I went to see the new movie 2012 yesterday - opening day movie maniac, that's me. (well, not really -- unless you count The Men Who Stare At Goats, which is quite entertaining and deals with subjects near and dear to yours truly.)
At any rate, 2012 is the ultimate disaster pic, in that it deals with The Big One, The End, Put Your Head Between Your Legs and Kiss Your . . . you get the idea. Based on the idea that the Mayans were onto something and that the world is in for a rude (re)awakening come 12/21/12, the flick follows the adventures/harrowing escapes of a family during those trying times.
A consultant for the film, Patrick Geryl, has a theory that what the Mayans were talking about is a cyclic pattern that the Sun seems to have. This pattern causes the Sun to have a major disruption about every 11,000 years, wherein large and disruptive magnetic/gravitational waves pour out of it, accompanied by huge coronal mass ejections.
Very bad news for those of us inhabiting the inner planets of the solar system.
Mr. Geryl is even planning a survivalist group to hide out in the mountains of Turkey or North Africa (most likely areas to survive, according to his predictions). BTW, he asks that people not email him only to argue with him. He has no time for that. Only those serious about joining his survival movement (and who possess usable skills and a bit of cash, euros preferred) should contact him. His website is located here, for those interested in his theories, books, or survival compound.
One of the central themes of the movie, however, is the behavior of us as a species. Of course, there are the self-interested bureaucrats and monied folks who are interested in saving their own skins and leaving the rest of us to deal with the cataclysm without warning. Our heroes, the scrappy family headed by John Cusack, strive against all odds to assure their survival while hurting nobody else. But, why should we care about whether Cusack and family survive? Is it to make us feel that we could stick it to the Powers That Be were we cast as the scrappy family in real life? I don't know, but personally I didn't care if they made it or not. The family seemed to be mostly a backdrop for the real star of the movie: The Special Effects!!!
All this being said, I'm still left with some basic questions. Did the Mayans know what they were talking about? (After all, I've done a few things with their calendar in this blog, so I must suspect that there is something to it.) Are we all going to go down a nasty trail in just over three years time? Maybe sooner?? Perhaps this disaster stuff is metaphorical and signals a time of spiritual evolution instead? Or is this all only media hype, cashing in on the fear du jour?
Hard to say. We'll find out for sure in a little over 1100 days. Meanwhile, prepare (or not) in your own way. If it all goes down akin to the film's depiction, the special effects oughta be a killer.
