Films can shape human perceptions of wetlands

Modern film often presents wetlands as woes, or as a difficult challenge for the characters, potentially giving the viewer a negative perception of these ecosystems. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scoured movie databases of films from 1980 to 2019 and found 163 films with at least one wetland-related scene. They determined that more than half of the films presented wetlands as areas filled with sadness, danger or troubling emotions. “A lot of people today are disconnected from nature, and the way they experience nature is through film or on screen in some way,” said study co-author of the study and wetland ecologist Jeff Matthews. “We were interested in how the portrayal of wetlands in film might influence attitudes about these ecosystems.” However, other films highlighted wetlands as places that were initially frightening, but eventually led to an important part of the character’s journey. Even if wetlands were portrayed negatively, films most often provided a realistic depiction of wetland biodiversity.

Read more at Illinois.edu.