, said Laura Lindenfeld, an associate professor of communication and policy at the University of Maine.
Lindenfeld and postdoctoral researcher Bridie McGreavy published a paper last week in the International Journal of Sustainable Development on race and gender stereotypes observed in climate-related movies.
"People consume entertainment media for fun, not to change their way of thinking," Lindenfeld said. "But for better or for worse, it is indeed changing the way you experience the world."
Film, like any other artistic medium, can shock, thrill, educate or sedate. It can challenge, pushing the taboos of a society or introducing new ways of thinking.
But anytime you push an audience, you risk pushing it away. And that's a risk many Hollywood blockbusters -- with hundreds of millions of dollars riding on their success -- tend to avoid.
