2. An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore
There were plenty of inconvenient truths omitted in Al Gore critically-acclaimed, scientifically-controversial documentary. As with so many documentaries about global warming, facts can be very subjective and placed selectively to fit into a wider narrative drive. Indeed, Gore documentary was so controversial that in October 2007 the High Court in London found nine errors in its scientific proclamations. The presiding judge maintained corrective guidance notes must be attached to the documentarys distribution around UK schools. Subsequently, a host of scientists around the world began filing law suits against Gores film for its various other errors. The backtracking that Al Gores spokesman Ms. Kalee Kreider had to perform in the aftermath of the films release to save the almost-president from further embarrassment was in itself worthy of a documentary. For Gore and his documentary team had to try and perform a delicate, withdrawal strategy in the face of ever-increasing defection amongst the scientific community. Of course they were proud of the film. Of course they hadnt been economic with the truth. Of course the spirit of the film is all that matters. Kreider was working overtime; some (some!) of the facts dont represent mainstream scientific opinion No they dont. Never before has a documentary required so much political spin, so much fact-selection, so much movie-going gerrymandering that with An Inconvenient Truth it was as though Gore had gone into an election race with the climate, throwing anything and everything in an attempt to assassinate his opponent. Still, you have to give it to Gore. It was a wonderful, extravagant powerpoint presentation of skyscraper graphs, Mississippi mud pie charts , Venn diagrams, etc. No, the graphics looked good. Its what was saying that didnt make sense. Some of the biggest boobys even Dubya might not resisted came tumbling out the Tennessee mans mouth; sea levels rising 6 metres a year. Nonsense. Pacific islands drowning. Bunkum. Snows of Kilimanjaro melting Go ask Hemingway. Lake Chad is drying up Gobbledigook. Hurricane Katrina was man-made Piddleswater, and Ill go to Spike Lee for my information on Katrina thank you Mr Gore. Still, an Inconvenient Truth wasnt all bad. It was infotainment, dressed-up as a drama-factual, masquerading as something else. And it had a first-rate keynote speaker. And like the ephemeral, opaque notion of global warming itself, the presentation was entirely in keeping with its subject matter.