What A Way To Go

Okay, I know I've plugged "What A Way To Go" before, but I finally saw it all the way through today. It is a fantastic movie that sends a basic message: The way we are living now is unsustainable and we are destroying the Planet and ourselves (both physically and mentally).

The movie is written and directed by Tim Bennett, who is an average, middle-aged, balding guy, a lot like me. Like myself, he sensed something was wrong all the way back in the 1980s, but he didn't "wake up" until later in life, just like me.

The two-hour flick really tells Tim's personal story, and examines the many serious problems facing our world, including climate change, population overshoot, and biological and economic collapse.

Like in my favorite book Ishmael, Tim challenges what he calls the Culture of Empire. He talks about some bitter realities about climate change and addresses some uncomfortable issues that Al Gore has chosen to avoid.

I loved the interviews, which included some superstar authors like Daniel Quinn and Derrick Jensen. He also interviews some of his family members and friends, who all have intelligent things to day.

The last section of the movie, called "Walkabout," doesn't really provide a happy ending, but it does tell viewers that there is a "choice" to be made by all of us. The author then invites everyone to join him to "tell my truth."

The Goose's Thoughts:

While viewing this film a thought kept popping into my head: As an environmentalist I am likely doing more harm than good. That is because when I help to save the environment I'm also helping to save people. I may be doing a better service to the Planet by simply doing nothing, and then waiting for human extinction. Once humans are gone, the Earth will likely be completely restored in a few million years.



A quote from Producer Sally Erickson's Blog (it really sums things up):

You have to understand what it has been like for us to be essentially unfunded, virgin, documentary filmmakers who embarked on making a movie that takes on the biggest questions facing human beings; a movie that takes apart the very core assumptions of the American lifestyle; a movie that forecasts the immanent dissolution of all that Americans have come to expect as their birthright: endless economic growth, material comfort, and growing prosperity, from now on and until forever.