The Lorax Charette

 The Lorax Charette 

    The Lorax, originally a book published by Dr. Seuss and made into an animated film, is a whimsical story that unpacks environmental and socio-economic systems. It reflects on the relationship between industrialized industry and the environment. By analyzing this relationship through the lens of systems, we can identify a multitude that interact with one another and within themselves. This transdisciplinary approach to comprehending the complexity portrayed in the narrative will identify the similarities and contrasts of the systems. Concepts such as complexity theory and, cybernetics can be implemented to furnish more thorough understanding of the narrative and its underlying themes created by Dr. Seuss. 

    While The Lorax is a quick watch with many scenes that stand out as critical to understanding the plot the one I find most impactful is the climax of the movie. In this scene the Once'ler and the Lorax stand outside of the Once'lers thneed factory having one final argument. As the two go back and forth they hear the sound of the machine created by the Once'ler to cut down and harvest the truffula trees cut down the final tree. It is at this moment that the Once'ler recognizes he has done irreparable damage. He watches as the Lorax, along with all the forest creatures vacate the area. At this same time with no more truffula trees to make his thneeds out of, the Once'lers business collapses and he is left alone in the desolate region of his own creation. The initial reaction I had to this scene was a poignant reminder of the power greed has to overtake any other logical thought. As I further reflected, I pondered if this outcome was unavoidable, or is this outcome one not as natural as it may seem. 

    The first aspect of systems that can be identified from The Lorax is the open system that exists between business and the environment. In this case, the raw material of the truffula trees are taken in, processed, and then subsequently provided back to the human inhabitants of the town. Within this open system a feedback loop is created. As the Once'ler cuts down more trees, he makes more thneeds, therefore making more profit. This increased profit generation makes the Once'ler cut down more trees at a exponentially faster rate. This cycle continues until the resource is exhausted. This system does not stand alone however, and is intertwined with many others making it a complex system. The ecological system parallels the socio-economic system. The wilderness creatures rely on the forest as a place to inhabit, additionally the humans rely on the forest to produce clean air. Without the forrest as seen later in the film, an entire exploitation industry is created selling people clean air. 

    Along with identifying the systems, and feedback loops created within The Lorax, using the theory of cybernetics also assists in comprehending the underlying subtext of the story. An example of cybernetics is the relationship between order and disorder, or stability and change (Montuoir, 2011). It is interesting how in The Lorax there is a stability and order that comes with the degradation of the environment. The feedback loop of consumer culture has such a stabilizing effect that it not only overtakes but blinds the community to everything other that their material interest. The instability only begins when the threat to the traditional consumer culture emerges. There is a stability that is created through mass amounts of positive feedback. The Once'ler receives positive feedback every time a purchase of a thneed was made. This creates a vicious cycle that not only reinforced the actions of the Once'ler but also the consumers of the thneeds. As the thneed becomes more and more popular, the consumers find themselves drawn into a cyclical positive feedback look where their ownership of a thneed becomes a source of conformity within society. This in turn creates a stability in itself through the sense of belonging that an individual achieves by simply taking part in what is a cultural norm. 

    Positive feedback is the driving force in runaway systems, which have been very common throughout history. A contemporary example of this, that is only a repetition of a past system in recent history, is the rise of widespread anti-Semitism. As the Anti-Defamation League report issued states, this year included nearly 3,300 anti semitic instances in the final three months of last year, including 56 physical assaults, 554 incidents of vandalism, 1,347 examples of verbal or written harassment, and 1,307 rallies on college campuses involving anti-Semitic rhetoric (NPR, 2024). These recent movements, parallel those echoed throughout Germany post World War I, that lead to the genocide of millions of Jews during the holocaust. When learning about the atrocities that occurred during the holocaust many people often ask how could anyone have no objection to this? The answer is that positive feedback loops created a system that self propelled itself to being fully accepted. Much like the people in the town from The Lorax, we become obsessed with the ideas that are contemporary popular, and just like a material good, ideas are sold to the public beginning with the most impressionable and easily susceptible group, children and young adults. The evidence of this exists clearly in the mass amount of college campus protests. Continuing this runaway positive feedback loop unfortunately often leads to as we see in the Lorax, a point where given the chance for reflection, we see the massive error in our actions. Hopefully unlike the Once'ler people are able to see this before the metaphorical complete deforestation occurs. 

Works Cited

DeRose, J. (2024, April 23). Concerns over antisemitism rise as jews begin observing passover. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1246380646/concerns-over-antisemitism-rise-as-jews-begin-observing-passover

Montuori. (2011). Systems Approach. In Encyclopedia of Creativity, Elsevier Science & Technology, (pp. 414–421). essay.