Under supervision of Maarten Reesink Cynthia Nagel (0520349) [email protected] The Human Who Can Be Moved: How and Why? An Interdisciplinary Study on Anthrozoology, Media Studies and (Cognitive) Neuroscience while we dive into the world’s watery wilderness on screen. On the interaction between humans, nonhumans and marine life environment. Closing the gap between ‘Nature’ and ‘Culture’: “maybe ‘humans’ are more alike ‘nonhumans’ after all”. Master Media Studies: Television and Cross-Media Culture Special Professional track Documentary Filmmaking University of Amsterdam, 26-06-2015 Contents Acknowledgements 3. Introduction 4. Anthrozoology & Media Studies Audience Research and the ‘New’ Science: Neuroscience Research Focus: The Problem of (False) ‘Intimacy’ Research Design: Case Studies Part 1 Blue Planet, Green People or a Little Bit of Both? 18. Marine Life, Humans & Media Environmentalism & Conservation: ‘Greening’ of Society Human Impact: Environmental Crisis, Human Crisis? Part 2 ‘Nature’ versus ‘Culture’: Making Sense of the World 26. Reality versus Stories: Origins & Power of Stories Human Identity: Nature and Marine Life in Science and Maritime Metaphors Globalization, Politics & Media: Debate of an Ecological Identity (or Not) Part 3 Humans, Nonhumans and Relationships: Are They Like Us? 36. ‘Humans’ versus ‘Nonhumans’: Conceptions & Definitions Looking in the ‘Real’ Mirror: Recognition, Empathy & Consciousness You, Me and The Screen: Understanding the Intimate Aesthetic Experience Part 4 Analysis of Intimacy: Experiences of Marine Life in an Audio-Visual World 47. IMAX Under the Sea 3D (USA, 2009) Finding Nemo (USA, 2003) Call of the Killer Whale (USA, 2009) Conclusion 97. Research Outcomes Humans & Nonhumans: Towards “an Affective Ecology”? References 111. 2 Acknowledgements “Please do not kill the spider. It might be a mommy or a daddy or a baby spider. And then the rest of his family will miss him”. As a child I said many things which made my personal love and admiration for nature quite obvious. I loved being outside, climbing trees, running around on large grass lands and playing with animals. When I was older, I usually went with my family on holiday to Southeast Europe in the summer. There I fell in love with the ocean and her creatures. Together with my sister I swam and played in the salty water for hours. For no special reason it felt like ‘home’ there. Sometimes I imagined being a dolphin when I dived into another wave and other times I just sat with the ocean. Accompanied by seagulls and stars I listened to the waves coming in, I took the salt smell of the water in and I let the wind blow through my hair. People usually say, there is no place like home. For me, nature is home. Besides this love for nature and a curiosity that could not be stilled, as a child I was intrigued by something we call TV. I loved watching TV, especially the Dutch children’s program Huisje, Boompje, Beestje (Netherlands). This program was part of SchoolTV (English: Little House, Little Tree, Little Animal, EducationTV, Netherlands) and it included educational episodes about people, nature, technology and environment. Therefore, when I started this master in September 2014, it was quite obvious my primary theme for this thesis had to be about the relationship people have with nature, environment and animals. During my masters I have had the opportunity to learn so much more via interdisciplinary courses for which I am really grateful. As long as I can remember I think outside the box, I question set boundaries and I cross disciplines. Even though my master and this thesis is firstly part of media studies, it was clear I would cross some boundaries and disciplines this time as well. As challenging this adventure has been, which seems the best way to call it, I wish to thank some great people that I have met along the way. Thank you Sietze (Norder) for introducing me to Vincent (Tijms). Vincent, thank you for all the helpful insights in neuroscience. Above all, Maarten thank you for all your support and for allowing me to write this thesis ‘my way’. I hope you are ready to take a dive ! Cynthia 3 Introduction “The power of an image to excite wonderment in an audience can be related to both the “fantastical” and the “natural” world” (Scott, 2010: 30) “Imagine that my colleague Jaimal Yogis, author of Saltwater Buddha and the Fear Project is swimming in the ocean on a foggy day near San Francisco where he lives. Jaimal’s been a swimmer and surfer since he was a child, so he’s completely at home in the water and happy to be there. His brain is merely releasing a steady stream of feel-good chemicals: natural opiates like endorphins (creating a peaceful, euphoric feeling, also known as the “runner’s high”) and oxytocin (producing trust and a calm, warm mood) and the pleasure “rush” of dopamine (associated