User:Ikhan-rollins/Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)

Environmental Themes

Species Relationships

In Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, the animal species presented are fictional beings. However, their emotional capacity throughout the film highlights their reactive nature when they interact with various human individuals. The species are able to reciprocate emotions such as fear and anger in situations where the humans and animals were coexisting. For example, the Ohms rampaging and stampeding after the humans are found intruding their territory, or in the case of the Ohms stampeding to protect their young. However, they’re also able to reciprocate compassion and companionship. In the case of Nausicaa and Teto, the latter is portrayed to be protective of Nausicaa, a trait that dogs in reality also mirror. Another case of reciprocated compassion is the case of the Ohms healing Nausicaa from a near-death state.

An animal’s emotional capacity and it’s reactions towards certain triggers are a result of the environment it evolved in. In the case of the insects in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the insects are shown to have a hive mind -similar to bees and ants- in where a signal from one insect can cause other insects to share an emotional response towards the trigger. This trait of a shared intelligence, stems from the necessity of the insects having to protect the common resources needed for survival, from human interference.

Phytoremediation

The film further touches upon the consequences of human interaction upon nature, showing the effects of pollution and war on an evolving environment. The toxic forest is shown to be a self-cleaning environment- the human waste that seeps into the soil is absorbed by the plant life and released into the air as harmful toxins. This phenomena is known as phytoremediation, the process in which plants are used to decontaminate harmful substances from the soil, air, and water. Phytoremediation is usually a biologically engineered phenomena for very specific instances, however, in Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, phytoremediation occurs naturally, and at such high volumes that that the broken down toxins are released back into the atmosphere. Essentially, the continuous pollution produced by the humans made way for the fauna and flora in the film to evolve and adapt to the toxicity. With the evolution of the forest, came the evolution of the animal-life as well- the creatures became immune to the toxic spores and protected the forest from humans.

Environmental Politics

War and the impact of the environment on war are integral themes in the film. Neighboring nations attack and conquer each other, others ally together, all in order to “fight” the forest. A common goal that most of the humans share is the antagonization of the forest and the creatures within it. On the contrary, the nations are fighting each other for the chance at controlling a great weapon of mass destruction, the ‘Giant God Warrior’, an iron being that is able to shoot beams of fire and light. The nation which controls the God Warrior, controls the war.

However, the God Warrior is proven useless, as it it was activated too early, and disintegrated after landing only one shot. Many of the nations partook in the war, using different methods of survival and conquest. The primary antagonist was the Kingdom of Tolmekia, they were dictators and took nations and land by force. Another notable nation was the nation of Pejite, they had been conquered and invaded by the Tolmekians, and in order to save their nation, they sparked a stampede of Ohms, destroying not only their capital, but also the Tolmekian invaders.

Environmental Philosophies

Dictatorship and pacifism were large political themes in the film. The Tolmekian general Kushuna urged the people of the Valley of the Wind to join forces with her after murdering their king, and when exposed, she launched an attack on the citizens. On the other hand, characters such as Nausicaa are shown to be pacifistic and believe in self-sacrifice for the greater good. When Nausicäa sacrificed her own life in order to get the infant ohm back to the group, her peace and kindness was reciprocated by the Ohms, and she was resurrected.