The Lorax Cuts through to the Heart

 

While yes, I am the ideal audience member for any semi-sad cinematic moment, The Lorax cut especially deep. Universal’s soon-to-be animated classic captures the essence of the current environmental problems we face today through a touching film adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s famous ecological parable.

The protagonist of the film, Ted Wiggins (voice  by Zac Efron), fits the mold of many classic film heroes; he is hopelessly in love with a girl and will do anything he can to win her affection. His determination to earn a kiss from the beautiful artist, Audrey (voice by Taylor Swift), however, takes him on a journey that will ultimately change his deepest personal perspectives and the views of his fellow townspeople.

Audrey has declared that if a boy could possibly find her a long-lost Truffula tree, she will “marry him right on the spot”. This is all Ted needs to hear- he WILL find Audrey a Truffula tree! Anything that may capture her love!

After advice from his spunky grandmother (voice by Betty White), Ted finds “fifteen cents, a nail, and a great-grandfather snail” to give to the phantom figure, the Once-ler (voice by Ed Helms), in exchange for information on how to get a Truffula tree.

Ted’s hometown of Thneedville is literally made of plastic. The movie opens with a catchy song sardonically revealing the frighteningly possible result of a society’s acceptance of a world completely separate from everything natural. Kids swim in toxic water, people ski down artificial slopes dodging plastic trees, a man caters to his lawn by pumping air into inflatable hedges- all while happily singing how “perfect Thneedville is”. Ignorance, as the people of Thneedville depict, is bliss.

A huge metal barrier blocks the citizens of Thneedville from reality- that they live in an essentially fake town forced upon them by the ecological destruction of past generations. The Once-ler reveals to Ted, through beautifully animated sequences, the story of how the land was destroyed.

The Oncer-ler tells of how he was an idealistic boy, berated by his mother as a “loser” who will never achieve anything. He flees his family of hicks (two brainless twin brothers, a fat and terrible aunt, a greedy monster of a mother, and a spineless father) in search of a material to use for his all-purpose invention called a “thneed”.

The soft tufts of the beautiful Truffula trees that dot a pristine forest full of friendly bears, birds, land-traversing musical fish, and the trees’ guardian called the Lorax (voice by Danny DeVito), prove to be the ideal material for constructing thneeds. Despite his benevolent and kind-spirited nature, the Once-ler gives way to his selfish inclinations and cuts down all of the Truffula trees to satiate the hot demand for his trendy thneeds.

 

 

After the Once-ler cuts the last of the trees, however, he realizes his grave mistake. Not only did he kill all of the beautiful Truffula trees, spoil a thriving landscape, and displace his friendly forest friends- he also destroyed all of the resources that made him rich in the first place. Only after everything was gone did the Once-ler regret his shortsighted greed.

The characteristics of his over-the-top relatives define the human character flaws that are common with most peoples’ downfalls- ignorance, greed, self-doubt, and a strong desire to prove personal “success” in order to spite those who thought they would fail.

The Once-ler’s easy fall from levelheaded ambition to pure greed is a societal normalcy encouraged by the most pervasive dogma ingrained in all of our minds- the concept of the “American dream”. Success, to most people, is measured by the amount of money they make and material possessions they acquire. It doesn’t matter how they earn their spoils- it’s the end that matters more than the means.

This idea of achievement, however, is as empty as the depleted Truffula forest. There is no true happiness or fulfillment gained from a success inspired by spite and selfish ambition. But, the majority of Americans continue to battle their inner insecurities through personal “victories” won by destroying and harming other life.

After the Once-ler’s relatives (or inner evils) abandon him once the last of the Truffula trees (and his “success”) is gone, he has the epiphany that evades some people their whole lives. His perceived achievement gained absolutely nothing; not happiness, not approval from his witch of a mother- nothing. The “American dream” is just that, a dream. It is ephemeral in nature and superficial at its core.

The Once-ler, an old man isolated by choice in a rackety house too ashamed and regretful of his mistakes, inspires Ted to take the last Truffula seed and “plant it for all of the town to see”. Through an elaborate sequence where Ted tries to evade the modern victim of the “American dream” mentality, Mr. O’Hare (who sells fresh air as a commodity and has successfully brainwashed the citizens of Thneedville to believe that photosynthesis is a lie because he does not want trees to produce free, clean air and eliminate his corporation’s immense profits), Ted manages to knock down the Thneedville walls and show the townspeople what the previous generation has done to their environment.

 

 

Smog, sludge, tree stumps, and gray skies are what remain. When the plastic town is revealed for what it truly is, fake, the people understand just how meaningless and unnatural their current existence is. After all, people are a part of nature, not somehow separate.

Once the Thneedville-ians recognize that a plastic world is quite unfulfilling, they choose to ignore Mr. O’Hare and plant the last Truffula seed in the town’s center square. Soon, the trees proliferate and the environment recovers. The fuzzy bears, singing fish, and happy birds return. The Once-ler breaks out of his rackety house and the Lorax appears, weary but hopeful, to look after his forest.

When the townspeople broke out into song asserting their strong commitment to rebuilding the Truffula forest, I broke down. I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks (the child sitting next to me looked a tad scared as the “grown-up” next to him was balling her eyes out). All that kept running through my mind was- “I wish that this could really happen. I wish people could see the importance of preserving the environment, our only home”.

The wise words the movie ends with officially pushed me over the edge towards a full-out emotional breakdown: “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not”.

Unless we start to care, as individuals, through changes in our wasteful and destructive habits, we will end up irreversibly harming our planet and our ultimate source of a true, complete, and meaningful sense of fulfillment. It is possible to prevent further destruction, but we need to first realize our mistakes. Although it may be difficult for those brainwashed by the “American dream” perception of “success” to see their missteps, we need to nonetheless try to make a difference now. I know one thing’s for sure- I “care a whole awful lot” and will do what I can to help the Lorax “speak for the trees”!