Movie review, sort of
On Monday night I had a free pass to see an astonishingly depressing documentary. It's called The 11th Hour and it's this year's "An Inconvenient Truth," only more so. At least AIT had breaks where you got to learn about Al Gore before being bombarded with more relentlessly overwhelming bad news. Don't get me wrong: 11th Hr. is very well done, tying together not just climate change but air, water, and ground pollution, overfishing, factory farming, the consumer mentality, every way in which we abuse the earth and the consequences thereof... if they'd just spent an equal amount of time, or even just a more balanced coverage, of things we can do to mitigate or reverse the terrible effects human consumption have had on the planet, I could recommend it wholeheartedly. As it is, it spends about 20-25 minutes of a less than 90 minute film showing some really terrific projects to approach pollution, energy, all that stuff, in truly innovative ways - so I wasn't compelled immediately to drown my sorrows or cut my wrists in response. So my recommendation is: see it, but only when you're feeling strong and capable and hopeful, 'cause you'll need the fortitude.