An Inconvenient Truth Director: Davis Guggenheim, Featuring: Al Gore

Reviewed by: John H. Wilde

Everyone should go see this movie.  This was a great surprise to find Al Gore in his most convincing and authentic role.  I would have only wished he had been this convincing during his presidential campaign so he would have won by an even larger margin.  Gore effectively and frighteningly lays out the irrefutable scientific and common-sense evidence that global warming has been under way and is now at a critical threshold.  Gore is likely preaching to the choir with this movie as it is only being shown in a limited number of movie houses in the so-called liberal areas of the country.  However, it is still the most convincing message on global warming I have seen because it effectively uses scientific evidence while relating it back to our everyday perceivable world.  The evidence understood by common-sense, such as photographs of receding glaciers, is his most effective and alarming tool.  The film leaves the audience with the message that they must ethically do something and procrastination is no longer an option.  I screened the movie in Harvard Square and the audience seemed legitimately moved to want to connect with others after the film was over (which appeared to indicate the message was embraced). 

Although giving a list of things that individuals can do to slow global warming, Gore does not go far enough on at least two points.  First, he stops short on the issue of human population.  Although his graphs show the clear relationship of increasing human population growth, CO₂ levels, and temperature rise (which implies that population growth is the key contributor to global warming), Gore does not go so far as to say that family size is also a matter of choice.  He does not suggest that effective action needs to include an increase in the promotion of women’s rights, acceptance of the dual function of romantic love (both for procreation and intimacy), and a greater availability of birth control.  Secondly, Gore does not advocate for a dismantling of the suburban, auto-exclusive environment in favor of environments planned on the scale of the pedestrian and cyclist.  The emphasis, as always, is on more efficient cars.  Although population and the quality of the pedestrian-scaled environment are not fully addressed, this is expected because a post-industrial world is so hard to accept. 

Even so, its two thumbs and ten toes up for this one.  Al Gore comes off less stiff than he was previously thought to be.  The people who don’t want to go see it are the ones who most need to, this includes you!