Addison Road

We went with our housechurch to see An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary which chronicles Al Gore’s quest to raise awareness about global warming. We went to the earlier showing so we could break it down after, over a few drinks at one of our favorite spots. (We didn’t feel like we could legitimately call it “church” if we all just happened to be in the same movie theater at the same time, staring at the screen. Though now that I think about it, many churches do “church” that way…)

One of the cool things about our housechurch is that it’s not all people who agree about things, especially politics. (Believe it or not, Ash and I are the moderates. Well…Ash is, anyway.) But the cooler thing is that politics don’t get in the way of relationships; over many hours, dinners and bottles of wine, true friendship has blossomed, friendship that demands higher allegiance than political proclivities. It’s so money. After the film, we had the sweetest conversation…everyone was respectful and truly listened, and we were able to talk about hard things without beating around the bush. (Oh, man…pun entirely unintended, but now that I’m reading it, I’m thinking Freudian slips are the funniest thing ever.)

The weird thing about this movie is that it’s as much about Al Gore as it is about global warming. For Democrats, this is great. We love Al. We’re still a little mad about Election 2000, so it’s reassuring to see that Al’s doing something constructive with all his free time. The fact that the filmmaker chose to humanize this important and controversial topic by viewing it through the eyes of a former Presidential-hopeful bothers us not at all. In fact, it works: we care about this guy’s passion and journey, and his level of personal commitment to the issue is both compelling and inspiring.

But for those of a more Republican-ish bent, the filmmaker’s choice (and Gore’s eagerness) smacks of political posturing and poor sportsmanship. In a couple scenes, Gore jokes about the election, and in a few others is quite critical of the current Administration’s environmental policy. (I fought a long and hard internal battle not to put those last two words in quotes. Yay, me!) This came off to my more Right-leaning housechurch brethren as graceless and heavy-handed. And I can see their point. If you really think the issue is important, wouldn’t you try to un-politicize it as much as possible in order to appeal to the widest possible audience? Sure, not if you’re Michael Moore…but there’s only one of him. (And some in the reading audience are thanking the Good Lord right now for breaking the mold.)

This is my beef with the rash of progressive documentaries which are flooding America’s movie screens. They raise very important points about American society, culture and politics, but for anyone who hasn’t already bought into their agenda, they seem like one-sided polemical propaganda that enjoys the whining just a bit too much to be credible. And that sucks. Films in popular culture which address current issues have the potential to be conversation-starters between people of all political stripes…but if no one with different stripes than the filmmaker bothers to see the movies, conversation is dead in the water, and everybody goes home feeling justified and pissed…a combination that pretty much guarantees partisan polarization in perpetuity.

My beef aside, this film is worth seeing. The parts (comprising the majority of screen-time) in which Al presents the scientific rationale for and implications of global warming are riveting. He’s great at making complex concepts accessible without being condescending. In fact, Gore’s respect for his audience’s intelligence is the thing he’s most got going for him, and for the documentary. You won’t feel dumb after seeing it, which is always a step in the right direction.

I’ve heard Internet rumblings among those Dems who’ve seen the film (and the editor’s Oscar-worthy efforts to portray Gore as a charismatic public speaker) expressing the hope that Gore will run again in ‘08. I think it’s the worst idea ever, especially if he really feels passionately about this issue. If he runs, it will confirm the theory that this movie is just a vehicle to revive his waning political career. And care for God’s creation is more important than that. After seeing the movie, I want to believe it’s more important to him, too. But we’ll see.