An Inconvenient Truth - I care about the environment and I wish everyone did. I try to do my part because I know we have pollution issues. Al Gore's film though was so heavy on advocacy and obviously had an agenda.
This film is as much about Al Gore's life and political career as it is about climate change.
The very opening is set up in a casual, generic way, so that you feel comfortable and Al Gore's voice over speaks to something that everyone can relate to. Who doesn't love those moments when you can sit and just observe the beauty of creation and nature.
Then your emotion carries over when it jumps into his presentation about global climate change.
The other part that is supposed to pull at your emotions is when Al Gore refers back to his childhood. They use old footage and photos with his voice over telling personal stories. Both, in combination with the music that they add, are supposed to help you make a personal connection with Al Gore, showing he's a real person.
The structure of the film didn't work for me though. They set up these emotional parts with the photos and music and Al Gore's softer tone of voice, but then it would just cut to the huge lecture hall and was very impersonal. Some of the more personal stories and things that were shared didn't seem very relevant to me.
I think they used the lecture to show that many people are interested in this subject and Al Gore's ideas. The lecture put him in an authoritative position to speak about climate change even though he's not a scientist.
Overall, I think there were some good points made, but the film didn't convince me of the weight of the issue and the consequences that would occur in the near future if the we don't change our actions now. I think it would've been more effective to have him provide all the same information from the lecture clips, but not in the lecture setting.
Lastly, he tried to spin the subject through this too and disconnect it from his political career in this comment:
"Really this is not so much a political issue as it is a moral issue." -Al Gore
My favorite part is when he says, "I used to have a cow. I loved my cow."
ReplyDeleteIt had NOTHING to do with ANYTHING!
I watched this movie as an impressionable 15 year-old. After the film, I immediately joined approximately 7 international environmental conservation organizations. They still send me emails. The emails are annoying.
ReplyDeleteThe film is definitely one-sided and even a little manipulative, but it's hard to argue with the facts presented. And ya gotta give 'em props for making a powerpoint watchable.
This is such an interesting format for a film, and one that spawned a half dozen offshoots (the most recent of which just came out --"Cool It"--which some people are calling the "anti-Inconveient Truth.") It's hard to deny the international awareness and action Inc. Truth provoked. It doesn't have to work for you, but I'm curious Jessica and Lauren why you think so many people did respond to it so strongly you know? Beyond critical acclaim and Oscars it led to that holy ground of catalyst. People watched, people acted--sometimes doing more than even joining organizations, though that's something. Were they manipulated? (this is not a rhetorical question, I'm really asking). Do you think the success comes from simply a political rah-rah for our team thing? Maybe it took having that personal touch in there to make it less like, you know, a powerpoint? (Although as a member of Apple's board, Al G is quick to point out that he did the slideshow on the far superior "Keynote" it should be said).
ReplyDeleteI like your points Lauren about how Guggenheim's interweaving of Gore's personal and presentational stories/presence affected your experience. I think I've heard him (the director) say this is just as much a film about Al Gore as climate change so he probably wouldn't disagree with you about his character's importance in the film's story. It seems like such a political person's presence tends to polarize audiences so that some love it and some hate it without giving it a chance on its own terms. Remember to always try to be that marvelously independent viewer that can't be so easily swayed but rather critiques a film on its own! :)
After reading this, coincidentally, I just read Kenneth's reaction to one of those offshoot docs I alluded to, and it was interesting to see how he says the film lagged for him because of the lack of a personal story, as we were saying:
ReplyDeletehttp://kennethtma273.blogspot.com/2010/10/response-paper-11th-hour.html