Below is the review I wrote of the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, the day after seeing it when it opened in my state on June 2, 2006. I remember that as I walked into the movie theatre I was filled with emotion because this man I have loved and supported for 17 years had finally been able to break through the partitions that had surrounded him regarding this issue. He had finally gotten a chance to show his soul and deliver a crucial message that had been ignored in years past, and this movie is Al Gore's soul, and this truth is real.
And while to some it may seem like this crisis is one that leads to despair, it is not. I too have a fervent hope in my heart that the goodwill, common sense, and morality of people will take hold and that we will finally see what our actions are doing to Gaia, Mother Earth, and take action. That we will finally be able to look beyond the political pretense and do the right thing for ourselves, our children, their children, and our most beloved home.
I had a love for this Earth instilled in me at a very young age that I have carried with me all of my life, by a woman who is no longer on this Earth but who embodied a pure love for this planet and passed it on to me. That woman was my mother, who like Mr. Gore's sister died of cancer. The pain of her death at seventeen has stayed with me and in essence is what drives me to be relentless in my pursuit of bringing this information to others, as well as my love for my child and my family. I will not sit silently and allow Mother Nature to be betrayed by our actions, and besides that inspiration being given to me by my mother, I also find inspiration and hope in Mr. Gore's message.
He is now an inspiration for an entire new generation of youth that needs to see the relationship between us and this planet and how wonderful and awe inspiring that relationship is. They need to see nature, work the land, be a part of this Earth, and be made aware of what their actions do to make the world they and their children will have as they grow older and how those actions affect not only them but all other species that share this planet with us. I can think of no other person who can do that than Al Gore.
Today, An Inconvenient Truth on DVD is released. This is now an opportunity for everyone to take it upon themselves to be climate crusaders. Watch the film and let it move you to personal action. Let it move you to seeking and arming yourself with the knowledge you need to do the moral thing. Let it inspire you to help other groups with this mission. Give it to someone you love and share it with them. Donate a copy to your local school board or municipal government and arrange to have free showings of it in your town. Donate it to your church, or simply share it in private with friends. Just please, do something.
A line from the famous Beatles' album Abbey Road goes, " The love you take is equal to the love you make." That also holds true for the resources of this planet and the love we take and make regarding her. It is time to give back. Let today be the day you start.
Thank you.
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My review:
I had a front row seat in a packed theatre to see Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth last night. I can describe it in two words: a journey. It is Al Gore's journey of heart, soul, spirit, and mind through a lifetime of stewardship and also growth. For as much as this movie is a clarion call to all of us to now take our own journey for our planet, ourselves, and our children, it is also Al Gore's reckoning with himself. He lays his soul bare to warn us of the consequences of our inaction now regarding this crisis, because it relays to the events in his own life in the past that brought him to this point as well.
The scenes showing his early years in Congress, his son's car accident, the 2000 election (yes, I cried here,) and the very poignant scenes of him with his sister Nancy who died of lung cancer revealed to me a man not doing this out of any selfish political intent, but of a man who is telling you, the viewer, that even he has had to experience loss and near loss in his life in order to realize what he lost and how much of a part he played in it. I think those scenes were shown in direct correlation to this climate crisis and his message that we must not make the same mistake now with our planet.
Will we look back years from now regretting that we continued the very behavior that is contributing to this crisis even knowing what it is doing to our planet? Or will we take the necessary steps to change our ways and heed the warnings before it is too late? That is the question of this movie and there is no alarmism whatsoever in the presentation of the solutions we have at our disposal. Mr. Gore relays the facts starkly, calmly, and at times humorously, and clearly lays out what we can do to mitigate this crisis. And the scientific consensus cannot be denied that we as a species are contributing to it and it is having a definite effect on our world.
His statistics on Co2, invasive species, species loss, ice cap melting, population growth, etc., intertwined with footage from around the world showing the effects of the statistics he showed was all very well presented and backed up. I also never got the impression that any of this is about him in any other sense than him using himself as an example of someone who had to reach the bottom in order to reach for the top.
I laughed, I cried, and I saw before me on the screen a man who has surely come full circle with who he is and what his mission is, and that is handing that mission and truth to us. He says he is not a hero, and frankly, I didn't see a hero in this movie and that is a good thing. Heroes have a tendency to be placed on pedestals and forgotten. I saw something much more. I saw a prophet, a missive, and a trailblazer who has full faith in our abilty to save our planet. And we must not let our planet down, and that also includes those in government and the corporate world whose indifference to this issue can no longer be tolerated.
This is a movie that will make you see the world in a whole new light. And you must see it. And you must make sure those you love see it, especially your children. My teenage son watched this movie with me, and after it I asked what he learned from it. He said it told him that it was time to wake up and do something. I say, amen to that.
So thank you Al Gore, Davis Guggenheim, Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, Jeff Skoll, Paramount Classics, and Participant Productions for giving us this journey to now guide us on the greatest challenge we will ever face. And we will face it, because we must. And whether you even like Al Gore or not is not the point, for this in no way is a partisan political movie. The point is that this world belongs to all of us, and unless we learn to see the slow boil we will surely reap the consequences. It truly is a moral issue. So do I recommend this movie? Yes, with every fiber of my being. It is truthful, concise, and in my opinion surely Oscar worthy.
And as the credits rolled, I noticed that there was not the usual rush to get out of the theatre. People continued to sit watching the credits and listening to Melissa Etheridge sing...then it went quiet. That was when I stood up and clapped exclaiming, 'Thank you, Al Gore!'... and the entire theatre then clapped with me, and it felt good, for I too had waited a long time to be able to show this man the depth of the gratitude I have for him. Now it is up to us to continue to spread his inspirational and crucial message where it left off in the theatre. May we have the strength and will to do so.
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