The Day After Never

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In the new movie The Day After Tomorrow, German director Roland Emmerich lets the glaciers roll over Manhattan following an abrupt change in climate that suddenly sets off a new ice age. This is the third time that Emmerich’s production company, Centropolis, has destroyed New York in recent years. They leveled it in Independence Day. They had a monster eat it in a remake of Godzilla. Now they’re freezing it. What do these guys have against New York City?

Plenty, if my theory is correct. New York, you see, is a symbol of the triumph of capitalism. So, if you want to make the point that capitalism has done terrible things and needs to be eradicated, the Big Apple would be your number one target.

This new movie is a case in point. The ice sheets that roll over Wall Street—and the tornadoes that rip through Los Angeles—are caused by man-made global w a r m i n g . You read that right. In some environmental alarmists’ computer models, global warming threatens to shut down the Gulf Stream and bring on a new ice age to Europe and North America. Al Gore is so impressed by this argument that he told Variety: “The Day After Tomorrow presents us with a great opportunity to talk about the scientific realities of climate change. Millions of people will be coming out of theaters on Memorial Day weekend asking the question, ‘Could this really happen?’ I think we need to answer that question.”