Your Choice : Academic Review for the movie 'The Age of Stupid'

Are you stupid? In other words, are you a person who wants to be stupid? What is your answer? Absolutely, with no hesitation, you will say ‘No, I’m not!’ However, in this movie, the archivist who lives in 2055 says ‘Yes, you were! As long as we don’t make a change in a lifestyle which can harm the environment seriously, we, who live in 2013, don’t have a right to say ‘No, I’m not’ And in that sense, this movie ‘The age of stupid’ strongly indicates us that we are totally stupid enough to be blamed as ‘the ones who destroyed the earth’ from the ones who will live in the earth at not very distant future. Through the archivist who keeps the human’s relics, the movie shows us a lot of human’s environment destroying acts which we have been doing. Then, he just asks us ‘Why didn’t we stop the climate change when we still had the chance?’ Namely, in our descendants’ perspective, we might be seemed as stupid people.

            

Then, why didn’t we stop it? Why don’t we stop destroying the environment though we know our act will result as the destruction of the world? The problem is irony! The African girl in the movie is suffered from her surrounding conditions such as the waste land and the adulterated water. She criticizes the life style of American which is waste of sources and the cause of her pity lifestyle. Paradoxically, however, she says that she wants to live like them. In addition, the people in a village refused to build wind farms even though they recognize the seriousness of the climate change. NIMBY! Also, the heroic man who saved a lot of people when the gigantic hurricane ‘KATARINA’ hit the Louisiana, worried about the climate change, but, unlike his words, he used a lot of energy such as electricity or petroleum. They know how serious the climate change is, but it seems like they don’t know how urgent it is. Namely, most people don’t care about the future earth and their descendents and what will happen in 2055 like the movie.

                                           
                                               The great global warming swindle(BBC)
            

This sort of the people who don’t seem to worry about the climate change or don’t recognize the seriousness or urgency of the climate change has their own reasonable reasons. For example, the documentary program named ‘The Great Global Warming Swindle’ which is broadcasted by BBC insists the global warming is not true. They cast a doubt on the global warming or climate change, insisting that global warming is just a trumped-up issue made by some interest groups such as scientists or politicians. Watching this documentary, some people might be persuaded by it. However, our movie ‘The age of stupid’ not only gives us its own reasonable clues, but also appeals to our emotion. That is the biggest power that this movie has and the power that change my mind which was very skeptical to the climate change because of the BBC documentary. I’m sure that there is a possibility of that the global warming or climate change is just an overestimated concern made by some interest groups. However, think that our act can harm the environment even it moves at a snail’s pace. Think that what we do today can play a really important role of destroying the future earth. What we have to do for the preservation of the earth which seemed to be quite simple and concise

   


   Since the basic cause of this global warming is not the overusing of the petroleum or emission of a lot of CO2, but the human’s desire to more convenient life, we have to focus on the human’s greedy mind. The ‘Rich-poor gap’ makes the rich use more and more resources while the poor were suffered from the limited resources and climate change. People who agree with the necessity of alleviating the climate change refused to do anything which will help reducing global warming because of their benefits. People should abandon their avaricious mind. It is very old and boring cliché but one of the most important factors to solve the climate change. Throw away your selfishness and find what you can do even if it is small things such as walking in a short distance or using the public transportation. Remember the most basic things can be the best solution for the biggest problem but the hardest things to practice.


                                                                                              For our bright future

           At last, yet, you have a chance to change your answer for the question ‘Are you stupid?’ What could be your answer? ‘No’ or ‘Yes’  It’s your choice to make, but remember this. Only your choice can make the earth different place for your sons and grandsons and our whole descendents who will live in the earth after we pass away.