nowinmyopinion

At the beginning of the semester in Environmental Communication, Dr. Rosenfeld mentioned the movie Swamp Thing as a weird piece of media about a human falling in love with a creature. Dr. Rosenfeld probably did not think anyone would watch this, but as I am both a movie lover and a pleaser, it immediately found a spot on my watchlist. As we are nearing the end of the semester, I finally got around to viewing this title, and man, is there a lot to say. Here, I would like to discuss the film and what it tells us about the human-nature relationship. 

Wes Craven’s Swamp Thing (1982) is as bizarre as awesome. The story was born from the minds of Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, who created the character of Swamp Thing for DC comics. Craven took the character and made a movie centered around an odd science love story. Swamp Thing follows government worker Alice Cable, who is brought to the bogs of Louisiana to replace a scientist who mysteriously died while working on a secret bioengineering project. Unfortunately, a testosterone-fueled paramilitary group, led by a guy named Arcane, is trying to overtake the operation and does so successfully not long after Cable’s arrival. In the kerfuffle, a recently discovered plant-based explosive is accidentally dumped on another scientist, Dr. Alec Holland, who then catches on fire and flings himself into the swamp to understandably stop being on fire. To make matters worse, stuff explodes underwater, and, well, we kind of assume he died. The situation remains shitty and eventually Arcane’s squad tries to drown Alice in the swamp. But, alas, she is saved by some very green, man-like thing that emerges from the water and takes her away. A lot of plot happens: the Swamp Thing helps Alice escape again, it orchestrates a boat crash of Arcane’s team, and it assists the “good guys” in protecting Alec’s notebooks from the villains. Eventually, it is discovered that, my goodness, the Swamp Thing is actually…Dr. Alec Holland! As God intended, Alice Cable and the Swamp Thing fall in love. They defeat the bad guys in the end, and the Swamp Thing leaves with the promise to return soon (?).

So, all of that happens. But, what do I care? 

In my opinion, the swamp is the entire movie. Every major plot point and character revolves around some cause or effect of the swamp. There is a tension between the swamp itself and the people all around it. The scientists, they’re using the swamp’s resources to try and develop a fucked-up plant-animal-hybrid-super-being healing thing. Something that would, in essence, lead to humans becoming indestructible, perhaps even immortal? We see this freaky liquid bring characters back to life in the film. No wonder there were mercenaries after this creation. The swamp provided the materials for this green life juice to be able to exist. The scientists say “thank you” by perverting the project when, oh sweet Alec, jumps into the swamp while engulfed in the chemical flames. Then, everything blows up. I’m sure the swamp appreciated that very much. Now, Alec gets turned into a “Swamp Thing” under the waters of this swamp, almost like a gestation period, completely unwanted by the ecosystem but used anyway. The rest of the characters continue to abuse the swamp, flailing around in it, shooting bullets, blowing shit up, killing people, the list goes on. The poor swamp never asked for all of this. It gave the humans the gift of eternal life, and they gave the swamp trash and bodies. It’s really a nice story.

Why do we do this to the environment? The movie itself captures the landscape beautifully. It’s very clear that Craven viewed the swamp as one of the characters; it observes, creates, eats, breathes, and provides. It also suffers. Even in make-believe monster romance movies, we, as humans, find a way to destroy the environment we are in. And then, the only time we treat pieces of the environment nicely are when, they’re fuckable? Nobody was about to be nice to the Swamp Thing until it was revealed that, oh, it’s Alec, the guy Alice has a crush on. Perfect, it (he?) is no longer weird, freaky, and should die, but he is now weird, freaky, and her lover? There is a 100% chance they would’ve brutally murdered the Swamp Thing had it not been discovered that it was a new version of Alec, even if it did save the day. And the whole time, nobody seems to give a damn about the swamp they’re running around in, except for…the Swamp Thing! Now, he (it?) has to call this place home; after all, he was born out of it just a few hours ago. Our new eco-monster has to save the woman he loves AND the swamp he now dwells in. He knows he cannot return to society in his new form because the humans would reject him at every turn. 

In this emotional and visually stunning shot, we see our beloved freaky Swamp Thing leaving our wise scantily clad, teratophiliac hussy because, well, of course. A tale as old as time, two star-crossed lovers: the government worker who hates the outdoors and the big green monster-man to blame for any future sinister super-soldier invention that only humans could so masterfully pervert. It’s a weird movie, but it is also so perfect. If you want a clear demonstration of how humans use, abuse, and sexually harass the environment, I invite you to watch Swamp Thing.

All Images Sourced From Google Images.