Mosquito Coast as a metaphor

This is a remake, made into a new series which seems to be promising, but I will talk about the book and the 1986 movie as while browsing Nostr, I got this feeling of ‘deja vu’

All these post about leaving society and building a better future, that made me uncomfortable after a while, I felt heavy and stressed with this ‘impeding doom’ feeling. And then it hit me, same old idea of Allie Fox, to restart from scratch … because the whole system is broken.

Sure Nostr feels like we are back in the early days, finding our tribes, and having fun!

But hear me out, this is exactly like “The Mosquito Coast” story arc and we are at the beginning.

In the story, Allie Fox (the archetype of the Genius tech guy) essentially tries to establish his own “empire” in the wilderness, driven by a desire to create an utopian society free from what he perceives as the corruption and decay of modern American life. His endeavor mirrors the lifecycle of historical empires in several ways:

1. Founding Vision: Like the rise of many empires, Allie’s project starts with a grand vision—a new and improved way of life, promising prosperity and purity to his family.
2. Expansion and Growth: Allie begins to implement his vision by building a settlement and attempting to introduce innovations, like his ice-making machine, aimed at improving living conditions.
3. Overreach and Resistance: As with many historical empires, Allie’s initial success is followed by overreach. He becomes increasingly dictatorial, dismissing local customs and the environment, which leads to practical and ethical challenges.
4. Internal Decay: Allie’s empire begins to decay internally as his family’s trust and loyalty start to fray due to his obsessive and tyrannical behavior. This internal decay mirrors the corruption and loss of control often seen in the later stages of empires.
5. Collapse: Finally, similar to how empires collapse under the weight of their internal contradictions and external pressures, Allie’s utopian project unravels spectacularly, leading to conflict and tragedy.

Thus, Allie Fox’s story in “The Mosquito Coast” can be seen as a microcosm of the rise and fall of empires, illustrating the same patterns of ambition, growth, overreach, and eventual decline. This narrative serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked idealism and the complexity of imposing a single vision upon a diverse and resistant landscape.

Find me on Nostr at npub1mwce4c8qa2zn9zw9f372syrc9dsnqmyy3jkcmpqkzaze0slj94dqu6nmwy

2023, artist, nostr, video