with novelty, risk and reward, exploration and enjoyable physical activity – the same neurotransmitter that underlies many forms of addiction). These neurochemicals are naturally synthesized in our bodies, a natural “medicine chest” and are released by our brains as a result of instinct and conditioned neural frameworks. Suddenly Jaimal spots a disturbance in the water’s surface about fifty feet away, and his brain, which typically risk-averse, looks for potentially negative stimuli first, kicks the survival instinct into gear. Even before his conscious mind can respond, his visual cortex sends the information to his hippocampus for evaluation: is this a potential threat? The limbic system screams “YES!” and immediately the amygdala puts the body on high alert flooding Jaimal’s brain with norepinephrine (the “wake-up” chemical) and signaling Jaimal’s conscious brain to “check out that disturbance NOW”! The dopamine in Jaimal’s system, also triggered by the novel stimulus in a relatively calm background helps ready the body for action. At the same time, the amygdala activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to signal the rest of the body about a potential “fight or flight” situation. Jaimal looks again: is that a fin breaking through the water? Hypervigilance now becomes outright fear as Jaimal’s hypothalamus (the primary regulator of the endocrine system that reacts to primal needs, like food and sex, and emotions, like terror or rage) signals the adrenal glands to release epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine, speeding up his heart rate, moving blood to the large muscle groups, and dilating the bronchioles in the lungs to provide more oxygen. All of those-feel-good chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, endorphins) are overwhelmed as the stress hormone cortisol also floods the system, putting Jaimal’s entire metabolism on high alert. Cortisol prompts the amygdala to continue activating the SNS while suppressing the immune response. His entire body having been neurologically hijacked by this cascade of neurochemicals, the conscious part of Jaimal’s brain finally gets the message: “potential predator –danger!”. Even though Jaimal knows very well that only one person a year dies from a shark attack in the United States, his amygdala is in high gear, laying down what are called flashbulb 4 memories of moments of high danger and screaming at him to get out of the water. He turns and swims urgently for the beach. Once there, Jaimal turns and looks back at the spot where he had been swimming, only to identify four or five dolphins fins slicing through the water. As he stands on the sand, sides heaving, heart still pounding as the current of “fight or flight” neurochemicals starts to diminish, he mentally kicks himself for swimming away from a chance to be in the water with an entire pod of dolphins. In truth however, he had no choice: his higher- level, cognitive brain had been hijacked by the “drive to survive” response of his emotion-based limbic system” (Nichols, 2014: 50-52). First of all, I found this imaginary story absolutely fascinating as it illustrates perfectly how some of the senses process information from the outside world which is interpreted by our brain. The brain converts this into certain chemicals and ultimately into action, reaction and behavior. The story is written by Wallace Nichols, author of the book Blue Mind. Nichols describes in this book how and why “being near, in, on or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected and better at what you do” (Nichols, 2014). Even though it is an imaginary story, it would be a description of a ‘real’ human experience in ‘the real world’, in this particular situation in the ocean. From a personal experience point of view I definitely relate to this story, just as much to the swimmer and surfer Nichols writes about: I have lived several years in the Canary Islands, worked a summer surf camps in France and I love being around and in water. From the outside ‘real’ world I would like to take you to the audio-visual world. I think a lot of people would remember ‘this guy’ from the famous Hollywood film Jaws (USA, 1975), directed by Steven Spielberg: a not so friendly, rather dangerous shark with some very sharp teeth attacks people. I also think a lot of people would remember the theme song: ‘tam’, ‘tam’, ‘tam’ to put viewers at the edge of their seat. Fig. 1. Screenshot Jaws (USA, 1975). Retrieved from http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lV8i-pSVMaQ/maxresdefault.jpg, 26 June 2015. I wonder if viewers were just as frightened or alert as Jaimal was in the imaginary story? The general thought might be ‘no of course not, Jaws (USA, 1975) is a movie, that is not real’ or maybe some people would admit they felt a bit excited or afraid for what was going to happen.