Study
Media Investigation Written by TailstheHedgehog
Investigation Task – An Inconvenient Truth
‘An Inconvenient Truth’, 2006 is widely regarded as a critical stepping-stone in humanities journey to become aware of global warming and climate change. Regardless of the credibility of the issue, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ does its job in providing an extremely persuasive documentary, tapping into prominent values, moral ideals, and representing the host, Al Gore, as a tortured believer and somebody we should trust in informing us just what atrocities we are committing against the planet. So powerful was this documentary, that it finally alleviated the controversial subject of climate change into common dinner-table conversation, successfully targeting almost every person on the planet – this was the key to ‘An Inconvenient Truth’s’ success. The issue regards everyone, and the films director, Davis Guggenheim, used conventions, rhetorical techniques and representations to inform the audience on an international scale the severity and possible consequences of climate change.
Rhetorical Techniques
‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is in every way a conventional documentary. The producers have not tap-danced on techniques not tried and tested because of the very wide audience they wanted, or needed, to target.
The film largely consists of its narrator and presenter, Al Gore, strutting on a stage during a press conference, giving both the live audience and the viewer a lecture to prove climate change. Long shots from just below the stage are normally used to encompass the screen behind him which will project graphs, data and video clips. When Gore is saying something particularly mind-blowing, such as informing us on the total carbon load by 2050, close-ups will be used to convey Gore’s facial expression to the audience.
Cinema Verite is often used in the scenes between the lecture, which normally follow Gore on what is represented to be his ‘coming-of-age’ as he realises just how bad a state our planet is in. This gives us the idea that we, too, are following Gore on this journey, and this is just one technique that is used to connect us to Gore on an emotional, personal level so that we may better trust him and his data.
Archival footage and photographs are a major technique in the film. Some, like photographs of Gore’s son, sister, and childhood work to tighten our relationship with Gore, while others, such as the ‘before and after’ photographs of mountains across the world, even act as data by showing us how far back glaciers have receded. Archival footage of meetings within Congress, and even Gore’s failed campaign for presidency are also used. Regarding Gore’s failed campaign, specific attention is payed to the fact that much of what Gore was campaigning for was related to Climate Change. The fact that he lost the election plants a seed of doubt within the viewers mind as we consider just how much the government of the context cared about climate change, representing Gore as someone who was ignored and persecuted for believing in something as drastic as climate change.
Interviews within the film are actually very few, the main focus is on Gore and what he is saying about the planet’s health. In fact the entire film feels like one big interview with the ex-Vice President. A very important ingredient to ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is the films ability to connect Al Gore with the viewers. His data is very convincing, and very mind-spinning, and Gore is represented not just as the man who lost the election. He’s the ex-Vice President. By using techniques that take advantage of Gore’s jokes on stage with specific camera angles, as well as Cinema Verite and Archival Footage we find ourselves entrenched not just in the dismal state of the planet but in Gore’s life story. The impressive thing about the film is that the techniques work seamlessly, so well that you don’t even notice that it can depart on a tangent to Gore’s childhood every so often,
Cultural Context
The film was produced in 2006, and uses data accumulated since nearly fifty years ago. Gore gave the speech that makes up most of the film in the University of Miami, a university in America. Al Gore is an American citizen, and much of his data concerns that of America and her current input to climate change. He often puts emphasis on the fact that America is one of the worst contributors to greenhouse gasses, and that they hadnot yet signed the Kyoto Protocol.
America is the primary target audience, but considering that the film concerns the entire planet the issue was great enough to be noted by hundreds of countries, creating a powerful state of awareness across the globe.
The blockbuster disaster film directed by Robert Emmerich, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ coincided with the ‘An Inconvenient Truth’s’ release. These two films together would have been the perfect recipe for cooking up terror in the international public, as both were on a large enough scale to target the international community and a good enough quality to be taken notice of.
