There must be something about the 1958 science fiction movie Attack of the 5o Ft. Woman that caused it to enter the realm of American popular culture. Probably because the movie strikes at the heart of that potent mix of awe and fear as humanity contemplated the developments in science and technology in that era. After all it was just a year before, in 1957, when Russia launched Sputnik 1, signalling the start of the space race.
Or, some cynics may argue that the reason is simply that the protagonist here is a lot easier to look at than those of the other movies of that time featuring size-changing humans (The Amazing Colossal Man and The Incredible Shrinking Man according to Wikipedia).
The movie tells the story of a wife who was turned into a giant by an alien. As it happened, her husband has a mistress. Scorned, she then uses her new size to seek revenge against her husband and the mistress.
Fast forward half a century. Humanity is again facing great developments in science and technology and that potent mix of awe and fear is back. However, what could be one of the iconic images of our time is not as pretty. Behold, the Attack of the WEEE Man!
WEEE stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. This sculpture was made with 3.3 tons of e-waste (equal to the per capita lifetime e-waste in the UK) to emphasize the gigantic volume of electronic garbage that we produce. The bad news is that most of this waste is non-biodegradable. Worse, a lot of it is poisonous.
The speed in which what used to be high-tech become obsolete because of the emergence of a "higher" high-tech will most probably cause a gigantic waste problem the consequences of which we cannot yet fathom.
Individually, we might have to reexamine our consumption patterns especially our penchant for the newest new gadget. Collectively, we have to craft new policies that make it easier for us to recycle what we dispose of.
Humanity could suffer the same fate as that philandering husband. Unless we act now, sooner or later, Mother Earth's vengeance will catch up with us. We cannot have that happen. Unlike that 52-year old movie, this problem ain't science fiction.
Sources:
Wikipedia.org
1 comment:
To be more concrete,I have read an article about this e-waste as a growing concern:
“India, China and other developing countries face 'the spectre of hazardous e-waste mountains' unless they step up action to collect and recycle e-waste, the UN has warned.
As sales of electronic products in India, China and other developing countries are set to rise sharply in the next 10 years, these 'e-waste mountains' would have 'serious consequences for the environment and public health', said a report released here during UNEP's governing council meeting.
The report, 'Recycling - from E-Waste to Resources', used data from 11 developing countries to estimate current and future e-waste generation - which includes old and dilapidated desk and laptop computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, digital photo and music devices, refrigerators, toys and television sets.
The report estimates e-waste generation in India now at over 100,000 tonnes a year from refrigerators, 275,000 tonnes from TVs, 56,300 tonnes from personal computers, 4,700 tonnes from printers and 1,700 tonnes from mobile phones
Electronic waste from old computers will jump 500 percent in India, and between 200 and 400 percent in South Africa and China by 2020, the report predicts.”
Just how alarming the figures are if we don't act now.
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