ENGLISH 23
(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)
Deep Dive
Before the Flood and An Inconvenient Sequel
Having been a part of English 22 in fall quarter, I watched “An Inconvenient Sequel” this week. While I enjoyed Before the Flood, and I thought that DiCaprio’s presence made the whole documentary more relatable because of his concern for the wellbeing of the planet despite a lack of scholarly qualifications…
While not directly related to the issue of climate change, I thought the DSCOVR satellite subplot was fun and lighthearted, in a film about a topic that has a tendency to make me feel like I’m face down in the dirt with my hands tied behind my back. Through this, I mean that it feels like no matter how much I want to fix the issue of climate change, I feel like my personal actions won’t amount to enough to make a significant difference.
I found this week’s documentary “An Inconvenient Sequel,” to be well put together and even more impactful than the original film with Al Gore, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Right from the beginning, I was pulled into the film by the voices of doubt and criticism toward Al Gore’s efforts being played. The juxtaposition of these false words against the powerful images of realities of the climate crisis in the world today played very well.
The documentary “An Inconvenient Sequel” chooses a perspective that attracts me most, the political factor, to criticize the environmental degradation and environmental protection measures in recent decades.
However, I began to admire Mr. Gore for his efforts to combat environmental degradation and pollution. Because I wasn’t born in the political background in the U.S, I am not familiar with Mr. Gore’s actions during his [vice]presidency.
In an introduction video, Ken stated that the first few weeks of the class are undeniably depressing, and this could not be any more true. When reading “The Unhabitable Earth” I was completely shocked by the devastating future Wallace-Well’s illustrated through his reading, but after watching the film “Before the Flood” my shock and fear have been cemented due to visuals the documentary provided on the devastation already happening. I find it completely devastating and corrupt how the individuals and countries who contribute the least to the problem are the ones who are suffering the worst. As the world leader it claims to be, the United States needs to take charge in addressing the issue and investing in solutions.
“Before the Flood” covers an immense amount of material. It’s a lot for the brain to comprehend without even thinking existentially. Leonardo DiCaprio travels the world as the United Nations Messenger of Peace and bears witness to a number of effects and causes of the climate crisis, thus allowing us to witness in turn.
In particular, I really enjoyed the segment with Sunita Narain. I believe that it gives a completely different perspective on the use of renewable energy than those that are traditionally portrayed in mainstream media. While India as a country is the third biggest polluter, behind China and the United States, it is important to note that per capita, one US citizen is equivalent to 34 India citizens when it comes to their carbon footprint. I believe that Narain makes an extremely good point that the US should be the leader when it comes to using renewable resources. Our country certainly has more financial means to do so, so it is unfair to blame developing countries like India when looking at carbon emissions.
When watching “Before the Flood”, I went through a range of emotions. The film was overwhelming. It was infuriatingly frustrating and sad.
I drew from the film that what really needs to be addressed are big corporations and government. While I’m not trying to scapegoat them and only blame them because we as consumers fuel their interests, corporations and government have a much bigger weight on climate change than myself. The actions of big companies, lobbyist, and spineless politicians are criminal. Media and politicians’ degrading attitude towards scientists and their life works have really set back the public opinion, which makes it more difficult to call upon other politicians to draw up impactful policies. The capitalistic greed for short term profits will continue to hurt our future, if policies are not made to crackdown on corruption and enforce better actions like with a carbon tax. The film being presumably filmed in 2015 also has this optimistic tone towards the Paris Agreement stating that it’s the first of many steps that will come. However, it’s kind of funny watching this in 2020 where we see that not only has progress not been made, but President Trump has pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement and painted China as not an ally. This has discredited the sentiment of unity and agreement on climate change, and has also reversed the potential progress that could have been made in the last four years.
Watching the Fox news anchors roast Leonardo DiCaprio so viciously just for trying to bring attention to the scientifically proven phenomenon of science change was extremely disheartening. The way the largest news corporation in America just constantly denies the existence of climate change in the first place sets the tone for how difficult advocating for structural change is in the United States. Elected officials purposely mislead their constituents to believe this is a made up phenomenon, and continue to make it the problem of future generations. When Al Gore initially brought attention to the problem after his failed vice presidential run, he was berated and called crazy. I remember watching an episode of South Park where they viciously made fun of him, only to apologize in an episode a decade later saying that he was right after all. Funny how that happens.
In my opinion, the reason the film is compelling is that Leonardo plays the average American- he might come with the best intentions, but when faced with a problem that requires him to step outside of his comfort zone- change the American way of life in exchange of a more sustainable mode of living, he acts resistant and refuses to believe such an option is possible. I found the pairing of this movie with our reading of the “uninhabitable earth” to be very effective as the two balance each other- DiCaprio’s solution is a technological one (investing in green energy, building Giga factories) while Wallace’s approach emphasizes the inability of technology to solve each and every one of our problems. In Wallace’s book, he talks about the negative impact capitalism has on our environment, and how it is difficult to see a way out of this crisis without a fundamental shift in our way of life, a stance similar to that of the activist and author Sunita Narain DiCaprio talks to in India. The movie was released in 2016, right before the 2016 elections, and I believe that if the filmmakers knew the results of that election their tone would have been much less optimistic, but I felt it was nice to remember the positive attitude that was once possible.
“Before the Flood” truly put into perspective the depth and scope of the climate crisis. It also added to things I learned taking ENVS 1, which I found insightful. I think that everyone should see this, as it comes from a relatively neutral perspective, aside from being against oil companies. Overall a 10/10 watch, and a harsh reality check for the inhabitants of Earth.
For this week’s film, “Before the Flood,” I was expecting to learn a lot of new information about the climate crisis but I never imagined I would have been this enlightened. It felt like I had personally joined Leonardo DiCaprio on his journey across the world to discover ways to make the changes we need. There were many statistics and visuals that I found very interesting. Speaking as someone who enjoys a good burger, when DiCaprio addressed the agriculture aspect of climate change, I was fascinated but disheartened.