In the upcoming science fiction film "After Earth", our home planet
goes through some serious changes over the next 1,000 years. So it's
fitting that the film's stars, actor Will Smith and his son Jaden,
would take some time to envision what the future of Earth might
entail. In a Google+ Hangout today (April 23), the stars of " After
Earth " joined SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, futurist Ray Kurzweil, Alexandra
Cousteau and a group of students to discuss what the planet Earth
might just look like in the next millennium. The event, sponsored by
Columbia Pictures, was billed as "After Earth Day" and came one day
after the annual day to celebrate the Earth. "It looks like great
entertainment, but it raises some profound issues [about the future of
the planet]," said Kurzweil, the director of engineering for Google
and moderator of the discussion said of the movie."After Earth"
explores the relationship between a father and son — played by Will
and Jaden Smith — after they crash-land on Earth 1,000 years into the
future, after humans have deserted the planet to live in space. A
"cataclysmic" event forced all humans to leave Earth , leaving the
planet to be overrun by other, unfriendly species, according to a
movie description released by Columbia Pictures. The film — directed
and co-written by M. Night Shyamalan — launches into theaters in June.
"With this film it was such a perfect collision of art entertainment,
education and a posing of fantastic questions," Will Smith said during
hangout. "As an artist, this film does exactly what I always dreamed
to be able to do with entertain and to also be able to pose
interesting questions." Smith went on to explain that shooting the
movie helped him and his son start to understand how human activity
influences the planet. "I feel like I really saw some true beauty in
the world after shooting in Costa Rica," said Jaden Smith. "After that
experience, it really showed me how important it is to save the
world." Alexandra Cousteau, a filmmaker and granddaughter of Jacques-
Yves Cousteau, also expressed her concern for the planet. She
explained that the Earth today is in a vulnerable position, but by
using technology and enthusiasm, a new generation can start to change
the Earth for the better. Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of the
private spaceflight company SpaceX and chief of the Tesla electric car
company, said he thinks that these issues could be motivation for
humanity to start moving away from Earth and into space. "I think we
want to be a space-faring civilization," Musk said during the event.
"Either we're a space- faring civilization or we're going to be bound
to the Earth until some kind of extinction event [occurs]." To Musk,
the idea that humanity can leave the Earth to create a new human life
elsewhere in the universe is "inspiring" and "exciting." Other
panelists were more interested in finding new and different ways to
help combat the effects of global climate change. "I have faith in our
generation," one of the eighth graders said. "I think that we can help
this earth. I'm sure we can [find a way to] not waste this planet and
go to a different planet. I'm optimistic that we can save this planet
and do the right things." "After Earth" is set for release nationwide
on June 7.
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