An Inconvenient Truth a gut-check on climate change
EDMONTON (CUP) According to Al Gore, we're all going to die.
Well, maybe he doesn't go that far, but in An Inconvenient Truth, the former U.S. vice-president lays out the facts behind global warming and what the cataclysmic results could be if things aren't changed.
The documentary — which is a compellation of a series of large-scale, slide-show presentations by Gore — is fairly effective in making audiences agree with his point of view on global warming. The slide shows mostly consist of Gore talking in a convincing and charismatic manner, and he backs up his spontaneity with an impressive amount of scientific information, simplified for a mass audience.
Gore also tries to dispel a few political obfuscations spread by people who possess financial and political interests, and who continue to ignore the effects of climate change.
In the simplest terms, An Inconvenient Truth works. It makes the scientific background for global warming easy to understand without diluting the facts too much, and it presents a fairly convincing argument as to why the people who stand against global warming are bending the truth.
Beyond that, the film shows how Gore believes that most people won't change their ways until a tragedy forces them to, as evidenced by his own family's role in the tobacco industry until his sister died of lung cancer. To this end, Gore tries to show the horrific results that unchecked global warming would have on the world without being too sensationalistic.
Despite the documentary's informative nature, there are still some problems with An Inconvenient Truth. Although the premise of the film is to de-politicize global warming, the very presence of someone like Gore makes it a political documentary, and if people weren't going to be convinced by him before, they probably won't be now.
The movie ends on such an unrealistic and happy note that it almost undermines the urgency and, let's be honest, hopelessness of the situation; however, if Gore thought that everything was actually irreparable, he probably wouldn't have made the film. Perhaps his idealism can be forgiven, after all.
One thing that isn't wrong with the movie, though, is its refusal to make a point via bending the facts. Unlike many documentaries that lean to the left — such as Michael Moore's entire filmography — An Inconvenient Truth doesn't spin the truth like a top. In fact, Gore's honest demeanor, and the fact that he seems to care about the issues too much to be lying, makes his arguments more convincing than any judicious editing or out-of-context sound-bite ever could.
An Inconvenient Truth isn't a revelation to most of those who will be championing it, but there are many people who will find its content enlightening. It's a keen reminder to those who forget about or ignore global warming, and a gut-check for those who don't believe it exists.
Well, maybe he doesn't go that far, but in An Inconvenient Truth, the former U.S. vice-president lays out the facts behind global warming and what the cataclysmic results could be if things aren't changed.
The documentary — which is a compellation of a series of large-scale, slide-show presentations by Gore — is fairly effective in making audiences agree with his point of view on global warming. The slide shows mostly consist of Gore talking in a convincing and charismatic manner, and he backs up his spontaneity with an impressive amount of scientific information, simplified for a mass audience.
Gore also tries to dispel a few political obfuscations spread by people who possess financial and political interests, and who continue to ignore the effects of climate change.
In the simplest terms, An Inconvenient Truth works. It makes the scientific background for global warming easy to understand without diluting the facts too much, and it presents a fairly convincing argument as to why the people who stand against global warming are bending the truth.
Beyond that, the film shows how Gore believes that most people won't change their ways until a tragedy forces them to, as evidenced by his own family's role in the tobacco industry until his sister died of lung cancer. To this end, Gore tries to show the horrific results that unchecked global warming would have on the world without being too sensationalistic.
Despite the documentary's informative nature, there are still some problems with An Inconvenient Truth. Although the premise of the film is to de-politicize global warming, the very presence of someone like Gore makes it a political documentary, and if people weren't going to be convinced by him before, they probably won't be now.
The movie ends on such an unrealistic and happy note that it almost undermines the urgency and, let's be honest, hopelessness of the situation; however, if Gore thought that everything was actually irreparable, he probably wouldn't have made the film. Perhaps his idealism can be forgiven, after all.
One thing that isn't wrong with the movie, though, is its refusal to make a point via bending the facts. Unlike many documentaries that lean to the left — such as Michael Moore's entire filmography — An Inconvenient Truth doesn't spin the truth like a top. In fact, Gore's honest demeanor, and the fact that he seems to care about the issues too much to be lying, makes his arguments more convincing than any judicious editing or out-of-context sound-bite ever could.
An Inconvenient Truth isn't a revelation to most of those who will be championing it, but there are many people who will find its content enlightening. It's a keen reminder to those who forget about or ignore global warming, and a gut-check for those who don't believe it exists.
