Review of An Inconvenient Truth

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I have been remiss in not reviewing the movie An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary from Al Gore. I have to admit that even though I knew the importance of the message in this movie (aka Global Warming) I was a bit slow to watch this movie. I hope I can spur some of those other slow movers to go ahead and see it now!

Quite simply An Inconvenient Truth is astounding…in a good way. In the movie industry you often hear people refer to “feel good movies” and this movie is one of them. I watched it in my bedroom late after the kids were asleep and I had to contain myself from standing and clapping…giving my TV a standing ovation…periodically throughout the movie. This movie is so important that everyone MUST see it.

It brilliantly weaves the scientific evidence of the global warming problem with Al Gore’s personal story, including his decade’s long commitment to this topic and his efforts to make the government stand up and take notice. Not only are we touched by his stories we are alternately fascinated and horrified by the facts, studies, and statistics that he shares with us. The charts, graphs, statistics, and photographs that are shared with us leave no room for doubt regarding the reality (not “theory”) of global warming as Earth’s ultimate environmental crisis.

Sometimes it is surprisingly funny such as when Gore shows us a picture of a scale with the earth on one side and bars of gold on the other. It is so ridiculous that anyone would choose gold over the earth…our home…but many greedy corporations have done so and they are making that decision for all of us.

There were also times in the movie when you are outraged…such as when you see a clip of George Bush senior during his administration, talking about how environmentalism is being taken to an extreme and that we will soon be “neck deep in owls…and without any jobs for Americans.” This lack of common sense made me want to throw something at the TV.

Gore also poked fun several times (deservingly) at the current administration for incredulous decisions that have been made (crimes against nature really), such as the time when The Environmental Protection Agency published a detailed report on the current state of the environment. Well, the White House was given a chance to “edit” the EPA report before its publication, and administration officials — surprise, surprise — decided to remove the global warming information. One of those officials took the fall for this when it was discovered by the public and we get yet another surprise, one of the people Bush appointed to protect our environment went to work for a big oil company “again”. The film isn’t void of bias, but there could certainly have been a lot more. Gore showed much more restraint than I would have.

There were also moments in this movie that made me very sad. I remember one moment where I had to pause the DVD after a computer generated animation was shown of a polar bear swimming in a large expanse of ocean…searching for ice upon which to rest. Gore’s voice could be heard in the background informing us that scientists were now finding polar bears that had drowned…because they were searching in vain for a place to rest their weary bodies as the ice caps were melting away. As an animal lover I found this particularly hard to stomach…that global warming is killing these (and many other) beautiful animal species. It was difficult for me to watch.

But don’t worry…overall this movie contains not a message of despair but one of hope. Rather it motivates us all to rally together and protect the one earth that we all share. We must act “boldly, quickly, and wisely” Gore says. So see this film if you have not already and buy a copy or two for the skeptics you may know. We NEED to do something before it is too late to do anything. Hopefully, this film will one day be viewed as a historical document of the beginning of a great change.

P.S. And while your at it please stop by this petition site to send in your public comment to support listing polar bears as a “Threatened” species!