The film uses conventional techniques that relate to the sort of documentary conventions today’s western culture would expect. Humour is used by Gore to keep the attentions of viewers, and the film consists of much archival footage of Gore’s failed campaign to win presidency.
Cultures and Subcultures
The cultures and sub-cultures this film are produced within and for are 21st century America, specifically post 9/11. In my context, it is easy to take for granted the controversy that surrounded this topic before the film’s release, because now it’s one of the greatest environmental issues facing us. Now, politicians tell us what they they are going to do about it in the run up to their campaigns, instead of ignoring those trying to preach it. Most people are environmentally aware and recycling is part of our lifestyles. But before the movie, Global Warming was something like UFO’s, with many politicians trying to deny its existence. Sub-cultures such as ‘greenies’ and those that live self-sustainably would have shed a lot of the debates and stereotypes surrounding them, as suddenly they were the ‘good-guys’.
Values and Ideologies
‘An Inconvenient Truth’ purposefully targets moral values to motivate its audience to take action against the carbon load in their own personal lives.
“You see that pale, blue dot? That’s us. Everything that has ever happened in all of human history, has happened on that pixel. All the triumphs and all the tragedies, all the wars all the famines, all the major advances... it’s our only home. And that is what is at stake, our ability to live on planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization. I believe this is a moral issue, it is your time to seize this issue, it is our time to rise again to secure our future.” –Al Gore
It is an essential moral ideal that we care for our surroundings, for each other and the environment. If we accept that what Gore has said about climate change is true, then it isn’t difficult for an audience to extrapolate that their governments are ignoring this moral value, and this gives Gore an almost ‘freedom fighter’ status. And everybody loves a freedom fighter. The producers of this film have manipulated its stance and the way Gore is portrayed to tap into our most prominent values and ideals. By reminding us of one of our most ingrained values, of the compassion we should pay our ‘only home’, not only do we come to trust Gore but also find a shocking wake-up call, one which prompts us to take action. Being an ideology and accepted across the globe, Gore as the advantage of having the capability to send his message to every single person on the planet with access to the film.
Sarcasm and wit are accepted western values, and Gore does use them to sway and relax the audience.
“We have here a scales that balances two different things. On one side, we have gold bars! Mmmmmm, don’t they look good? I’d just like to have some of those gold bars. Mmmmm. On the other side of the scales... um... THE ENTIRE PLANET! Hmmmm...” –Al Gore
The producers are careful to make sure that when watching this we, the audience, the working class, the voters, do not feel wholly responsible. It is the men in power, the men with the money, of course – which may be using ‘tall poppy yndrome’ to the films advantage. Gore states that if these men and women accept the problem and believe the issue, then the moral thing to do is do something about it. However, according to Gore they will not because their pay cheques depend on it. This puts greed of materialistic values such as money over compassionate, moral ones, and immediately sets the audience against, specifically, the American government, which is ironically where, had he served a successful campaign, he would be right now.
“You know, more than 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair wrote this, that “It’s difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” –Al Gore
This taps into the cynical value that ‘the mighty dollar’ makes the world go ‘round, and makes a mockery of it in a way the audience can appreciate.
Representations
‘An Inconvenient Truth’ does not trouble itself representing various ethnic groups, stereotypes or sub-cultures, rather attempting to use a range of rhetorical techniques to bring a feeling unity across the planet, that we have a common issue – which is true. It does, however, re-present various political groups, and even Gore’s family.
The government under President George W. Bush is almost ridiculed, and we are left thinking ‘what if’? What if instead, Gore had been elected? The government of George W. Bush is represented as cowardly, materialistic and more concerned with the number of votes than the health of the planet.
Another one of the films techniques is using voice-over narration and archival footage to represent Al Gore as a humble person from the humblest of origins. It is not mentioned that his father was a U.S Senator for Tennessee, only that he and his family had a love for farming. Farming is a working class occupation, and hauls us one step further in familiarising ourselves with Al Gore. The film does not represent him as a high-flying democratic politician, but a modest environmental activist with only our best interests at heart. Al Gore is represented as somebody we can trust so that his data appears more credible. His losses, such as his sisters death to lung cancer, and the near loss of his son to a car accident, are also touched in the film. Such personal dramas always come back to the topic of climate change, more specifically Gore’s motivation to do something about it.
