Transition Culture

7 Dec 2005

Visioning the Future #1 – Peak Oil – The Movie

It was only a matter of time really. We’ve had the Climate Change Movie, The Day After Tomorrow, and now here come the Peak Oil movies. Thanks to the excellent Powering Down blog site for drawing my attention to three forthcoming movies, due for release either on US television or cinemas. I wrote in an earlier blog about our collective inability to vision the kind of future we actually want, and so end up stumbling blindly forward into whatever we get. Watch the trailers for these three films and have a think about it. To what extent is this a self fulfilling prophecy? Do any of these in any way attempt to draw out the best in people rather than their most base instincts? Is this your view of peak oil?

My favourite is Oil Storm, just because it is SUCH a bad name. The second is called The Deal, and finally Syriana. Syriana has Matt Damon in it so I imagine Emma will drag me along to see it at some point.

Perhaps they are useful in that they will make people aware of the issue, just like The End of Suburia but on the big screen. I would question though, how many people will watch these and then actually go and do something, as opposed to slump even further into the sofa in a disempowered blob. I’ll bet that in none of these films does a character say “so what I’ve done is talked to all the neighbours and we’re going to take down all the fences and start a community intensive food garden, and we’ve pooled all our energy quotas to put in a microCHP which we’re going to fuel with hedge clippings, and do you know, Mrs Johnson at 37 has started growing shiitake mushrooms in her garage….oh and I love that jumper, did you make it?”. Where is “I Used To Be A Website Designer But Now I Grow Great Carrots – The Movie”, or “When Harry Met Sally And They Did This Great Hemp And Lime Retrofit To Sally’s House 2”? In production no doubt.