The Age of Stupid (2009)

Powerful

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I have deeply studied the climate science, and have been presenting this information publicly. I had no idea there was a movie already made about this...the new time lines of the climate crisis are precisely conveyed by this movie. In a way that is *accessible*. And that is even entertaining. This is humanity's very last chance to redeem himself to the planet/nature/god (call it what you will). As a species, we are flunking out. Of course, there are plenty of comments below about the preposterousness of climate science. These commenters have been hornswoggled by the propaganda of the right wing of American politics, and their funding fathers, the fossil fuel corporations. These commenters know not what they spew.

An appropriate title for a documentary in the genre of An Inconvenient Truth, minus the robot like Al Gore. Instead the narrator is Pete Postlethwaite, a dryly funny British actor who leads us through our insane self destruction. It is 2055, and Pete watches news clips of the past, in which the human race did little to prevent climate change. Through flashbacks to teal events, such as Hurricane Katrina, with with an interview with a survivor who stayed to help, in spite of the fact that he lost everything, Al Duvernay, and others show the real cost of our stupidity.London is under water and Sydney is on fire; Las Vegas is a barren wasteland, and the Amazon rain forest is gone. We have almost completely destroyed the planet. Piers Guy tries to make a difference by developing wind farms, a clean and renewable energy source. He battles residents of an English town who complain that the turbines will spoil their landscape. Not in my backyard, as the saying goes. It is our selfishness that will ultimately wipe us out. Other people from around the world are interviewed who still haven't yet given up; but by the end of the film I personally believe that we are at a point of no return. We just cannot continue to add to a world population of over seven billion and survive. Nevertheless, The Age of Stupid is a fine effort.

... and also thanks to the ratings and comments on the message board. (i want to point out that there was a lot more negative ratings/comments about this movie when i first reviewed it)the film shows multiple stories which cover different aspects of how people contribute climate change and how they are affected in return. the nice thing is that it isn't a emotionally distanced documentary that just shows the results in a rather cold manner but also shows motivations of people and parts of their personal life.a similar assumption to the one being made at the end of "diary of the dead" is being made in this movie: maybe humanity isn't worth saving. this thought is underlined by examples of ignorant and egotistical people.some here say the movie is preachy - i think it is not preachy enough. you can't break the brainwashing of stupidity outlets like fox news with just showing facts. there should be texts saying "YOU are killing people right now". well, maybe not quite as harsh but still... the majority of the people need a metaphorical slap in the face to wake them up.which brings me to the way in which this movie has changed my thoughts (and behavior). while watching these idiots protest a wind farm because their precious "view" might be destroyed, something finally clicked. i always knew that the majority of people are like that but the thing is - there is no appealing to them. their comfort is more important than anything else. and because of that, humanity truly deserves to perish. i've always tried to help and my biggest goal in life was to somehow improve life for people - but i now realize that they don't deserve it.

Until I had seen this film I had not realised that propaganda could be all the more painful when it supports one's own cause. I compare it to the experience of listening to a fool who attempts to argue on behalf of an issue one dearly believes in and in the process makes every basic error that allows the utter destruction of an otherwise sensible point of view. I now believe that there is no place for media manipulators, actors or directors in the global warming debate. If ever the argument is to be won it must be by scientists restricted to fact. This film almost swayed me to the opposite pov than was intended, so obvious was its attempt at emotional manipulation and confusion of reality with fiction. So sad considering the gravity of the situation that confronts mankind and the weight of evidence that man is indeed the cause of climate disruption.