For the past few years now, and even moreso in this new year of 2012, the majority of us have become quite aware of the doomsday predictions set for December 21, 2012, which is the exact date that the Mayan calender ends and thus begins the end of the world as we know it. Personally, I dont think any of us really really knows when the world is gonna end but if we go by the doomsday film "2012" (2009) starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet and a host of Hollywood notables, it's not going to be a very pretty day in the history of the planet Earth's existence. I'm not here to tell anyone to discount the depictions created in the film "2012" but after watching it numerous times, I noticed a coupla inaccuracies which have bothered me greatly about the film and it is these particular inaccuracies that I'd like to discuss in this blog entry.
In various sequences of the film, we see what happens when the numerous furies of Mother Nature are set loose on the Earth, in all their action-filled, intense wraths of death and destruction, but one aspect of this that I profoundly disagree with is what happens to the various ships in this film. The examples you will come across when viewing the film are the following: a giant nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is seen laying on it's side and capsizing with its planes falling off its decks as it rolls over and is washed in the direction of the White House front lawn as a giant rogue wave pushes it further and further inland; and, a giant cruise-ship is depicted as capsizing slowly as a giant rogue wave from outta nowhere slams into it. It's frightening to even imagine such horrific events taking place and even though "2012" is definitely a disaster film in which such events appear to be realistically portrayed, in my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.
Oh sure, I loved the latter portion of the film where thousands of people, the last vestiges of humankind on this planet if you will, are saved via gigantic, invincible arks that were created and hidden into the mountain-tops of China. As a matter of fact, when all those people are saved it makes me wanna jump up and scream "Yes!! Humankind WILL survive! We will live on!" Of course, the fact that something as personally revered by me as a ship is the ultimate life-saving instrument for humankind, well, that just tickles my fancy to no end. Even though the entire film has got some extremely fantastical segments to it, realistically speaking, one can almost see where such a scenario would not only be possible, but would be worth investing in if one truly wants to save the human race.
Be that as it may, I find fault with the way the other ship sequences in this film are portrayed. Yes, I for one will admit that IF the end of the world were to take shape in the way it does in the film "2012", with all the earthquakes, disruptions in the every ocean floor plate system, and the shift in the numerous continental shelves, of course there's gonna be TONS of tsunamis, rogue waves and the like, and even though I'm a huge ocean liner afficiando, to depict an aircraft carrier laying defenseless in rough seas as well as a giant cruise ship getting slammed by a rogue wave and automatically capsizing simply are not realistic portrayals of what could happen. In real life, in our present-day existence as well as in something catastrophic as the end of the world, I think those ships scenarioes would be quite different than in the ways they were depicted in the film.
I guess the main point I'm trying to make here before I disect and discuss the two aforementioned scenarioes with you the reader, is this - just because the end of the world would be unimagianbly horrible and megacatastrophic for the planet Earth, that does not automatically mean that every type of ship and vessel afloat out there would be obliterated with total destruction. I'm not stating all of this because I'm a ship geek, I saying it because I know it's the truth. Sure, there will be catastrophes of every kind on every ocean and every body of water should any and all vessels be sailing on them when Doomsday truly does arrive; but, again, that's not to say that every single vessel float will meet its end - because it wont. Scientists, filmmakers and psychics can make all the predictions they like, not one of them can guarantee, let alone prove, that every vessel out there will meet its end on that day, whenever it may come.
In reference to aircraft carrier segment in the film "2012", like almost every type of ship afloat on the Seven Seas today, aircraft carriers (and any other naval vessels for that matter) are designed and built with the most modern forms of radar and sonar out there imaginable. Unless it's that one-in-a-million scenario where a giant aircraft carrier of 1,000+ feet or more in length is repeatedly struck by a series of rogue waves or small tsunamis, there is no reason whatsoever to believe that the captains and crews of such ships are not gonna know ahead of time what lays in their path ahead of them, let alone what could breach their safety and stability from every possible direction imaginable. Now I'm not saying that the series of huge, massive waves is not possible, all I'm saying is that most ships at sea do have very sophisticated warning systems which will in most cases buy them time to avoid such destructive impacts altogether.