Climate Change is the most prominent representation. The film accepts it as a natural occurrence, but also represents the issue as an impending disaster for not just America but the entire world, including Australia. The film does this by using only evidence that supports this idea, omitting the sort of data that Lord Monckton, an infamous sceptic, might choose to include.
Selection Processes
‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is obsessed with driving home its idea of climate change and what consequences lie on store for us as a species should we continue to gas our planet into the next ice age. Selecting only to use particular pieces of data, not bothering to tell the audience how accurate or absolute it may be, makes the film a very biased production. Lord Monckton, a climate change sceptic, held his own press conference in Canberra 2009 in a similiar style to Al Gore’s, except it gave the viewer the privilege of seeing everything ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ chose to omit, which is, ironically, everything that would be inconvenient in portraying the films version of the truth. Gore would be no angel, but none of his less-ideal traits are shown, and in fact he is represented as humbled in his defeat in the race for presidency and made stronger because of. The film wants to drive home a message, whether for profit or for the moral itches Gore continuously complains of during the film, quickly and without hesitance. That means no data that refutes the probability of the human race having a substantial impact on climate change, or that Gore and the producers may be lying through their teeth. Selecting what to say and what not to say is critical to interpretation of the films intended message.
Points of View
‘An inconvenient Truth’ does try not to be biased. For example, one the subject of climate change a sceptic’s favourite fall-back option is that it is a naturally occurring pattern. Al Gore represents himself as somebody able to describe other points of view by acknowledging this. So, the film does take into consideration other viewpoints, which is important because some, though not all, of the target audience have the ability to make a resistant reading. By accepting these readings during the film, those who would have made these readings are thrown off guard, and are more likely to agree with Al Gore’s intended point of view – that climate change is being influenced by human impact, and it will cause devastating effects.
Gore’s point of view is continuously reinforced by selection and omission, because the film is undeniably biased no matter how much it appears not to be. Facts about truth and hoax’s aside, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ will always come back to it’s point of view, which makes it biased. Emotionally connecting us to Al Gore via rhetorical techniques such as cinema verite, archival footage of Gore’s past and voice-over narration paints the image of Gore as some tortured, humbled and poetic environmentalist. By being able to relate to Gore, and being manipulated to that he is very passionate about this topic, it becomes easier for the audience to relate to his point of view.
Other more specific points of view are shown as extremely biased and nasty. George H W Bush said from a low angle, grainy shot in all his angry southern hospitality: “This guy is so far out in the environmental extreme, we'll be up to our neck in owls and outta work for every American. He is way out, far out, man.”
The fact that the film has the gall to show these viewpoints only works to its advantage, because it brings a feeling of sympathy from the audience to witty and passionate Gore.
Lasting Effect
The film had a lasting effect, proving it used rhetorical techniques effectively.
· Over 106,000 tons of carbon were offset in the year following the film's release, which is equivalent to 225 million car miles.
· 4200+ tons of carbon were offset just by people switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
· Over 150 climate change bills have been introduced in Congress, with the historic Markey-Waxman Bill passing the House in June, 2009.
· Five countries - England, Scotland, Czech Republic, New Zealand, and Germany - and the Canadian province of British Columbia incorporated An Inconvenient Truth into their secondary schools' curricula.
· President Obama created the new position of Assistant to the President for Climate and Energy.
· The United States House of Representatives established a Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
· The U.S. Senate established a Select Committee On Energy Independence and Global Warming.
· Over 2600 people have been trained to give The Climate Project presentation and 4 million people on all seven continents have heard the presentation.
· The issue of global warming reached more than a billion people worldwide.
By Bronwyn Fraser
