Film is making a big difference

These days you gotta watch the movies if you want to be at all educated. I would contend if you want to know anything about the state of our civilization there are four smart aleck films you have to see. They are: The End of Suburbia, An Inconvenient Truth, Hoodwinked and Wal-town.

Since the Second World War, North Americans invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. This lifestyle used to promise space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of sprawl exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness. But the dream is over.

With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as global demand for fossil fuels has begun to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are here now. Scientists and policy makers in the documentary called The End of Suburbia make that point pretty clear.

They also point out very practically that the consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What can be done right now, individually and collectively, to prepare for changed lifestyles? Are we ready to change the way we live is also the question anyone who views Al Gore’s fabled flick An Inconvenient Truth comes away asking. Not that there is any choice involved.

Limit global warming

In the Oscar-nominated documentary on Gore’s drive to limit global warming, he stresses that personal and political will are the only missing factors in limiting smokestack and tailpipe emissions linked to rising temperatures. Sure An Inconvenient Truth was a slick power point talk, but Gore’s audience also is allowed into his family-related motivating factors. “It’s not for me and you, but for our children, and our children’s children, if they’re going to have a world they can live in,” Kentville Mayor David Corkum said when launching the town’s anti-idling campaign.

Thus it was that the Ecology Action Centre started circulating five films around the province for free screenings. Their list was different than mine, but probably just as compelling, including The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, the Next Industrial Revolution and Who Killed the Electric Car.

Somewhere along the line economics becomes vital. That is why the debate at Acadia University last week on capitalism versus the environment attracted a sold-out crowd. I appreciated the airing and was fascinated that more young people than older folks believe in the path of pure capitalism.

Free-trade myth

Hoodwinked: The Myth of Free Trade tells the inside story of the Canadian free trade agreement with the United States, shows the ills of neo-conservatism, and sets out why we should avoid becoming an American state. Former P.C. leadership hopeful David Orchard and the Hon. John Turner both come across as wise and savvy in this important film about how Canada sold out. The agricultural implications are awfully interesting.

Then there was Wal-town: The Film with six student activists, 36 Canadian towns and one giant corporation. A daunting experiment in activism, Wal-town raises public awareness about Wal-Mart’s business practices and the effects of the company’s policy on cities and towns across Canada.

As the largest corporation and the largest private employer in the world, Wal-mart opens a new store every two weeks in Canada and it employs more people, part time and without benefits, than the U.S. Army.

This wasn’t a brilliant documentary, but it was dogged and eye-popping. When the young filmmakers pan over the empty storefronts of Sault-Ste-Marie, one can’t help but translate the dark facades to your hometown.

When John Bennett of the Canadian Climate Action Network was here last fall he suggested we must mobilize just as this country did in 1939 to fight the Second World War. At the time I thought he was right, but the momentum wasn’t there. Now Canadians have put the pressure on and Stephen Harper’s government knows it. Film has helped to make the difference.