the end of the world as we know it?
In my opinion, the issue of the environment and global warming is the single most important issue in the world today. The fact that there are people out there that really believe that global warming is a hoax makes me sick. Do these people also believe that the world is flat and that the government faked the moon landing? It just seems ridiculous to me, but those people are out there. These people that don’t believe and those that are not aware is who AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH is made for.
Al Gore has dedicated a large portion of his life to discussing the impact of pollution on the environment and the ecosystem. It is a noble crusade and an important one, but unfortunately it is also one that does not win glory. No one has ever won an election by campaigning on environmental issues. People who are pro-environment are dismissed as anti-business. This is the world that we live in and that world is being destroyed. If you do not believe that… watch this movie.
The film is based around a slideshow that Gore has done more than a thousand times all around the world about the effects of global warming on the ecosystem. There are some shocking images that cannot be ignored and data that has been collected throughout the last forty years that cannot be denied. This problem is more than real and it spells disaster for the entire world and everyone living on it.
Gore uses examples like showing pictures of Glaciers from the 70’s and the 80’s and then showing what they look like today. This is evidence and it is something that everyone should become aware of. The ice caps are melting and it effects everything in the world. There are events that can be traced to global warming such as the increase of tropical storms, hurricanes, tornados, and typhoons. These “warning signs” can be devastating (Hurricane Katrina), but they are just signs of worse things to come. The data is not disputed. Temperatures are rising in direct correlation with the amount of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. It is scary and it is true.
There are some things that I did not like about AN INCONVENIENCT TRUTH. First of all this film is way too pessimistic and even nihilistic. With a running time of 100 minutes, over 90% of the film focuses on the problem and tells us that the world is being destroyed and we are all facing certain death and that the earth is doomed. Then at the end, there is about 4 minute dedicated to what we can do. Buy a Hybrid. Use energy efficient light bulbs. Vote for Democrats. My problem is that the balance is off in the film. The goal of this journey that Gore is on is to make people aware of what we are doing to the earth and encourage them to do something about it. This movie focuses on the destruction, but revels in it and destroys hope in the process. There is a way out of this and there are things that people can do and I wish there was a little more focus put into what people can do. Not what the world can do, but what a difference an individual can make. Before you can motivate a person to take action, the person must believe that their actions can make a difference. This movie shocked me. It scared me. It did not inspire me to change.
If we are going to be able to change the world and make up for the damage that has occurred, it is not going to be easy. It is going to require sacrifice and inconvenience for everyone. It is important that people know that, but also realize that it is worth it. A person without hope will be a person without action. Watching this movie I felt doomed. Until the very end, there was nothing said about reversing or slowing the process of global warming.
Another filmmaking aspect that bothered me was the inclusion of Gore’s personal life in the film. There are three 5 minute segments that are dedicated to his personal life and does not relate to the subject of the film. The near death of his son. The loss of the 2000 Presidential election. His childhood on a farm and the death of his sister to cancer. This is not a movie about Al Gore. It should not be. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH is about something far more important than any single man. Gore would be the first to agree with that point.
This is an important film. I hope that those who take the time to see it will walk away scared, but also motivated and ready to make a difference now. If you don’t have the time or the opportunity to check it out, please take a few minutes and look at the website mentioned at the end of the film. What I wanted in the film is here. There is hope and there is something that we can all do. It shows the difference that a single person can make. Here’s the link…
CLIMATE CRISIS Now is the time to take action.
Al Gore has dedicated a large portion of his life to discussing the impact of pollution on the environment and the ecosystem. It is a noble crusade and an important one, but unfortunately it is also one that does not win glory. No one has ever won an election by campaigning on environmental issues. People who are pro-environment are dismissed as anti-business. This is the world that we live in and that world is being destroyed. If you do not believe that… watch this movie.
The film is based around a slideshow that Gore has done more than a thousand times all around the world about the effects of global warming on the ecosystem. There are some shocking images that cannot be ignored and data that has been collected throughout the last forty years that cannot be denied. This problem is more than real and it spells disaster for the entire world and everyone living on it. 
