The Ecological Themes Of The Films Of James Cameron

The Terminator (1984) firstly made the name appear in the filmdom, Titanic (1997) made the name seize a dazzling space in it and Avatar (2009) made the name become a myth. The name is James Cameron. As a director, James Cameron is no doubt one of the most influential and talented film makers in Hollywood, and even in the whole world. He set up the record of highest movie investment twice and made a movie, Avatar (2009), has the highest box office in motion picture history. More important is that Cameron is also a director with obvious ecological consciousness. He expressed his ecological thinking in many of his films. By employing various expressing skills and depicting themes of great significance, his movies not only get the global popularity but also lead to a green revolution in the film market. The contribution he made to ecological consciousness transmission should never be underestimated.This paper discusses the major ecological themes of James Cameron’s most important films, demonstrating that he is a director with profound ecological consciousness, not just a technological master. Therefore, the researchers can do more studies on him from the ecological division in the future. There are four chapters in the paper. The first one reviews the concept of eco-films, major eco-criticism theories as well as previous studies on James Cameron. The second chapter discusses the sources of Cameron’s ecological consciousness from three aspects:the family influence, the personal interest and the social context. The third chapter analyzes in great detail the ecological themes in four Cameron’s most influential films on the basis of major eco-criticism theories, which is the focus of this paper. The fourth chapter concludes that while pursuing the commercial value of the films, James Cameron also makes great efforts to awaken people’s ecological consciousness, bringing the educational functions of films into full play. Cameron has been transmitting his ecological thoughts via films successfully, and his success will stimulate other film makers to produce more eco-films.