Al Gore's Personal Battle to Save the World

aka

"An Inconvenient Truth"


(Alycia, watch this movie if you haven't already)


Last night I watched the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". The film was more or less footage of Al Gore giving a slide show presentation about the dangers of global warming, interjected with footage of him giving speeches, conducting research and doing field work. I was quite looking forward to this film, hoping that it would present the issue in a very concise, informative, and professional manner. After having seen it though, I felt sold very very short.

I agreed with most all of the points brought up in the film, and believe strongly in the need for the global warming problem to be seriously addressed and dealt with, but honestly, this film probably was detrimental to the cause.

There are two reasons that I think this:

First off, the way in which information was presented was done in an overtly shocking way: scary images of glaciers receding; graphs that showed no numbers, only dramatically bold red lines steadily raising higher and higher, floods, droughts, hurricanes. Just shock images. The amount of information actually presented was minimal. Also, a lot of the information they were giving was based mostly on speculation, and not neccecarily fact. This struck me as the kind of tactic that their opposition would take. Now, I can understand why they'd want to do that. They're trying to reach a very very broad audience, and let them know there is a growing problem. Most people wouldn't look at statistics and absorb it, but when you see a flooded city, it has a more lasting impression. So, I guess this was cleverly strategic.

But the biggest vice I had with this, is the entire film was presented in a very bitter and personal manner from Gore's point of view. Even though it had a ruse of being an environmental exposé, it had overtly political overtones. Now don't get me wrong, I realise this is a very heated political issue, but Gore turned it into a bitter reprieve of the 2000 Presidential Election. He seems to try and imply that had he "fairly" won the election, that global warming would have ceased. That as president, he would have single handedly saved the world. Now I don't doubt that he would have tried to make some changes that Bush obviously isn't doing, but given his present situation, it's very very easy for Gore to talk big, and not have to worry about following through.

The film just wreaked of self righteousness. It made me very dissapointed in Al Gore. He always struck me as so respectable, but now he just seems really bitter and childis. Given, what happened to him was pretty unfair, but the entire film was just an attempt to glorify himself.

Yet, I'm still torn. The issue he's trying to help is very heated, and it's good of him to try, but still, it just doesn't sit well with me. I actually found watching it incredibly discouraging. I seriously doubt there are actually fool proof solutions to fix what we've already done. It makes me more compelled to stop caring, and start engaging in more self destructive behaviour. Oh well. I sleep well thinking that when we're done killing ourselves off with our own behaviour, the plates will turn over, and the only trace of human's will be a thin layer of carbon in some sediment deep below the surface of the earth.


CHEERS!