An Inconvenient Truth
Jul. 13th, 2006 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beautifulduckweedI finally watched An Inconvenient Truth yesterday, dragging along ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
theotherjay and my friend Jen, she of the PhD in atmospheric chemistry (she wrote her dissertation on nitrogen radicals or summat--I used to know details about it back when she was in the thick of things, but now all I can remember about her research is that she worked with fricking lasers, yo).
What did I think of the movie? Sylvia wrote a review that says almost everything I wanted to, except with more eloquence and less profanity than I ever could've managed, so please go over there and read it--though I have no doubt the majority of you on my friendslist have already done so.
The few quibbles I have with the documentary are minor. To wit:
1. I felt that rehashing what happened in the 2000election coup theft debacle was unnecessary.
2. I really could've done without the further propagation of the frog-in-gradually-boiling-water legend.
3. I was also puzzled by how global warming could possibly impact tuberculosis. The other diseases named that are spread by vectors such as insects, which could conceivably be killed off seasonally by cold spells and otherwise be affected by changing weather patterns, I could buy, but TB? International travel and antibiotic abuse seem to be much larger factors in the spread of newer, more virulent strains of TB.
4. Jay and I laughed out loud when Gore talked about the unique American democratic tradition that led to the end of slavery (unspoken: about 30 years after England had outlawed it) and to the birth of the civil rights movement (unspoken: about 100 years after black people were freed). The latter was especially hilarious, because unless my understanding of American history is wrong, much of the significant progress brought about by the civil rights era was largely due to judicial fiat, not legislative progressiveness. Legislate this from the bench, bitch.
But as Jay pointed out, when talking about American political history in public, especially in a documentary meant to appeal to the masses, this sort of rah-rah bait-and-switch is downright mandatory, and it was all presented in the context of a call to action and of what power the people can hold, etc., so as far as flaws go, this one wasn't too bad.
But what about the science? Did the documentary flub any of the scientific bits? As we walked out the theater, I asked Jen whether the movie had mis-represented any of the science, and she said "Nope. That movie just showed you what scientists have been screaming about for years and years."
All in all, this documentary is fascinating, moving (I cried a little when it came to the part about the polar bears), scientifically sound and inspiring--but most of all, it's so goddamn important. If you know of anyone who's skeptical about global warming--hell, if you're skeptical about global warming (borktron, I have my eye on you) please, please, please go see it. I'm thinking of buying the DVD and making myself watch this at least once a year, just to let the images of the shrinking glaciers and drowning polar bears help me keep my goals at the forefront of my mind.
theotherjay and my friend Jen, she of the PhD in atmospheric chemistry (she wrote her dissertation on nitrogen radicals or summat--I used to know details about it back when she was in the thick of things, but now all I can remember about her research is that she worked with fricking lasers, yo).What did I think of the movie? Sylvia wrote a review that says almost everything I wanted to, except with more eloquence and less profanity than I ever could've managed, so please go over there and read it--though I have no doubt the majority of you on my friendslist have already done so.
The few quibbles I have with the documentary are minor. To wit:
1. I felt that rehashing what happened in the 2000
2. I really could've done without the further propagation of the frog-in-gradually-boiling-water legend.
3. I was also puzzled by how global warming could possibly impact tuberculosis. The other diseases named that are spread by vectors such as insects, which could conceivably be killed off seasonally by cold spells and otherwise be affected by changing weather patterns, I could buy, but TB? International travel and antibiotic abuse seem to be much larger factors in the spread of newer, more virulent strains of TB.
4. Jay and I laughed out loud when Gore talked about the unique American democratic tradition that led to the end of slavery (unspoken: about 30 years after England had outlawed it) and to the birth of the civil rights movement (unspoken: about 100 years after black people were freed). The latter was especially hilarious, because unless my understanding of American history is wrong, much of the significant progress brought about by the civil rights era was largely due to judicial fiat, not legislative progressiveness. Legislate this from the bench, bitch.
But as Jay pointed out, when talking about American political history in public, especially in a documentary meant to appeal to the masses, this sort of rah-rah bait-and-switch is downright mandatory, and it was all presented in the context of a call to action and of what power the people can hold, etc., so as far as flaws go, this one wasn't too bad.
But what about the science? Did the documentary flub any of the scientific bits? As we walked out the theater, I asked Jen whether the movie had mis-represented any of the science, and she said "Nope. That movie just showed you what scientists have been screaming about for years and years."
All in all, this documentary is fascinating, moving (I cried a little when it came to the part about the polar bears), scientifically sound and inspiring--but most of all, it's so goddamn important. If you know of anyone who's skeptical about global warming--hell, if you're skeptical about global warming (
borktron, I have my eye on you) please, please, please go see it. I'm thinking of buying the DVD and making myself watch this at least once a year, just to let the images of the shrinking glaciers and drowning polar bears help me keep my goals at the forefront of my mind.
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-13 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-13 11:36 pm (UTC)WHY DO YOU HATE THE FISHES SO, MICHAEL?
Man, if I can somehow convince your parents and your uncle to watch this....
Oh, stop laughing. C'mon. It's possible, notwithstanding the possibility of simians becoming airborne when exiting my rectal area.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-13 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-14 05:48 am (UTC)Your thoughts on the subject matter are very much correct. Abuse of antibiotics are a HUGE issue that gets ignored.