BY EMMA STENZEL
Cardinal Staff
What if you knew that the world as we know it will no longer exist in 45 years? What if you knew we were able to put a stop to its destruction but didn’t? It seems unbelievable, but this is exactly how “The Age of Stupid” forecasts our future.
The Greenpeace documentary, recently presented at Saint Mary’s University by the Philosophy and Frozen River Film Festival clubs, is a thought-provoking and inspiring film, taking its viewers through the reality of the changes and disorder of our planet. It begins with a man, played by actor Pete Postlethwaite, who lives alone on the devastating wasteland that used to be Earth. The year is 2055, and humankind is nonexistent. He searches through archives of old video footage, trying to pinpoint where things went wrong and how people could have saved themselves.
Throughout the film, the audience is exposed to issues like global warming, war and the excess of human consumption. “The Age of Stupid” approaches these topics using a variety of mediums including authentic news clips, sarcastic cartoons and human interest stories.
Viewers of the documentary follow a collection of people across the globe, such as a mountain guide from France, a Nigerian medical student, two children from Iraq, an Indian businessman and a farmer in Great Britain. These people struggle in different ways with the “stupidity” of the world, and their stories motivate audience members to act against the harmful trends with which we’ve somehow become comfortable.
Should an oil company earn nearly $700 per second while people in Nigeria live on less than $1 a day? Is war a reasonable solution for gaining control of the oil market? Should wind energy be sacrificed because the turbines disturb the scenery? Is water from a bottle really better than the tap? “TheAge of Stupid” raises these questions, along with many others, and it’s up to us to fairly determine the answers.
As the man in the film says, “We could have saved ourselves.” We still have a chance to make a change. We can rise above “The Age of Stupid.”
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