Koyaanisqatsi

I had never seen the film, Koyaanisqatsi, before this class. To be honest, I didn't enjoy watching it. I understood the message that technology is harmful to the environment and culture, but that doesn't mean that I was attracted to that message. I thought that the nature scenes were too long, but I liked seeing them. They were very calming and seeing the scenes of pollution and factories were very depressing in contrast. I found the music in the film to be the most frustrating and made it difficult to focus despite the long sequences. I also didn't enjoy a lot of the city scenes because they made me dizzy to watch.

The people portion of the film gave me a much different impression. It reminded me of that saying that humans are viruses. It was hard to watch how routine life has become and I could see myself as one of those people walking by on the street or shopping in the mall. I guess I came away from the film feeling negative and depressed about American life and technology, and because those are both things that I take pride in and am interested in, I had a hard time appreciating a completely negative perspective. I would ask the portion of the class that liked the film if they agreed with Koyaanisqatsi's portrayal of technology and American life?