HYDRO-HEGEMONY AND WAR: AN ECO-CRITICAL CRITIQUE OF CAPITALIST AND MARXIST TRENDS IN ANIMATED MOVIE ‘RANGO’

Abstract

Rango, an animated movie, has successfully attracted the attention of the critics of the time and they have put the movie under different critical structures such as psychological and feminist perspectives. However, the role of environment, means and objectives to control different blessings of nature, goes unexplored. In Rango, the resources of water are controlled and manipulated by the character which reserves all the capital of the society. Since nature, environment and natural resources are included in the plot of the movie, it may well be put to an eco-critical test. Water exploitation has become a constant threat to ecosystem. Those who hold water hegemony forget that it is going to bring about an overall environmental destruction. In Rango, capitalist means are applied to establish and maintain hydro-hegemony. This research explores an eco- critical perspective, aims to discover the hydro-hegemony of the capitalist elite to exploit the local community through controlling water resources. This exploitation can be seen in various forms throughout the world. This study also evaluates the impact of water or hydro politics on construction of individual identities. The issue of water is global and when politics is played on the issue of basic necessity, the society is affected severely. Since the sources and resources of water are on the decline across the globe, water is being exploited by the powerful circles of the world society. The Dirt may be seen as a miniature of the whole globe. Hence the focus of this study will be an eco-critical analysis of the role of monetary and political power in establishment and maintenance of hydro-hegemony. It is a mixture of Capitalist and Marxist critique of the movie.