Climate change. Oil struggles. Overpopulation. Recent discussion has pointed to environmental turbulence on political and social levels.
Chatham County filmmakers Timothy Bennett, director, and Sally Erickson, producer, presented their movie, What a Way to Go, in a free screening Wednesday night at the Campus Cinema. The film demonstrates that unrest and perceived denial of environmental issues come down to one thing: a lack of relationship.
The environmental problems facing America and many developing countries, Bennett and Erickson propose, are due to disconnections among the human species. Humans are disconnected from both each other and the earth. And more importantly, many are in denial.
“There are a lot of people who have this underlying awareness that things are getting serious with the environment, but they keep it just out of consciousness,” Erickson said. “We want to help press through the denial and say this is how we are.
“We get a lot of feedback from people saying, ‘now I know I’m not alone, and I don’t feel crazy and unsupported.'”
Bennett narrates the two-hour film, giving his own perspective in addition to the opinions of multiple scientists, artists, writers and professors.
The consensus of these professionals is pretending the problem is not there does not make it go away. According to Bennett, it’s time to choose between denial and acceptance of the truth.
“What if we felt our feelings about this?” Bennett asks during the final minutes of the film. “Feelings are the swiftest path back.”
The film is divided into four parts, and Bennett uses the illustration of a train heading on a fast track in the wrong direction to communicate the different stages of awareness.
The first stage is “Waking up on the train,” in which Bennett relayed his own experience in his awakening of the pending problem in environmental instability. The film begins with the voices of people expressing feelings of hopelessness and frustration, ultimately an awareness that something is wrong.
Part two explains the current situation and lists main issues, such as peak oil, climate change, mass extinction and population overshoot. Bennett and Erickson, with the input of an assortment of professionals, explore each issue in depth, laying out the problem in its history, causes and effects.
Bennett and Erickson then explore the relationship between humans and the earth, the historical downward spiral and how technological innovation has impacted the environment.
“We live in a society of 2-year-olds,” Erickson states in the film, saying people in modern civilization believe their actions have no repercussions, that the earth is there to serve them, and they can have whatever they want from it.
The main message of the third section is: superiority, in addition to independence, equals disaster.
While Bennett says he does not include a “happy chapter” that alleviates the pressure of the information he presented, he does give a reason and a method of finding a solution. Only through combined efforts and humility can balance be restored, Bennett said.
Bennett proposed in his final narration that, instead of a train, society should build a boat in which it can ride the changes that are coming. A train is set on a fixed track and is limited in mobility, Bennett says. A boat can set sail on an unchartered course and survive the storms that are coming.
Energy Conservation Coordinator Wade Fulghum, who was the mastermind behind the screening, said Energy Management showed the film to increase awareness about conservation.
“What separates this film from An Inconvenient Truth is the number and complexity of the cultural issues it tackles that deal with sustainability,” Fulghum said. “Just being exposed to all those, two hours can feel like three because it’s overwhelming.”
Christine Casoria, a sophomore in psychology, said she felt overwhelmed after watching the movie and said the movie took a pessimistic look at solutions to the problems it presented.
“I plan on looking on their Web site and doing more research because I didn’t get too many actual suggestions,” Casoria said.
Austen High, a junior in history, responded positively to the movie.
“It’s refreshing to see someone standing up for the earth and making the effort to get the message out there, not sugarcoating it,” High said.
While she said she is earth-conscious, she has difficulties living a sustainable lifestyle in college.
“The biggest thing for me, after moving into an apartment, is gluttony with food,” High said. “We’re students, and we don’t have a lot of money. Most of us are going to graduate in debt. Not being greedy with food and sharing helps because you can save a lot more by not looking out for yourself.”
Before the film, several organizations set up tables in Witherspoon Student Center with informative displays. These organizations included Waste Reduction and Recycling, The Office of Energy Management and College Democrats.
Hannah Fornes, a sophomore in environmental engineering who also works for Recylcing, manned the College Democrat table.
Fornes said energy conservation is a big focus of the Democratic party, and the group wanted to raise awareness of Democratic goals in conservation.
“I personally recycle, and I don’t eat meat,” Fornes said. “One of the most environmentally friendly things you can do is not to eat meat because of the pollution given off by factories.”
Erickson said it can be exhausting to try to absorb all the environmentally friendly things presented in the film all at once. She recommended letting the information wash over the viewers during the first screening and to go back to the DVD to absorb more information.
“We’re not trying to convert anyone, but for the people here who know they want to change their lives, this will help them find meaning and find purpose.”