Andrew McMurtryREVIEW: An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
November 10th 2008 06:35
“An Inconvenient Truth” is an important film. And it is not because it tells the story of global warming, while backing it up with informative evidence and persuasive argument. This is a ‘truth’ because it gets people talking about Global Warming because of the ramifications and bleak future that we could face if nothing is done about Global Warming. This is what Al Gore presents in this documentary. He discusses the problems with current global thought on the issue, the analysis of evidence and statistics, and what we can do to change these trends so that we don’t destroy our planet. He uses a quote from Mark Twain to discuss the current thought process on the issue. "What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so." This is taking a shot at governments who think that protecting the world from Global Warming can wait, when science has proven that “that just ain't so.”
This film begins with the filming of scenes of natural beauty and using that image to show what we would miss out on if we don’t heed his warning. The narration of Al Gore over the top of these images in a soothing yet ominous voice type gives the feeling of the tranquillity that we would miss out on if we didn’t do something about this problem. It gives personal views, such as when he “I feel I’ve failed to get the message across.” as at one stage he was Vice-President of the United States. This status also gives him the respect of experience and the feeling that the knowledge of global warming statistics and findings is more within his grasp as a still influential leader. When he starts his seminar, he begins with comparisons from the 1920’s to now of places such as Mt Kilimanjaro, and Glacier parks all round the world which has massively reduced snow cover thanks to global warming. As well as this comparison, he quickly gets stuck into the other forms of evidence that he has found, such as graphs on population growth and the carbon dioxide levels compared with the temperature of the earth over the last 65 million years. These are startling statistics yet I got the feeling that these may have been used slightly out of context. Despite that, they are still shocking.
The problem with this type of documentary is that it is based on a seminar that Al Gore does where he discusses one side of the argument. Don’t get me wrong. I believe that Global Warming is probably the most important issue that this current generation have to deal with. I am on the same side as Al Gore. I just think he will have his work cut out convincing people who are sitting there saying, “No, global warming isn’t occurring and isn’t an issue.” or “It doesn’t affect me that much in my lifetime so why should I worry about it”.
The good thing that this film will do is mount pressure on the governments of the world to do something that will actually aid the environment and hopefully slow the effect of Global Warming, making the earth sustainable for the future generations of humans. It will encourage politicians and elected officials to focus more on environmental issues where they haven’t in the past as environmental problems are long term goals whereas political life is short lived. This seems to be the main issue. As they are only in power for a short time, politicians don’t do anything that will have positive long term benefits for the world. It is a sad state of affairs if the leaders of the world can’t be bothered fixing what they have allowed to occur.
What exactly does this film achieve if not convincing the naysayers? Well it gets people talking about the problem of global warming. As long as people talk about it, they will be putting pressure on world leaders to fix it. The explanation is giving people some knowledge about the issue of global warming. Then it leaves everyone else the chance to feel motivated enough to research the evidence and hopefully feel driven to help fight for the cause. This film invokes the spirit of truth as it uses fairly hard evidence and proven methods to get findings and by using Al Gore as the speaker, it also gives the seminar more integrity as he was the US Vice President. He also uses political satire to try and turn the responsibility back on these men, for example, when American Senator Jim Inhofe made the statement that “global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” This is laughable because Global Warming is obviously happening; it’s just a matter of how quickly.
“An Inconvenient Truth” is a startling, important film. It is very necessary in today’s global climate. With so much scientific proof that it is happening, how can anyone still be denying its effects. The ramifications of allowing these problems to continue are too dire for anyone to completely imagine and comprehend. They must be fixed and fixed quickly. Film is the perfect medium to reach these who can actually force a change. The power of the people is needed to make sure we and our decedents still have an earth to live on well into the future. I’d give the film 3.5 out of 5, but it is still a must see.
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