I suspect that many of my colleagues will disagree with me but let me share some thoughts.
If this film's intent is to catalyze action across a broad range of demographic groups I doubt it will have its intended effect. Worse, it might actually have some unintended consequences. I think that hard core climate change activists will see it as a therapeutic venting exercise and/or an energizing call to arms. But for most Americans I fear that it plays into the worst stereotypes of global warming alarmism and it violates just about every principle of effective communications strategies for stimulating social change (doomsday scenarios and shaming rarely invoke the desired response). There were a few segments that I liked. The cartoons were harsh societal critiques but presented in a witty sort of way. And the Alps and UK-NIMBY chronicles were compelling in many respects. On the whole, however, I had a lot of issues with the coherence and likely impact of the messages implicit in many of the chronicles - some of which are touched upon by Beth, Angus and Michelle - and I thought the solutions segment was a ripe target for political ridicule. For those of you that pay close attention to rhetoric in American political debates, you probably have noticed how hard the conservative talking heads have worked to associate the word "rationing" and images of Soviet style bread lines with liberal and/or democratic policy agendas. They don't want you to think of rationing when you think of health care reform, they want "rationing" to be an immediate psychological response to the word "liberal" or "democrat" in a word association exercise for every American. So you can probably guess what my reaction was to the carbon rationing card idea. I'd go so far as to say that those who would like to see American climate change legislation derailed would probably want as many Americans as possible to see that segment if not the entire film. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the conservative talk show hosts drawing people's attention to the movie and encouraging them to see it. No need for presenting distorted caricatures. Here's your liberal worldview and accompanying policy agenda in all its glory. I'm afraid this movie (and the accompanying premier theatrics) reinforced my sense that climate activists like to make movies that appeal to climate activists. They also like to congratulate themselves for doing so. Meanwhile, powerful interest groups that have a stake in the status quo continue to pay people to communicate messages to targeted demographic groups through a variety of media channels with very effective results. Feel free to disagree. Frank ________________________________ From: owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu [mailto:owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu] On Behalf Of Betsill,Michele Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 2:19 PM To: gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu Subject: RE: "The Age of Stupid" Premiers I too went to the premier but left before the after show events (turns out kids must also be tended to!). I think I'm still processing my response and will be interested to hear reactions tomorrow from some of my students. I definitely went away with a sick feeling in my stomach but wasn't convinced it was a great mechanism for educating the general public about climate change. I agree with Angus that many points were unconnected and/or left vague and I wonder whether those who do not spend 24/7 thinking about climate change would really be able to put the pieces together. I'm afraid people will leave either feeling that the situation is hopeless or incredibly guilty, neither of which is particularly helpful in mobilizing society for change. Finally, I was surprised by the faith the filmmakers put in multilateral environmental agreements. At the end, they suggest the fate of the human species rests on the outcome of Copenhagen. That's a REALLY scary thought and misses so many of the other opportunities we have for addressing the issue. My two cents for what it's worth. Michele _______________________ Michele Betsill, PhD Associate Professor Department of Political Science Clark B350 Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA +1 970 491 5270 Founder and co-leader, Environmental Governance Working Group http://egwg.colostate.edu <http://egwg.colostate.edu/> From: owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu [mailto:owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Chalecki Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 9:48 AM To: Alcock, Frank; gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu Subject: Re: "The Age of Stupid" Premiers Yes, I went here in Boston, and the theater was packed (maybe because it was the only one accessible by public transit?). I found the film to be more than a little depressing! As far as scientific information goes, Al Gore did a better job in "An Inconvenient Truth" of explaining why climate change is happening and what are the scientific underpinnings of the theory, as well as providing a sense of hopefulness that the average viewer can yet take action. What "Age of Stupid" did was to paint some possible results of the worst-case warming scenario, and it did so in a very fatalistic manner, from the wind turbine guy in the UK to the French Alpine climber to the two Iraqi kids. I even saw some people in the theater crying at the end, when Pete Postlethwaite sends the Archive message into space. I couldn't stay for the New York-based Q&A after the film (nothing is sure in this world but death, taxes, and that the dog must be let out), so I don't know if they provided ideas for action, but future screenings of the film will not have a Q&A afterward. Overall, it's a good addition to the growing body of environmental films, but I'm afraid that it's hopeless tone will push the average person into a sense of futility. -Beth -- Elizabeth L. Chalecki Visiting Asst. Professor, International Studies Program Boston College Carney 213 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 chalecki [at] bc.edu elizabeth.chalecki [at] gmail.com On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 10:34 PM, Alcock, Frank <falc...@ncf.edu> wrote: Did anyone besides myself see the film tonight? If so, what did you think? ________________________________ From: owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu on behalf of rldavis Sent: Sat 9/12/2009 4:48 PM To: NEES List; Global Environmental Education Cc: Monique Bosch Subject: "The Age of Stupid" Premiers Hi all-forgive me for cross posting. I wanted to bring the premier of a very important film to you attention. I was fortunate enough to see The Age of Stupid at a special showing for the attendees of the Climate Project's Nashville Summit in March. At that time, it had only been released in the UK. It is a provocative, powerful, plausible, and disturbing film set in a post global warming world of 2055. From that perspective, it looks back at our own time, the "age of stupid" and chronicles 6 highly plausible (in fact, I see most of them actually going on now) stories that are interwoven to show how we got to a destroyed world. It is beautifully acted with Pete Postlethwaite as the principle and the production is excellent. About 20% fiction and 80% documentary. Here is the "blurb" from the web site: The Age of Stupid is the new four-year epic from McLibel director Franny Armstrong. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance? MORE This will be premiered at a special showing at 400 theaters in North America on Monday 21 September at 7:30 eastern (6:30 central, etc.). I will be urging my own students to attend and I urge you to bring it to the attention of your students, friends, colleagues. You can get further information on both the film at the premier at the following web site: http://www.ageofstupid.net/screenings/country/United%20States the actual web site for the film (there is a link on the previous web site) is www.ageofstudpid.net. This site also talks about where to see the premier in 149 other countries around the world. For a review of the film from the Sydney Herald (it premiered in Aust and NZ in late August) go to http://www.ageofstupid.net/review/the_age_of_stupid_movie_review. Larry Davis
