Masturbatory Media
March 3rd, 2008 by AndrewBefore I get anyone’s hopes up, this post actually doesn’t have anything to do with porn. I did, however, just finish watching a documentary called A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (thanks, Erik). I didn’t necessarily learn much I didn’t know, but I also didn’t learn much from An Inconvenient Truth - there’s value in merely reiterating the significance of things you already know. But this post isn’t about peak oil, either.
What it is about, is the inherent problem in the way that most media is produced and marketed. I fear that the only people who are going to see obscure documentaries about peak oil, or anarcho-syndicalism are the people who are already educated about, or at least interested in the issues at hand. The other problem is, its nearly impossible to present the true scope of an issue like climate change or peak oil without sounding like an alarmist (even if that alarmism is probably necessary). The cumulative effect is the development of insular intellectual communities that produce self-reinforcing arguments, and the media that comes out of them tends to target that same community (intentional or not).
As a miniscule case-in-point, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most of people who read this site probably don’t have wildly differing views from me. Correct me if I’m wrong - this site could use some good arguments.
I’m not saying I have the slightest clue how to change this. Given the amount of controversy that a soft-spoken movie like An Inconvenient Truth generated, I can’t imagine something like A Crude Awakening seeing any sort of widespread circulation, essentially eliminating any opportunity for real discussion. In the mean time, the net effect just seems like masturbation. Or at best, a circle-jerk.
P.S. For those of you who actually are interested in peak oil, there is plenty of good material out there. The End of Suburbia is another worthwhile documentary. For an entertaining look at the history of oil politics, check out the comedic stylings of Robert Newman. Worth watching.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
Huh! It’s cool to see that The Take is now available on the web. I saw that one in theatres - I came out with a big smile on my face.
A film that I have heard basically nothing about (after it played at the Vancouver Film Festival and won the big Climate Change award), but I had a chance to see, is called “The Planet” Directed by Michael Stenberg, Linus Torell, and Johan Söderberg. Pretty much the best movie to cover all the different ways we’re destroying the planet I’ve seen. Maybe this is an example of the kind of thing you’re talking about.. though the film really does make an ironclad case. (The best part is when they bring in a couple psychologists to talk about the causes and effects of denial…)
I agree with you that there’s pretty much no way that the really important stuff will be seen in any massive way, but that’s natural - mainstream media is not about to promote something that will lead to its own damnation (directly or indirectly), unless there’s a great deal of money behind it.
Take a little heart, though, Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine” has done pretty well, last I checked. Mind you, it’s a book, and.. well, thinking, sensible people are more likely to read books. But still, it’s something. And she beat out Brian Mulroney for the number one seller spot, too (his memoires came out at the same time.)
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Turns out that it’s the Spanish version of The Take. Which ordinarily would be okay, since it’s in English with Spanish subtitles. But it also means that they don’t have any subtitles when the Argentinian folks speak. So I’ve been foiled once again.
In other news, I though the peak oil documentary was depressing, but it can’t compare to “The Refugees of the Blue Planet,” about environmental refugees, which, as of 2003, now outnumber political refugees. And their numbers are expected to grow sixfold to 150 million by 2050. Whoo.