Al Gore's Movie- A Tribute to Al Gore

"Hey Dad! Who is Al Gore?"

"Some boob down in Tennessee that thinks we're not cold enough."




Eyewitness News "meteorologist" Al Gore

"See these here clouds, inversion layers, funnels, currents?"


While I was in Mexico this past week, I didn't watch a lot of TV, and never got to a computer. Last night, however, I did watch a fascinating science-fiction thriller-the much bally-hooed "An Inconvenient Truth" starring Al Gore. Aside from the obvious theme of the movie, there was also a sub plot: Al Gore as the Great Man.

The basic thread is Gore giving his "The world is coming to an end" slide show presentation before a hall full of adoring people-apparently none of whom dared The Great Man a question. It was reminiscent at times of the 11 o'clock news when the local news "meteorologist" comes on for 5 minutes standing in front of a screen with white clouds blowing every which-way representing wind fronts and temperatures-stuff I can never fathom (Just tell me what the weather will be like tomorrow.) Added to that were charts showing sea levels, currents, melting glaciers and all kinds of smoke and mirrors. What made me wonder was whether Gore (who is no scientist) was reading from a screen behind the camera. I can't believe that this was all completely off the cuff-with no much as a single "uh" or any other verbal tic. Just Big Al droning on like he was the chief departmental science chair at MIT. (Or was this filmed over several days, take by take?)

As is his wont, Gore dismissed anybody out there who has a different view of Global Warming. No Sir, 100% of scientists agree that there is global warming and it is man's fault. Anyone who disagrees is not a serious scientist or is obviously
"bought off" by the energy companies.

At this point, I should stop and point out that I missed the first 20-30 minutes. Maybe that was the part where Gore made the case that Global Warming is man-made (though it wouldn't have been a very sensible sequence in his lesson plan). All that I got were scenes of the smog in China and some charts showing the the USA was the chief culprit in carbon emissions. But then again, I may have missed it. I'm kinda slow in these things-as the last anonymous commentator has pointed out-"moron" I think was the term he used (one of the biggest morons this planet HAVE to offer, in fact).

But I once again digress. I now come to the sub theme-or perhaps the main theme of the film-Al Gore as The Great Man. Interspersed with Gore's "lecture" are scenes of Big Al traveling the globe-to some 100 or so destinations- to give his power point presentation. In some scenes, Big Al is seen traipsing through airports, going through security checks with everybody else and schlepping his carry-ons through the economy class section of an airplane. (Forget the fact that Al usually flies in his own private jet.)In one scene, Al leans against the back wall of an elevator-clearly exhausted by his herculean humanitarian efforts. In several other scenes, the camera catches Al looking pensively out at the ruined landscape, zooming in so close we can count the whiskers on the side of his face.

Then, out of nowhere, the story drifts back to those infamous days-the 2000 election, the Florida re-count and the inauguration of George W Bush. The events are depicted in grainy scenes-with sinister sounding music playing in the background-reminiscent of old newsreels of Auschwitz or Buchenwald. Gore describes how hard it was for him to lose, but that it enabled him to dedicate himself to his life's work (making Al look good.) The camera once again pans in closely to The Great Man's face as he contemplates what might have been-for the world, of course.

Then, along with the end credits, there are suggestions as to what WE can do to save the Earth. Mundane things like walk to work or ride a bike to work-while Big Al flies around the world in private jets and lights up foul-smelling stogies in London restaurants (yes, he does). Of course, nothing is said about the humongous house that Al lives in that soaks up more carbon whatevers than any of the common folks' homes. (Oh yeah, he has fixed up up so now it looks like Tarzan's dream tree house.) The film also didn't suggest that we all purchase carbon emissions credits from that company called Generation Investment Management-founded and co-owned over by none other than Al Gore. Of course, nothing was said about Al's net worth going from about 2 million dollars to about 10 million dollars since his failed presidential bid. Aside from Generation Investments Management, how much do you get paid for all those slide show presentations around the world, Al?

So did watching this "block-buster", Oscar-winning, Emmy-winning, Nobel-winning film change my attitude about Global Warming? No. I still don't know what the truth is, but I don't think that Mr Gore's viewpoint is the final, conclusive answer. It certainly has not changed my opinion about Al Gore. He is still a big bag of wind.