Crichton

Posted by Vicki on 12.10.05

Just as Clive Cussler's gradual descent into apparent mid-life crisis was visible through the theme and character actions in his books, so has Michael Crichton's jump towards the US right wing realm of political thinking been reflected.

In Crichton's newest work, 'State of Fear' there are vast areas of the globe being savaged by hurricanes, floods, tsunamis and tornadoes - much like in real life at present. Based upon Crichton's previous morality tales 'Jurassic Park' and 'the Andromeda Strain' it would initially seem that it is another case of why we should not mess with the planet and its resources lest it go horribly wrong. However in 'State of Fear' the disaster caused by science is intentionally designed to bring havoc. The horrific freak weather patterns aren't natural disasters or even the unfortunate result of global warming - instead they have been created by activists to highlight global warming and scare people into acting; expect an "updated" version of his earlier work Twister in the near future.

This is an idea that isn't backed up by the reality. Certainly unpleasant and unnecessary acts have been committed, in the name of animal rights in particular, and environmentalism; for instance, seeing Pamela Anderson in a lettuce bikini was something most people could live without and stealing bodies from graves was perhaps overly dramatic and potentially rather messy to clean up. Despite these actions it does require rather significant suspension of disbelief is required to think that environmentalists could justify widespread loss of life in order to promote their cause - especially when a large number of respected scientists and bodies recognise global warming as a significant issue that could impact life on Earth, or at the very least an issue worth addressing just in case. Even Al Gore managed to produce figures that since the 1970s, hurricanes both in the Atlantic and Pacific have increased in intensity by about 50% which he presented to business leaders at the Clinton summit in New York the other month.

The Bush Junior administration has made its beliefs on the non-existence of global warming clear in its reaction to the Kyoto treaty, but even it has lowered its flag slightly after the recent spell of foul weather to hit the mainland US. This contrasts with Crichton's 30-something page footnote which he uses to declare that in his opinion, global warming has yet to be scientifically proven, appantly on the basis that "If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus" - thus projecting the image of someone who have been taking lessons from the Church of Scientology.

The jump from Jurassic Park-style messing-with-nature-is-bad school of thought to his current stance of pro-SUV, pro-burning natural resources and generally blaming eco-activists for all ills is hard to explain without having access to the man himself, so instead we've hypothesised on what could have happened to cause this radical change in mindset:

He could have been possessed by a mysterious extraterrestrial pathogen who designed to focus attention away from the skies so they can invade in peace. (This also works with nanobots taking the place of the plague.)

A female gorilla could be sexually harassing him using mind control linked to psychomotor epilepsy.

Or, it could even be some overly contrived time machine fable whereby Crichton has seen the future and has second guessed the causes.

On the off chance that it isn't one of the above scenarios there is no proof that Crichton has received a donation from Exxon in order to aid writing his latest book however it is very much in line with the sound bites that come from the Exxon linked organisations who as seeking to ensure the US does nothing that could be mistaken for embracing the Kyoto treaty even as 'The Day After Tomorrow' looks less and less like a work of fiction - the organisations in question being the unintentionally amusingly named Heartland Institute, Advancement of Sound Science Centre, Competitive Enterprise Institute and my personal favourite Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.

At present none of these organisations have pressed for legislation to rule all people with an environmental conscious to be officially declared as "Reds under the bed" it can only be a matter of time in Crichton's vision of a New World Order.