Denial, the facts we know to be true but choose not to acknowledge. We deny that there is a strong possibility of the fans falling on our head and our death due to brain hemorrhage. We deny that if we don't wear a helmet, we will die. We deny the fact that our parents will die before we do and at some point of time, we will have to bear the loss. We deny the fact that the cigarette we are smoking will lead to our ultimate demise. The same way, we deny the fact that if we don't change our habits, the world will collapse.
In many ways, denial is necessary for human existence. If denial did not exist, human life would be a curse. It helps us survive. It's a way to keep irrational and even rational fears out. But what if denial is the cause of our demise? What if denial is keeping out something that we should have addressed earlier? In essence, this movie tries to remove this block from the viewer's mind and it does a damn good job.
An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary about Democratic politician Al Gore's slide show about Global Warming with parts showing his personal opinions on the same apart from the documentary as well.
The movie's first half is a horror show about the current crisis, blasting all myths about global warming aside. The studies about global cooling and warming being a cyclical process is destroyed by means of accurate scientific data, which is unlike anything that one might witness in a normal textbook. The movie then moves on to show why the issue is centred around the poles and finally as to why this is a political issue as well. Towards the end, it shows how we can prevent the problem as well, offering a nice, hopeful touch to the entire to the ending.
Somewhere around the halfway mark, we realize the frustation Al Gore has been harboring for america's political system as well, in particular Bush. The movie also offers insights into why Al Gore thinks the way he does and the viewer does sympathize with him to a large extent.
The movie, all in all, is a great way to appreciate the problems of global warming and creating more environment sympathizers. The only problem that I did have about the movie was it failed to adequately tackle the biggest obstacle to environmental protection, Economics. Gore just mocks the Idea with stale ideas like "If we don't have a planet, how can we worry about money?". The fact remains, that most people don't see why exactly their employment should be jeopardized when the factory that they were working in is shut down because it was polluting a lake? In areas where it comes to long term benefit, again, something that will not benefit them, in their lifetime versus the short term benefit of their own employment, they're more likely to choose their own personal gain.
Let's face it, the major way in which the European Union has managed to curb it's emissions to a huge extent, is only via economic counter incentives(eg. Carbon Credits). The movie fails to analyze any of these measures and how they could be implemented.
All in all, an excellent presentation and good direction offering insights into Al Gore's past makes for a good viewing. Any person who sees the movie will end up with at least some empathy for the environment. Even thought the movie does not offer major solutions, but the pertinent question that I asked myself after the movie was " In the same way that we blame the people of the US in the 1800's for torturing slaves, the way we blame our ancestors for the caste system and female oppression. Do I want my descendants to curse my generation for environmental damage?" For that message alone, the movie does it's job brilliantly.
7.8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment