Is it really enough to just tell an entertaining story?
Does a writer have a responsibility to teach a moral as well?
Actually it's mostly to make money, but it can't hurt to educate the audience too.
And by educate I mean preach to!
But what cause should an author take up?
There are many problems that plague our rapidly changing modern world.
Yet there is one issue that any author can champion without investing time into lengthy
and difficult research.
Environmentalism!
Now some may mistakenly believe that extensive research helps an author discuss the complex
and nuanced issue of environmentalism.
Fear not!
If it's one thing that Hollywood has shown us, it's that being knowledgeable in the issues
one is presenting is completely optional and often counterproductive!
You see, tackling a sensitive and complex problem takes time and effort, both of which
we need to avoid at all costs.
Now the great thing about environmentalism is that it can be inserted into any genre,
much like high fructose corn syrup is for food.
Be sure to shoehorn that theme in no matter how much it doesn't fit.
On a fantasy quest to stop a dark lord?
Be sure to completely derail the plot so the resident wood elves can teach the protagonist
how to be at one with nature.
Exploring the stars?
Make sure the crew visits a planet of aliens directly ripped off of native Americans and
that they learn a valuable lesson on ecology.
Be careful though.
Not of insensitively appropriating native American culture, but of slowing the story
down by exploring the complex alien ecosystem of the planet.
A realistic portrayal of an ecosystem would only bore the audience or at worst, make your
alien native American stand ins appear imperfect.
Speaking of realism, avoid showing realistic predator prey relationships and be sure to
only highlight the positive traits of the natural world.
We can't have our moral undermined by mother nature herself who is a powerful and cruel
force that lays low even the greatest of mankind's works with a terrible fury.
Never mention all of the horrible and nightmarish parasites and apex predators that stalk the
world and that drove our ancestors to cower and hide in darkness for fear of being devoured
alive!
Instead, portray all animals as innocent and kind compared to the evil corporations that
plan to bulldoze their happy forest!
Now environmentalism has the added bonus of being easy to make villains for.
The most common is the evil corporation.
Real world corporations often use short sighted means that cause environmental harm as a byproduct
of their manufacturing processes.
But explaining all of that to the audience is boring, so let's make our corporation evil
for no reason at all.
Have them go out of the way to destroy the environment even if costs them money!
At no point should the evil cooperation even consider the massive PR hit they would take
by turning pristine wilderness into a parking lot for a strip mall.
Also be sure that no one in the evil corporation is smart enough to point out that the goods
and services provided by the corporation allow them to make a profit and thus employ people
and grow the economy.
Letting them actually have a reasonable argument would only undermine our own.
Although we have an evil corporation, there must be more we can do that contrast them
with the heroes?
Why there is!
Our heroes are one with nature unlike those evil technology loving corporate stooges!
Be sure to give the villains all kinds of advanced technology from carrier sized bulldozers,
to arsenals of advanced weapons and even suits of power armor.
Not so subtly suggest that technology is fundamentally evil and bad unlike our nature loving heroes!
Just be sure to never address the fact that technology empowers individuals and that finding
the perfect balance between nature and civilization will ultimately require a technological solution.
Why we can even have our heroes steal the villain's technology and use it against them
without acknowledging the obvious irony.
With the villains defeated and harmony in nature restored, we can safely end the story.
There is no need to address that the villainous corporation still exists and even if they
were wiped out, it doesn't remove the hyper consumer economy that enabled their greed
in the first place.
Also do not address that the ignorant consumer is actually somewhat responsible for tacitly
supporting the evil corporation by buying their products.
Also don't address that a consumerist capitalism system requires resources to grow the infrastructure
that maintains our very civilization.
You know, the one that created the internet that you are watching this video on.
However, the biggest pitfall to avoid is actually offering any viable solutions to the problem
of environmental destruction.
If one must give some kind of alternative, just tell the audience to recycle more or
something!
After all, preaching about environmentalism is not actually about saving the environment.
It's all about making the audience feel good about themselves.
Well, and also stroking the author's massive ego.