I have finally seen an Inconvenient Truth. It is a lovely piece of propaganda and I encourage people to watch it.

As with Fahrenheit 9/11, it will be unlikely to change the mind of anyone who doesn’t already believe in Global Warming (although I am plotting to give it to my parents for xmas, so we may see a test of this hypothesis). Also like F911, it makes use of traditional >propagandistic methods to affect the emotions, rather than the rational thought of the viewers. This is not to say it does not also appeal to the rational mind, or to say that appeals to emotions may not be more effectual, just something to be aware of.

At the beginning, Al Gore opens his presentation (this is a documentary of a presentation he has been doing world-wide for years, for those who didn’t know) with “Hi, I’m Al Gore and I used to be the next president of the United States” [laughter and cheering] “I don’t find that funny.” Which comes off as not sounding quite as bitter as it looks when I type it, but still not quite as at-peace as maybe it should. Additionally, he spends a few minutes in the middle of the piece dwelling on that election; which, while it is certainly a good thing to remember, I don’t think that George II is solely to blame for global warming. It didn’t seem to either fit in terms of narrative or point.

At on point, he shows two pictures of earth, one with the sun (almost) directly being Apollo 17; the other, the first image from space, from the moon, generally called earthrise. Both moved me to tears. To see our earth, our planet, our home, our mother, in so tangible a way, filled me with such a desire to protect her. This is, of course, a selfish desire. I don’t want to save the earth just for her own sake, but for my own sake. And for the sake of all my brothers and sisters. Protect her from as well as for my brothers and sisters.

The DVD case is a simple cardboard folder, on the inside, it tells you that, once you have watched it, you should give it to someone else. So that (a) it gets reused and (b) the pollution created by making and distributing each DVD is minimized. It also has a list of 10 things you can do right now!! [PDF link, sorry] to make a difference. At the end of the movie, too, as credits roll, more things to make a difference are listed. Some I take issue with (buy a Prius, encourage alcohol-based fuels), but in general, great ideas all around.

I encourage everyone to see it, to buy it, to give it away, and to check out his site and to not blindly follow his suggestions, but to take them under serious advisement. Five green leaves still on trees out of five.