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| notice the similarities? |
Looking back through my shallow memory, there had been an era when 'saving the earth' was a serious agenda. On the TV was a man with the expression of a martyr, speaking Greenland and polar bears and alarming sea-levels; in the classroom were a teacher giving out environment pamphlets and an annual 'protect-the-environment' writing contest.
Then things started falling apart. Rumors began spreading that the 'global warming' affair is all a big hoax. The rumors gathered to develop into an argument, and soon emerged evidences corroborating them. Anti-environmentalism gained its full power. A burden of blame was finally lifted from our shoulders.
After a while the matter settled down: Environmentalism is the new feminism.
Like feminists had been and still are, environmentalists now became a prey of newspaper cartoons. The mass media portrayed them as petty, heartless beings threatening the freedom of human activity. The annual green campaign never died, but the general feeling of urgency had significantly faded. People eventually returned to their old consuming habits, like cockroaches returning for the night. It was, indeed 'The Age of Stupid', at least concerning environmentalism.
a typical image of an environmentalist, the phase is
--Why won't they just leave us alone?
So, 'The Age of Stupid' is a movie intended as a tipping point for the stagnation in environmental movements. But just how? In the age of skepticism, it is difficult to make any argument cogent enough for people to give up their convenient coat of civilization. People simply wouldn't buy it. That's why this movie takes a bold step to distinguish itself from other movies.
'The Age of Stupid' not only depicts the environmental problems that will affect us in the future, but also how the poorer population of the world is already exposed to it right now by the great powers. By capturing the brutality of each instance, it convicts the richer nations and the multinational companies of committing a 'crime'. An example of this is the scene featuring Malemi, a Nigerian woman who aims to attend a medical school. Around her home village is a Shell factory that polluted her home town.
Here, the movie juxtaposes her scene with an informative piece about the benefits of oil, expressing the gap between the two; while we use oil nonchalantly, appreciating the convenience it brings, the other side of the earth is suffering because of it. Eventually, environmental problem is not discrete from our everyday life, but is closely related to our infinite consumerism.
This approach is more compelling than the simple 'tipping-point-is-nearing' approach, since it deals with problems of the present moment; whether one seriously considers the future destruction of the earth doesn't matter here. However, it may also be a little dangerous. One must keep in mind that the people watching this movie is mostly people with western consumerism inscribed in their fiber. Most of them have never questioned their lifestyle, nor have ever met direct denial of it. They may be offended by the explicit conviction and reject it as obnoxious. Thus, this is persuasive yet a bit controversial. But sometimes in order to achieve the required level of precaution, a certain amount of controversy must be put up with; it is fairly acceptable.
What is unacceptable is the clumsiness of other parts of the movie.
For one, an exaggerated figure of 2055 as a year of apocalypse was definitely not effective. The last man on earth lamenting about 'how we didn't save ourselves' in 2055, is incomprehensible. Even the most stout believer of global warming wouldn't assert it. Plus the poor graphics in the beginning contributes to its remoteness to real life. So to say, the whole SF part of it was poorly made. Its influence to the whole movie was minute, and it only decreased the overall quality of the movie.
I think of the global warming issue as depending on one's views. I do not conceive it as the most urgent issue human race is facing, neither do I think it is all a big hoax. Climatology is a study dealing with immense threads of possibilities, and if one of them indicates that this global crisis will happen, we should take notice.
For that, 'The Age of Stupid' is austere in its conviction but necessary. However, if the message of the movie is inhibited by low quality, it is a problem. For that, 'The Age of Stupid' exposes its flaws. And the consequence of this flaw is clear now: a failure to turn the tables.
