Great green melanpoo.

I've now seen three 2011 films in three days.

Green Lantern
Winnie the Pooh
Melancholia

Surprisingly, I liked all three. I didn't love any of them.

Green Lantern is about the end of the world. The world is about to be gobbled up by a yellow cloud of fear. Fortunately, our man gets his green gunk on and wills away the evil, driving it into the sun. Catastrophe diverted. GL ends on a note of humano-centric triumphalism. We're saved, in the end, because we deserve to be. Things just can't be any other way.

Melancholia is about the end of the world. An impersonal planet crashes into Earth and destroys all life. There is no hero to save the day. We're lost, in the end, because we deserve to be. Melancholia also ends on a note of humano-centrism (there's got to be a better word than this. Why am I drawing a blank here?), only this time we're faced with resignation, not exaltation. Our heroes have fled and our prophets have failed us. And this is the way things are.

Winnie the Pooh is about the end of the world. No, it's not. It's about being hungry and having friends and being scared and making things up and enjoying small adventures. It's the only adequate antidote to both Green Lantern and Melancholia.

I am tempted to compare the emotional states of Hal Jordan, Justine/Clare, and Pooh/Eyore, but I'll let that slide for now. There are only so many moments I can steal during the day to write.

More later.