Sunday, October 30, 2016 marked the universally free, world-wide release of Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental documentary, "Before The Flood." Promos for this documentary blew up my Facebook newsfeed for weeks prior to its release, featuring short video clips from the film in which Leo delivers the sobering and emotional message: our world is hurting, and humans are to blame.
In 2014, the United Nations appointed Leo as a representative for climate change, and since then, Leo has worked on this documentary between shooting films. Say what you will for his lifestyle (he does have a private jet and travels quite a bit for his career), but I appreciate his willingness to take a stand against global climate change through changes to his personal life (he drives environmentally friendly cars and employs eco-friendly technology to power his house) and advocacy for the global environment.
As a budding scientist, I see how poorly the science community across the world have communicated research findings to the general public. This poor communication and a long-winded skepticism on the part of the general public has marred the reputation of scientists in the media. When I login to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media, it is the celebrities and athletes that take center-stage, not physicists, engineers, chemists, biologists, geologists, or mathematicians. In light of this, casting a celebrity as the advocating voice in this documentary is a masterstroke: Leo's popularity alone definitely garnered some views, and he has a better reputation in the media than any scientists do. So OK, Leo is not perfect, but then again, no one is perfect. But people follow famous people; people listen to famous people.
So on Sunday evening, I cleared my schedule and cozied up with a cuppa tea, ready to hear what Leo had to say. I must admit, I nearly cried. It was not Leo's captivating voice or the footage of cute but orphaned orangutans that nearly moved me to tears. Nor was it the bleached coral reefs around the world or the bleak picture painted by nearly each and every one of the interviewees that got me choking up.
Rather, it was the combination of two rather disparate sentiments that stirred my emotions. The first was full realization that I have played a role in the damage done to this planet. I look at photo after tragic photo of dead coral and know that I, to some degree, killed that creature. However great or small an impact my actions have had or do have on destroying this planet, the fact remains: I bear some of the responsibility for the damage.
The second emotion that moved me was hope for the future. The documentary (spoiler alert) does not end with a bunch of desperate pleas for reform or outright cries of blame. The documentary ends with Dr. Piers Sellers, a NASA astronaut, sharing why he is hopeful for the future of our planet: we have not reached the point of no return. "I have faith in people", he says. Sellers is confident that once people see the problem and learn how to address the problem, they will jump on the solution and make the seemingly impossible possible. Governments and individuals have the power, and the responsibility, to contribute to repairing the damage we have wrought. We can repair it, and that is a hopeful thought.
I recommend the documentary not because I blame you. I blame us, collectively and absolutely. If documentaries aren't your thing, you're not alone because they ain't my thing either. However, "Before The Flood" is worth watching because we are all in it; we all made our film debut in our role as the human race. I don't expect the documentary to convince you to flip your life around instantaneously, but I do hope that watching it may open your eyes to the current state of our planet and the downward direction it is heading. I hope that the footage of just how much ice we have melted or how high water levels have risen will enlighten you and make you think twice about decisions regarding our planet.
As I listened to Leo's voice and experienced the shocks and amazement of his discoveries around the globe, I was reminded of a pivotal moment for me. After a deeply depressing and frustratingly circular discussion on the state of the planet's climate, the war for water, and environmental injustices worldwide, the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness weighed heavily on my class. A classmate quietly asked our professor, "if the little that we do makes no difference in the end, why do it?" Our professor looked at each of us in turn, pointedly making eye-contact and stated, "You do the little things because it is the right thing to do."
Watching "Before The Flood", taking a stand, and making changes step by step is the right thing to do.
