I
usually never see a movie more than once, unless if it’s something like the
Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Matrix trilogy. If it’s a documentary, I
usually dose off in the middle of it. However, in the case of “The Age of
Stupid,” I bore through it three consecutive times and I actually found myself
enjoying the documentary when I should be worried about the midterms I have in
five days to come. I still find it way more entertaining than any Marvel movie
like “The Green Lantern.” Then, what exactly makes this movie different from
any other normal documentary that deals with the intensity of global warming?
Instead of merely taking a
pathos appeal by documenting polar bears or exaggerating how the world will
come to an end, “The Age of Stupid” takes a less abstract perspective and
concentrates on the reality, the status quo. It does present the worst possible
scenario of what the world would be like in 2055, but it focuses more on the
harms climate change has done to the human race, making this issue more
concrete for viewers to perceive. Above all, what makes this movie even more
unique is that it tries to answer a fundamental question. “Why couldn’t we have saved ourselves?”
Additionally, beyond the
material that this movie deals with, what’s even more appealing is its method
of presenting it. The first time I saw this movie, I didn’t actually realize
what this movie was exactly about. I just thought it was a simple documentary
on climate change showing several cases to prove its point. However, what
caught my attention was the man named Jay Wadia. Why would somebody talk about
an entrepreneur when trying to prove that global warming is an imminent harm?
Then it struck me that this movie had implied messages within each of the cases
it presents and that there is a reason why it’s called “The Age of Stupid.” The
movie presents hidden links between each of the recording that show that it’s
not that we didn’t but we couldn’t save ourselves to begin with. We were stuck
in our own trap. With our entire economy based on fossil fuels and the human
race fixated on fulfilling its own greed, we had no choice but to come to our
downfall. It appealed to me as amusing that one could weave such an intricate
web of links to prove such a common idea. This made the concept seem more
realistic and fresh and it was actually fun to find the links between the
recordings and the contradiction hidden inside them.
Jay Wadia is a 32 year old
Indian entrepreneur who started a low cost airline in 2005. His goal is to provide
a cheap and fast way of transportation for the 15 million people in India who
use the train, which he finds is just too expensive compared to its quality and
speed. The fact that he doesn’t know is that flying is the worst thing an
individual can do to cause climate change, other than setting fire to a forest.
(Information provided by the Pierres, a family devoted to stabilizing climate
change) He’s marveling at how the U.S. has three times more airplanes on the
southeast trail than India has as a country, when it’s one of the most
significant causes of global warming. The bigger goal he has is to promote
consumerism and eradicate poverty. He believes it’s nonsense that only the “elite
class” gets to get on a plane. He believes cheap and fast transportation will
bring about faster business, which leads to more disposable incomes, and more
disposable incomes will bring about consumerism. First of all, his goal to “eradicate
poverty” seems quite hypocritical especially because he’s criticizing the “elite
class” when he’s own of the richest few in India. However what’s more is that
he’s once again trying to promote one of the evils of the world, consumerism.
Ruthless consuming and buying of products has caused human beings to think less
about the precious resources their wasting but rather focus on their own greed.
The sister and brother living in refugee camps in Jordan show how the
Naciremas, the perfect example of consumerism, throw away shoes that can still
be worn if mended without second thought. It’s a waste of resources and Jay
praises the American lifestyle. As you can see, he’s merely a businessman trying
to find his way into a new industry to earn a living.
Alvin Dubernae is a survivor of
the hurricane Katrina, a perfect example of the natural disasters created by
climate change. He was well prepared for the hurricane and had a boat to use
afterwards, but he figured out a lot of his neighbors stayed behind and weren’t
so well prepared. To add on, all the coast guards were all in another part of
the world, fighting a war in Iraq over oil. Therefore, Mr.Dubernae felt the
obligation to save his neighbors. Yet, he works at Shell, even though he knows
the consequence of oil drilling. In Nigeria, a woman who wants to become a
doctor talks about how villagers of a neighboring village were massacred due to
a dispute over land ownership with Shell. In addition, the nearby oil drills
have killed most of the fish, making it harder for her to gain money for
medical school, so that she can become and actual doctor and help does
suffering from contaminated water and skin diseases cause by the burning of gas
in nearby oil drills. She knows how selfish these corporations are, using their
political and economic power to do as they want, and yet she ends up selling
diesel through the black market to gain money for medical school.
Like this, we can’t save
ourselves because the oil industry forms the center of our society. People have
provided solutions like the global cap. However, the idea of rationing and
equality doesn’t seem realistic at all, when human beings are driven by greed,
as seen in our history and especially the war for resources in this case. The
only hope we have is individuals. Individuals like the Pierres and the French
mountain guide who at least try to solve this problem. Of course, they are
often rejected because “wind farms spoil the view,” but I believe individual
effort will eventually call about a need for change among the governments as
well.
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