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The Age of Stupid Premiere at the Eden Project
Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
… I have seen an early version of The Age of Stupid, when a rough cut was shown at the 2008 Transition Network conference, where, to be fair, it had a mixed reception. Some felt that its message was unremittingly negative,and that it offered no insight into what the path to avoiding our own mass extinction might actually look like. Others felt that, inspite of that, it was still the best film about climate change yet made, and found it a very powerful and moving experience. Since then, with the final editing, it has, for me, morphed into a quite extraordinary telling of the story of climate change, drawing in other issues such as oil consumption, human rights and consumerism (although the criticisms of it not offering any chink of light still, possibly, stand). For anyone who hasn’t seen it, here is the trailer to give you a sense of what it is about.
… Here is what I said (or rather what I wrote that I was going to say, and then kind of improvised around…)
… The Age of Stupid very powerfully tells the story of the generation that chose to stick its head in the sand, to ignore the evidence, to stick with what is comfortable and familiar. It is the generation that clung to business as usual, that put its own wants above future generations needs. The results of such an approach, as having just seen the film you are probably feeling right now in the pit of your stomach, are too horrible to contemplate. That is not the world I wish to hand on to my children, or for anyone elses for that matter.
(16 March 2009)
Film website
Interesting discussion in the comments at Transition Culture original post.
Annie Leymarie wrote:
Watched it in Plymouth. Felt that despite the lack of any happy post-carbon-living scenario the film was energising, but the live discussions in the (relatively) low-tech setting in London after the film were even more inspiring. The raw energy of the speakers felt contagious.
At the end of the show, we were asked to turn to a neighbour we did not know and discuss what we disliked about the film, what we liked and how we were going to act. That exercise felt very useful, reinforcing the need to connect for empowered action.
So yes, let’s promote the film, but with forums to discuss possibilities of action…
Graham Burnett wrote:
Not seen AOS yet, but from the comments I’m reading I don’t think its a film I feel very sure about in terms of showing at meetings, advising people to watch, etc, I feel ambivalent enough about showing End of Suburbia, and at least that has a bit of a sense of humour…
I’m of the view personally that most of the folks who make it as far as coming to a Transition Westcliff meeting or film show have an awareness of climate change issues if not so much peak oil, and are looking for solutions, and not coming to be hit around the head with more doom, gloom and despair. I’m much more in favour of solutions focussed films like Power of Community, although we do need examples that are closer to home than Cuba…
Roll on the Transition Movie, in the meantime heres our little contribution to creating a positive post oil age at the top of our homepage http://www.transitionwestcliff.org.uk …
Maldives first to go carbon neutral
Duncan Clark, The Observer
The pioneering new president of the Indian Ocean nation announces plans for his country – under grave threat from climate change – to go carbon-neutral in a decade
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The president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, will today unveil a plan to make his country carbon-neutral within a decade. The announcement comes only days after scientists issued stark new warnings that rising seas caused by climate change could engulf the Maldives and other low-lying nations this century.
The president will formally announce the scheme – and make a plea for other countries to follow the Maldives’ lead – this evening, following the world premiere of The Age of Stupid, a major new climate change film in which a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055 looks at old footage from 2008 and asks why people didn’t stop climate change when they had the chance.
(15 March 2009)
Monbiot: If we behave as if it’s too late, then our prophecy is bound to come true
George Monbiot, Guardian
However unlikely success might be, we can’t afford to abandon efforts to cut emissions – we just don’t have any better option
(17 March 2009)
Wall Street set for another big dive (as water levels will rise)
AFP, Sydney Morning Herald
A predicted slowdown in Atlantic Ocean currents will cause sea levels along the US north-east coast to rise twice as fast as the global average, exposing New York and other big cities to violent and frequent storm surges, according to a new study.
Manhattan’s Wall Street, barely a metre above sea level, for example, will find itself underwater more often as the 21st century unfolds, said the study, published online on Sunday in Nature Geoscience.
(16 March 2009)
