Commentary on “The 11th Hour”
I wasn’t expecting much from “The 11th Hour.” I generally don’t like “green” movies. This movie, unlike so many others that I’ve seen, was not chastising the world for the choices it’s made, but offered the reasons we have gone wrong, how we’ve gone wrong, and how we can fix it. It doesn’t matter whether you think global warming is real. It isn’t about global warming, we are cutting down trees and putting up shopping malls. I like how they phrased it in the movie that our consumerist based economy was just the thing that filled a void for our real experiences. And it’s true. We work to gain money, we want money so we can buy neat stuff, we buy neat stuff because we think we want it or need it. I think this is my biggest problem with humanity. For all the amazing astounding advancements we’ve made, we are regressing. I mean, really, do we all need Blackberries and 40 inch plasma HD whatchamacallits? The answer is no. I think that a lot of the problems the world faces, or at least America, is caused by television. It is a very powerful way to communicate ideas and try to think of someone you know who doesn’t have one. Starting with its invention, kids were plopped down in front of it. Everyone was. I don’t disregard that it is a very valuable way of communicating and that people who have it on all the time get the news first. But is it really necessary? Does it leave anything to the imagination? Radio, books, and actually socially playing with other children is such a greater exercise of that muscle (imagination, that is). My real point on going off on TVs (which I’ll do more completely some other time) is that TVs introduce children (and adults for that matter) to both the lies and truths it has to offer. Few people have the discretion to decide what they should believe and what is just nonsense, that too is a muscle that needs exercise if it ever does any heavy lifting. Still, I digress. The 11th Hour was right on target with everything I’ve been feeling about the world lately so I would definitely put it on your netflix queue. Kind of depressing, but hey, when you’re thinking, there’s always this weird mix of depression and satisfaction that you’re actually doing it.