film review: The Great Warming
We went to see The Great Warming on opening night last week (Nov 3rd). Though the Regal multiplex parking lot was full & there was a long line at the ticket office, our theatre had only 4 people. The other group was a woman that worked for Krystal Planet (credited to making the film Climate Neutral), who had brought along a friend. Disappointing to have such a private showing.
How was the film? Though much less technical than An Inconvenient Truth, it's a dramatic film that sweeps around the world to reveal how a changing climate is affecting the lives of people everywhere. It taps into the growing groundswell of public interest in this topic to present an emotional, accurate picture of our children's planet.
Repeats the message that Climate Change is a Moral issue, not an Economical or Political one.
Surprisingly, I didn't find it too preachy. There was an interview with Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals, and also one with Matthew Sleeth, an evangelical MD that's made personal lifestyle changes and even written a book titled Serve God, Save The Planet. Cizik is SO clear in his message that 30 million Americans have a biblical calling for Creation Care, and that pastors need to talk about this at the pulpit.
The film had an excellent script & good visuals to show the invisible CO2 rising from various activities. The producers spelled out that Global Warming comes from burning coal, oil & gas, building up since the since the Industrial Revolution. There was an unambigous blame on the oil industry. And directly asked us, as Americans, to bring up Climate Change with our elected reps.
Though the ending was built-up with far-fetched future technologies, I felt the film was a good wake-up for those that are oblivious to The Issue of our times.
---
- 580 reads
- mtairygal's blog
- Login or register to post comments
ECLA PA: the Earth Charter Lifeboat Academy of Pennsylvania
Want to join this group?
To get started, you'll need to create an account - or, if you already have an account on this website, login.
User login
Who's online
Online users
Comments
December 16th, 2006
Worldwatch Institute Reviews The Great Warming
The January-Februaray edition of the Worldwatch Institute's magazine (www.worldwatch.org) has reviewed The Great Warming. I'll try to encapsulate a few of the points that particularly struck me.
The Film Review, by Suzanne Hunt, biofuels project manager at Worldwatch, opens with, "To anyone who has seen "An Inconvenient Truth", "The Great Warming" will feel like the Disney version of Al Gore's film. It is family oriented, with almost a Learning Channel feel, and was clearly made for an American audience."
Hunt continues, "The Great Warming is well intentioned and generally well done. Its one major flaw is its disproportionate emphasis on the role of developing countries in climate change."
To its credit, she notes, "Talking heads are rarely the most appealing tactic in a pursuasive film, but these 'heads' effectively lay to rest the so-called debate about global warming. The science is settled: humans are changing the climate."
"Conspicuously missing is the fact that the United States and other developed countries created the unsustainable economic model that the other nations are following, are responsible for most of the excess carbon in the atmosphere, and are still adding substantially to the buildup of greenhouse gasses.""One interviewee suggests that 'somehow we need to get countries like India and China to skip the phase where they burn a lot of coal'."
"Of all the film interviewees, only former CIA director James Woolsey mentions the U.S. role in the approaching planetary crisis, when he advises Americans to look in the rearview mirror the next time they drive their gas-guzzlers into the filling station and remember the words, 'We have met the enemy and he is us'."
Hunt concludes, "The movie ends on a hopeful note with solutions - solar, hydrogen, wind, green buildings"... "and a call to action focused on young people. Considering the urgency of the problem and the prediction that we have perhaps a 10-year window to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize the climate before dramatic changes become inevitable, perhaps the call should have been directed to the children's elders: the current leaders in government, business, and religion. There isn't time for today's children to grow up and fix the problem that their parents and grandparents created."
Larry Menkes
215.328.9128 home
267.992.8020 cell
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
(m. gandhi)