Gore uses examples like showing pictures of Glaciers from the 70’s and the 80’s and then showing what they look like today. This is evidence and it is something that everyone should become aware of. The ice caps are melting and it effects everything in the world. There are events that can be traced to global warming such as the increase of tropical storms, hurricanes, tornados, and typhoons. These “warning signs” can be devastating (Hurricane Katrina), but they are just signs of worse things to come. The data is not disputed. Temperatures are rising in direct correlation with the amount of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. It is scary and it is true.
There are some things that I did not like about AN INCONVENIENCT TRUTH. First of all this film is way too pessimistic and even nihilistic. With a running time of 100 minutes, over 90% of the film focuses on the problem and tells us that the world is being destroyed and we are all facing certain death and that the earth is doomed. Then at the end, there is about 4 minute dedicated to what we can do. Buy a Hybrid. Use energy efficient light bulbs. Vote for Democrats. My problem is that the balance is off in the film. The goal of this journey that Gore is on is to make people aware of what we are doing to the earth and encourage them to do something about it. This movie focuses on the destruction, but revels in it and destroys hope in the process. There is a way out of this and there are things that people can do and I wish there was a little more focus put into what people can do. Not what the world can do, but what a difference an individual can make. Before you can motivate a person to take action, the person must believe that their actions can make a difference. This movie shocked me. It scared me. It did not inspire me to change. 
If we are going to be able to change the world and make up for the damage that has occurred, it is not going to be easy. It is going to require sacrifice and inconvenience for everyone. It is important that people know that, but also realize that it is worth it. A person without hope will be a person without action. Watching this movie I felt doomed. Until the very end, there was nothing said about reversing or slowing the process of global warming.Another filmmaking aspect that bothered me was the inclusion of Gore’s personal life in the film. There are three 5 minute segments that are dedicated to his personal life and does not relate to the subject of the film. The near death of his son. The loss of the 2000 Presidential election. His childhood on a farm and the death of his sister to cancer. This is not a movie about Al Gore. It should not be. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH is about something far more important than any single man. Gore would be the first to agree with that point.
This is an important film. I hope that those who take the time to see it will walk away scared, but also motivated and ready to make a difference now. If you don’t have the time or the opportunity to check it out, please take a few minutes and look at the website mentioned at the end of the film. What I wanted in the film is here. There is hope and there is something that we can all do. It shows the difference that a single person can make. Here’s the link… posted by Humby | 8:10 AM
3 Comments:
Here's whz there is more focus on the problem and less on solution:
Q:There's a lot of debate right now over the best way to communicate about global warming and get people motivated. Do you scare people or give them hope? What's the right mix?
A:I think the answer to that depends on where your audience's head is. In the United States of America, unfortunately we still live in a bubble of unreality. And the Category 5 denial is an enormous obstacle to any discussion of solutions. Nobody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are, and how hopeful it is that we are going to solve this crisis.
Over time that mix will change. As the country comes to more accept the reality of the crisis, there's going to be much more receptivity to a full-blown discussion of the solutions.
Al Revere
An interview with accidental movie star Al Gore
By David Roberts
09 May 2006
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/05/09/roberts/
As for the segments about his personal life, first it was not Gore's idea but Guggenheim's, and they don't make the movie about Gore but they explain why it is Gore, of all people, who is talking to you in that movie.
Trust me, 98% of Americans have no idea that Gore was already concerened about this issue BEFORE he became a politician.
To remind them of that helps
counter the inevitable charge that Gore only made this movie because he is planning a political comeback- a charge that clearly had the power to
make people not want to see the movie therefore not learn about the problem.
We only know how to critisize, eventhough we know the facts.
Because it is coming from Al Gore,
we see it differently, if it was by someone else, it would have a totally positive reaction.
In fact, looking back and realizing that after election, what Al Gore is focusing on is very impressive...
I will recommend not to listen to anyone's comment and just give this movie a try and watch it once. After that decide how it was as deciding on others opinion is not a fair judgment to this good movie.
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