I headed out to the movies once again today, this time to see Al Gore's documentary about the dangers of global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.I really don't know how to review this movie. It strikes me that I'm not really sure who it's for. The theater I saw it in was almost totally sold out, and stuffed full of people like-minded to me -- that is, predisposed to be receptive to the message being delivered. We're already "in the tent," "on board," pick your phrase. We were a willing choir, being preached to.
Meanwhile, anyone on the other end of spectrum, those kinds of people who the people like us wish would see the movie, would never set foot anywhere near that theater. And with as much objectivity as I can muster, I don't think any of those people would have been swayed by the movie, even if they'd somehow been there and forced to watch it. Why?
Well, for one, the messenger. Al Gore is a bit of a boogeyman to some. And I'll readily admit, he is not the most engaging speaker. He comes off less robotic and more genuinely impassioned in this film than he did on the 2000 election campaign trail, but he's still no silver-tongued advocate for his cause.
For another, I imagine those predisposed to doubt the existence of global warming would find no greater substantiation of the phenomenon here than they do in all the other ways evidence for it has been presented. Al Gore has enough charts and graphs to put Ross Perot to shame, but "showing one's work" (to borrow a phrase from junior high algebra) would of course make for pretty boring cinema. Thus, assertions that have ample supporting evidence are presented without that evidence itself -- a sure loophole through which the "unconverted" could easily slip.
Of course, that's all speculation. As someone already "in the tent," I can say I found the film compelling, but not perfect. This is no "I have a dream" or "we choose to go to the moon" around which all the people will rally. But I believe it is strong enough to motivate people around the fringes to "do their part." And to its credit, the movie is instructive on ways one can do exactly that, pointing people to climatecrisis.net for simple, sensible, easily doable things Americans can do to cut down on their CO2 emissions.
I suppose I'm giving Al Gore's "presentation" a B, with the endorsement that if you're in the tent, or near the tent, see this movie. If you know anyone else close to the tent that would be receptive, tell them to see this movie.
And if you personally know of anyone actually "won over" by the film, I'd love to hear about it. Perhaps it is better than I'm giving it credit for.
3 comments:
I'm on the fringe. Right now I like my air conditioning and the feel of the ice box when I come home from work. I have to admit that since we don't have any kids, we are kind of indifferent about the "distant" future in terms of the planet.
With all that being said, I went to the website and saw some of the stuff I could do. I thought I would give a couple a try (change the filters, change the lightbulbs, small stuff like that) and then I got to "eat less meat".
I think you are a PETA agent in disguise and I blame brad defruiter.
I liked the way Al Gore came off in the movi - like an impassioned, lovable nerd.
Always nice to see the propaganda machine in action. If you want to talk about tangible issues, then lets talk about a shortage of oils or raw material in the next 100 years. Global warming is a falacy, issues relating to CO2 emissions are completely made up. If you actually get down to the meat of the discussion, people like Al Gore will eventually tell you it is less about there actually being a problem and more about making people live 'better'.
Like I said, there is no ecological tragidy anywhere in the forseeable future. Now if you want to talk about the diminishing quantity of non-renuable resouses, we can have an educated discussion... =)
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