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5/22/2006
FILM FLAM
Monday I caught a screening of An Inconvenient Truth, a film version of a speech
and slide show Al Gore has been doing around the world. It discusses the effects
of global warming, a topic that some have labeled controversial, though no such
controversy exists in the scientific community.
As a film, it's not that great. Using Al Gore to convey any message is a risky
proposition. Regardless of what side of the fence you sit on, he is a politician
and as such is hard to trust – even though he claimed afterward he was “a
recovering politician on about step 9.”
The film could have used more talking heads - scientists, people affected by
environmental change, touching human interest stories to bring the points home,
etc. Al Gore can be charming and funny (if he'd been this charismatic during the
election he'd be president now even with the Republican corruption of the
Florida election.) But the entire film is narrated by Gore and focuses almost
equally on his efforts to convey the message as the message itself.
This complaint aside, the content is good. He does a fine job dispelling the
myths that dog global warming. No, there are not any reputable scientists or any
peer-reviewed articles that dispute the facts. Yes, the earth's climate is
cyclical - but it has never fluctuated this wildly nor contained this much CO2
in the atmosphere. No, we don't have to balance jobs against the environment.
And catastrophic change can happen quickly - we do not have thousands of years
to wait and see if it is real.
It's real. It's happening. It's doing a lot of damage NOW and you ain't seen
nothin' yet.
But there is hope and we could make change. I don't predict we WILL, but we
could.
It's a very motivational movie and should be seen by everyone, from those who
support environmental causes but, like me, are too lazy to change, to those who
are doubters and naysayers about the entire issue.
There were various local celebs in attendance - Ted Turner, Sam Nunn, a mess of
people from local environmental groups and more people in suits than I've seen
since the last wedding I attended. As if that weren't enough, Al Gore was there
in person answering questions and shaking hands after the screening. But I lack
the celebrity fascination gene and didn't hang around to fawn over him
afterward, get pictures or autographs. I hopped in my 1969 Thunderbird and
burned another gallon of gas driving those 3 miles back to DP HQ.
Ah, we're all going to hell.
(If you're interested, check out
www.climatecrisis.net for info about the film and what you can do to make a
positive change.) An Inconvenient Truth opens in select theaters May 24, in more
places June 2, and in Atlanta it’s June 9 at Tara.
In other news, last week’s Loafing effort is here:
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A76166
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