Out of Balance is a documentary that discusses global warming and ExxonMobil's relationship to the issue and phenomenon.
Before I sat down to this movie, I was not expecting that it would be something I would be giving a very high score.
I generally feel turned off by the idea of documentaries that are obviously trying to convince you of a stance on some social issue. I also generally get sick of documentaries that point fingers and target specific entities.
Movies that fit these descriptions that also tackle extremely huge issues tend to be too overwhelming to me as well. It's usually too hard to deduce whether what they are even saying is true, or how to respond. Movies like this usually don't even tell you how to respond. They just kind of make you feel weird or upset.
Almost all of Michael Moore's fit all of these categories. And although I enjoyed Roger & Me when he was unknown and going after a more local threat, I have become quickly sick of his movies for the reasons mentioned above.
When looking at the DVD cover for Out of Balance, it seemed like it might fit these things as well. Also the description on the back of the cover seemed to suggest that watching An Inconvenient Truth was a prerequisite to watching this movie. And I have not seen that movie. I thought to myself, I don't even know if I am convinced that global warming is true? How will I even be in a state of mind to hear arguments against ExxonMobil's negative role in something I'm not even convinced of.
Well I don't even know if Out of Balance was made after An Inconvenient Truth came out, but the movie makes not only anticipated my state of mind but essentially directed their movie towards those concerns directly for most of the movie. And the movie doesn't mention An Inconvenient Truth anywhere.
I was bracing myself when the movie first began with a montage and then the disembodied voice of the filmmaker who began speaking about himself in the first person about his experience with hearing about global warming. It seemed about as cliche as you could get. Who is this guy and why should I care? But I soon realized that wasn't necessary. He was about to get straight to the point without any fancy stuff. And that's what I appreciated. The film was simple, but not cheap. The whole thing was short and concise.
Basically what the movie proposes to someone like me who wasn't sure what they believed in regards to the debate about global warming was that I like many other people who had failed to do any real research into the matter had been duped for years into believing there even was a debate. I hadn't even heard about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and that their studies commissioned by the United Nations ten years ago was the largest scientific peer review study ever. And that the unanimous results which were approved by over 150 world nations was that the earth was conclusively warming up due to human production of greenhouse gasses.
This may be nothing new to you socially and environmentally conscientious people out there, especially since I just realized that the IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. But what I found out is that the reason why this issue hasn't for the last ten years been viewed as a virtual fact and more of a debated theory is because ExxonMobil and other huge corporations that make huge profits off of oil and products that are contributing to global warming are funding huge campaigns to distribute doubt and "junk science" that tries to confuse the public as to what is true. Using their tight connections in the government and the press they have been essentially knowingly plunging the entire planet towards doom for short term profits.
Maybe many people already realize this is going on, but I didn't. So I guess if we can keep getting movies out there, we can get more people focusing on the issue.
But once the problem is identified, what are the solutions. Well the film even admits in a problem as gigantic and overwhelming as this it seems difficult to even think about what a single person can do. Of course conserving energy has always been helpful, but there are basically two main tasks the movie urges us to do. One is to not give any of your money in any way to ExxonMobil. Don't buy their gas. Don't work for them. None of it. While the movie doesn't talk about other gas companies too much, it does indicate some companies are a lot less unscrupulous and more willing to look forward to investing in non-renewable resources. It sighted BP as an example.
The other and more important thing it urges you to do I suppose, is to write to all of your government representatives repeatedly and indicate that investing in legislature and programs that will increase research and usage of renewable energy resources is important to you. Basically it is telling you that our governments should be focused on this issue here and now because things are getting bad and irreversible. And the only way to fix it is if the world works together. And if planet becomes uninhabitable then all of the other legislature they are passing won't make much of a difference.
That's about it. At only 65 minutes the movie keeps it simple and straightforward. The stakes are huge and so is the task, but it's time to stop wondering and waiting, and time to start changing the focus. Can we do it? People connected to corporations have been so trained into being focused 100% on the profit that they are removed from reality. But would we be any different? Are we any different right now? Wouldn't we just as much rather just stick to the way things are and ignore the consequences? I guess the good thing about a movie like this is it shocks you into thinking about it without being sensational. What would be great is if the media could stop giving time to the possibility that this is still a debate and start focusing on how we are going to avoid impending doom. Maybe I'll be less apt to avoid movies like this the next time one comes my way.
Rating: 8/10