Another facet of the above scenario that is implied in the aircraft carrier segment is the imbecillic assumption that when the end of the world hits, every aircraft carrier and naval vessel afloat will automatically lose all it's power and be at the mercy of Mother Nature herself. Sorry, but it doesnt work that way, even in the most disruptive forms of atmospheric conditions. If you were to take the modern generation system of any United States aircraft carrier (or any aircraft carrier from any nation for that matter) and hook them up to a series of conductors, there would be enough electrical power to run the cities of Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, non-stop for at least one full year or more. Now if those generating systems on board those ships are damaged to any degree, yes, it could cause problems - but to render a ship totally powerless? I'd have to venture that in any scenario that is highly unlikely, even at the end of the world.
As for the cruise-ship scenario in the film "2012" well, that particular segement is extremely controversial, even amongst ship buffs such as myself, because it's an educated fact that the ways in which a modern-day cruise-ship and a modern day ocean liner would handle rough seas brought on by rogue waves and tsunamis are two totally different scenarioes. If anyone were to ask how so, the answers can be found by merely looking at the outward appearances of each kind of vessel. Most modern-day cruise-ships, as massive and impressive-looking as they are with their 1,000+ foot lengths and deck after deck of verandah-style outside cabins, are more or less just humongous floating hotel boxes with a bow and a stern stuck on each end of the box, and modern radar and sonar towers placed above the bridges of such vessels.
Whereas if you view a modern-day ocean liner, the kind that are designed for the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Oceanic routes of travel, you will see that their waterline to top-of-the-hull and then upper-deck areas are much more taller and more enclosed than the modern-day cruise ships. These modern-day ocean greyhounds are specifically and intentionally designed to encounter and survive every type of ocean wave upset imaginable - and keep right on going. Unlike the majority of their lazy, tropical weather sisters, the cruiseships, these are the ships that are designed to literally cut through 40+ foot waves like a warm knife through butter and keep right on course, versus being temporarily swamped and in more cases than not, somewhat damanged, like their cruise-ship counterparts would be. When it boils right down to it, any passenger liner of any kind is only gonna be as strong and invincible against oceanic disruptions of any kind as it was designed to be. The construction design of these vessels is the key factor. Yes, it really is that simple.
In other words, if you're onboard a cruiseship with deck after deck of open-air balconies and verandahs and it's hit by a giant rogue wave, you're definitely gonna be more affected by that than if you were on board an ocean-going liner such as the QUEEN MARY 2, which was designed and built to survive practically every form of inclement oceanwave conditions. It doesnt matter how big or much those newer cruise-ships such as the OASIS of the SEAS and the ALLURE of the SEAS weight, even with weighing in at 150,000+ tons, there'd be way too much water smashing those verandah doors and windows open for it to not affect the stability and the basic functioning of the vessel itself.
Getting back to the cruise-ship segment in "2012," even though the ship portrayed in the film is not an trans-oceanic vessel by any means, the way in which that part of the film was created is totally 100% unrealistic. A giant rogue wave does not slam into a ship like that in slow-motion, it just does not happen that way. You're not on the phone talking to someone as the ship slowly capsizes. If a real-life rogue wave or tsunami were to hit a ship like that, it would be at an extremely super-fast speed and sucha ship would automatically tip-over on its side or in the best case scenario, list over only a few degrees before righting itself, such as what happened with the cruiseship NORWEGIAN DAWN a few years back off the coast of the Carolinas. It's one thing putting an author or screenwriter's perception of how such scenarioes would happen into a film-version of their theories; but, to do so without including all the realistic criteria that would be involved in such events not only shortchanges the film itself, but it also impairs and clouds our human perception of how such events would really play out in real life.
Look, I'm not saying that I of all people on this planet definitely knows what will happen when the end of the world arrives; but, one thing I do know is that the way the ship segments of the film "2012" are illustrated are unrealistic at best. Personally, I dont wanna even think of the end of the world because even though we've all been indoctrinated to believe that it will happen, I simply dont want it to happen. I mean, with all the not-so-good things that continue to take place in our world-of-today, who in their right mind would ever wanna take it one step further like that? Not me. Our world may not be perfect, but I believe in this Earth, I believe in the human race and I'd like to believe that no matter what happens on this planet, we would somehow find a way to survive it as we always have throughout our centuries of existence. This world may be downright shitty at times but its all we got and I figure that when we do stand on that last final precipice with fighting gumption, I'd like to hope that we would make it, that we would somehow find a way to survive. But what if we dont? Well then, at least we tried, at least we put forth the effort when that's all that we had left. Thank you for reading.
Posted via email from Luctor Et Emergo
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