Anamaria Tivadar, Vasantha Yogananthan, Melanie Gogol, Ashley Wallace, and Danielle De Kay

Environmental Movements

“In the second half of the twentieth century, late modern (“new”) social movements…centered on universal, chiefly global issues; they integrated their bases both through

more flexible modes of organization and via television and other mass media; and they

were often successful to the extent that they pursued single issues free from party

agendas.”(DeJong, 145)

What is An Inconvenient Truth?• A documentary film and book about climate change, especially

global warming. • Directed by Davis Guggenheim & produced Paramount Pictures

and starring Al Gore. • Based largely on a multimedia presentation that Gore developed

over many years as part of an educational campaign on global warming.

• Gore explains scientific evidence for global warming, discusses the politics and economics of global warming, and emphasizes the consequences that global climate change will have on our planet and on our lives.

• The documentary is based on a speech he has been developing for six years, and is supported by dramatic visuals.

Noticeable signs of Global Warming

• The 10 warmest years in history were in the last 14 years. • Last year South America experienced its first hurricane. • Japan and the Pacific are setting records for typhoons. • Hurricane Katrina passed over Florida, doubled back over

the Gulf, picked up strength from unusually warm Gulf waters, and went from Category 3 to Category 5.

• Cores of polar ice show that carbon dioxide is much, much higher than ever before in a quarter of a million years.

• Cyclical patterns reveals that in recent years, the graph turns up and keeps going up, higher and higher, off the chart.

Analysis of An Inconvenient TruthSTRENGTHS

•Scientific data to back up his claims• Explains it in an easy to understand manner• Examines the opponent's views• Visually pleasing• Credible source

• Strong background in global warming research and politics• Has been doing this for 5 years before the movie came out

• Good example of global media

Analysis of An Inconvenient Truth

STRENGTHS

• Gore’s activism goes beyond the national state boundaries“The contemporary world is not determined by the boundaries of the political state. Economic and political forces operate on a wider scale.” (DeJong 37)

• Started as grassroots• Not controversial

- His arguments are not discredited; i.e.. Michael Moore - Relies on evidence to make his claims- Allows numbers and graphs to carry the message

• Correlates images to social and environmental consequences

Analysis of An Inconvenient TruthSTRENGTHS

• WIDELY SEEN: most watched documentary of all times…• Distributed by Paramount Classics; third highest grossing

documentary in the United States• Premiered at 2006 Sundance Film Festival; opened in

New York and Los Angeles• The companioned book reached #1 on the New York

Times best seller list twice in the summer of 2006• Received reviews in various magazines (Scientific

American), newspapers (Chicago Sun Times), TV interviews (BBC), Internet sites (Rotten Tomatoes), and blogs (RealClimate)

• The Colbert Report also parodied An Inconvenient Truthhttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22The+Convenientest+Truth%22&search=Search

Analysis of An Inconvenient TruthWEAKNESSES

• Caters primarily to the American public• Irrelevant personal accounts• Sensationalism• Does Gore have a political agenda? Does that cloud his

judgment?• Personal attacks on President Bush• Caters to the American public primarily,although this is a

GLOBAL issue

Analysis of An Inconvenient Truth

WEAKNESSES

• Does not emphasize the significance of making small changes in lifestyle’ i.e. turning off the lights.

• Repetitive guidelines • Too many personal excerpts • Florida election segment• Should have emphasized the solutions more• Costly to purchase DVD

Question # 1 & 2

1. The images of Katrina, 9/11, New York City – they are catering to the U.S. audience. Is this problematic?

2. Should Al Gore have focused more on the solutions? Why? Why not?

An Inconvenient Truth Websitewww.climatecrisis.net

Strengths• Aesthetically pleasing, modern

visuals, catchy quotes paired with a variety of environmental devastation facts

• Offers the ability to calculate your own carbon dioxide emission

• Presents the opportunity to watch trailer, which although sensational, is also intriguing & compels others to watch the documentary

Weaknesses• The contents provided are not

credible news facts, but made to look like them.

• Looks like a promotional website for the latest Blockbuster flick; i.e.downloads, reviews, news & blog, etc.

• No links to the journal articles, or content which isn’t so down graded

• No focus on regional area or community involvement options

An Inconvenient Truth vs.

Day After Tomorrowhttp://www.climatecrisis.net/trailer/

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/dayaftertomorrow/large.html

CORPORATISM

• Produced by Paramount• Widely distributed• Public Sphere

“By the public sphere we mean first of all a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed. Access is guaranteed to all citizens. A portion of all public sphere comes into being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble to form a public body. Citizens behave as a public body when they confer in an unrestricted fashion – that is, with the guarantee of freedom of assembly and association and the freedom to express and publish their opinions – about matters of general interest.”

- HABERMAS

CORPORATISM

• Critically acclaimed• Corporations taking an initiative against global warming –

social responsibility is the new trendExamples: McDonalds and fitness, Lululemon and environmentalism, Aldo and AIDS

• Corporate power – have more power than a single voice • Pressure the government – Kyoto Protocol• Reformist social activist movement

Question # 3

Corporatism – is it a pro or a con to the documentary and its credibility?

Political & Corporate Response to An Inconvenient Truth

• Competitive Enterprise Institute aired two commercials, both using the tagline: “Carbon Dioxide—They call it pollution, We call it life”; CEI is a think tank that is funded in large part by corporations and organizations including ExxonMobil, the Ford Motor Company and Earhart Foundation

- Political operatives, public relations experts and ad agencies are increasingly using video-sharing websites like YouTube to shape public opinion.

• President Bush also tried to create confusion and doubt as to the real causes of global warming.

• In August 2006, the Wall Street Journal revealed that a YouTube video lampooning Gore and the movie, titled “Al Gore’s Penguin Army”, was made by DCI Group, a Washington PR firm, that has direct ties to ExxonMobil Oil company, as well as the Republican Party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq_Bj-av3g0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqZ8heDt4M0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZSqXUSwHRI

Public Relations Tactics & Global Warming

PR tactics used by large corporations, such as Exxon Mobil and General Motors:

• Ventriloquism: scientists invented global warming to get more $ for research

• Astroturfing: Friends of Science – presenting themselves as legitimate scientists, talk to editors, journalists and reporters as ‘experts’.

" The Kyoto Protocol is a political solution to a non-existent problem without scientific justification"

Public Relations Tactics & Global Warming

• Think Tanks: Funded by Exxon Mobile to deny global warming ($ 17M over 7 years); repeat same questionable messages over and over again.

“Shattered Consensus will also shatter commonly held opinions about global warming and leave the reader with serious doubts about whether policies to ‘fight’ climate change are warranted at all.”

– George C. Marshall Institute

• For more information on PR tactics, visit www.DeSmogBlog.com

Question # 4

Is this documentary an effective way of bringing the issue to the forefront?