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May 17, 2006
An Inconvenient Truth Trailer
I haven't written very much about the new documentary about global warming, An Inconvenient Truth featuring former VP Al Gore, but that's not because I'm not incredibly curious to see the film. While Gore's documentary doesn't quite have the massive buzz of Fahrenheit 9/11, Gore's star power and the recent stirrings of renewed attention to global warming are setting up a documentary to become one of the more high-profile movie events of the summer. The film's trailer, available on YouTube, effectively sets up An Inconvenient Truth as the "most terrifying movie of the summer," complete with dramatic music and depictions of some of the more dramatic long-term effects of global warming.
Promoting the film has also provided Gore with his widest audience since the 2000 election, including this fantastic Saturday Night Live spoof in which Gore appeared in a mock-up of the Oval Office, addressing the audience as President. What I like about the SNL skit is that Gore parodies his straight-laced campaign while still landing several jabs at Bush's presidency, commenting at one point, "On a positive note, we worked hard to save Welfare, fix Social Security and of course provide the free universal health care we all enjoy today. But all this came at a high cost. As I speak, the gigantic national budget surplus is down to a perilously low $11 trillion dollars. And don't get any ideas. That money is staying in the very successful lockbox. We're not touching it." But what the SNL skit also illustrates is that the documentary will shape public dialogue about environmentalism, even for people who are unable to see the film, and this discussion should be felt for some time.
An Inconvenient Truth has a staggered release, which means that while it will open in some cities on May 24, it won't reach DC until June 2, but it looks like Paramount is planning a relatively wide release. But, again, I'm almost as interested in the promotion of the film as the film itself, which was produced by Participant Productions, the indie production company that has sought to use films to encourage audiences "to participate in making a difference." Will be interesting to see how this doc contributes to public dialogue about global warming.
Update: Just wanted to add this link to the Howard Kurtz "Media Notes" column from the Washington Post, which points out that the Truth hype is interesting, in part, because Gore's 2008 aspirations aren't yet clear. Of course Gore has claimed to be a "recovering politican," but as Gore himself observed, there's always potential for a "relapse." Kurtz's survey of blogworld lays out several compelling narratives (Gore as Comeback Kid, Gore as "what might have been"), which makes the publicity and promotion of the film that much more interesting.
Posted by chuck at May 17, 2006 10:29 PM
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Comments
One of the funniest things I have heard in ages, pity he was robbed in 2000
Posted by: Stephen Carlyon at May 18, 2006 12:26 AM
You know, while that SNL skit is very funny, it's also kind of sad.
Posted by: Chuck at May 18, 2006 1:57 AM