I’ll make it quick. It’s too hot to read today.
I did have to think about this one a little bit, because the notion of a film changing my life seemed preposterous at first. I know film buffs out there might scoff at that, and I did say something just yesterday about Christoph Waltz’s performance in Inglourious Basterds changing my life, but that was just hyperbole. The truth is, would my life have turned out any differently if I hadn’t seen Jurassic Park?
I’m probably over-analyzing, as usual, because I think the person that came up with this is probably talking about perspective more than anything. Of course, there are movies that made me look at movies differently, naturally Schindler’s List made me think more deeply about The Holocaust. But for a movie to change my life is a big ask because I don’t normally watch a movie with that expectation. I usually just want some popcorn. And as I’ve said before, most movies I saw as a kid greatly impacted my life because I saw them a million times, and I didn’t have much else going on at the time. It would have been hard for a movie to not greatly impact my life.
But I thought a little more and suddenly, the answer was obvious. There was only one movie that truly inspired me to make changes in my life, and it was a documentary, of course.
If you haven’t seen Al Gore’s documentary on the coming environmental apocalypse, well, I can only assume that it’s because you don’t like horror movies. Seriously, if you watch this movie and at least don’t decide to change how you recycle, then you are a mongrel. It was released in 2006, and things have obviously not gotten any better. This is the hottest June on record, people. Al wasn’t making this movie because he was mad he didn’t become President in 2000. The shit is hitting the fan. And if you saw the follow-up, An Inconvenient Sequel, you know that the Trump Administration not only failed to act, but actually set us back a few years. I mean, Northern California is burning, Florida is sinking, and we are just coming out of a plague. What’s next? Locusts?
I’m not going to get preachy here and tell you to write your local Congressperson, because that never works. It has to be a cultural change. Yes, my life was changed by this movie, but I already cared about the environment, which is why I saw it opening weekend in the first place (Plus, a portion of my ticket money went to an environmental charity if you saw it the first week. It was the last I could do.) But there was still a lot I didn’t know, and I’ll never be able to close Pandora’s Box now.
It’s been 15 years, and it’s only gotten worse. We need to do better, because the disasters aren’t just happening more often, they’re getting worse. The polar ice caps aren’t melting a little bit every day. They’re melting a little bit one day, then a little bit more the next day, then a little bit more the day after that, and so on. And nobody cares.
So, if you want to give a lick about one of the 30 movies that I’m going to talk about this month, make it this one. And you might as well buy the book, while you’re at it. We got one shot at this whole planet thing, so let’s not blow it.
mattdursin.com 