Monday, May 03, 2010
Depressing Movie Weekend
Had a weekend where I watched a bunch of tv/movies that made me really wonder how badly messed up we are as a collective society.
Blood Diamonds: movie about the illegal diamond trade, focused on Sierra Leone. Child soldiers, rape/pillage/destructions of villages, and complicity by the major diamond companies. Conclusion: Happy I gave Laura a "pre-loved" engagement ring.
Nature of Things: Exxon Valdez - Watched the Nature of Things last night, which focused on the environmental and civil impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Mostly looked at one fishing town in Alaska that was (and continues to be) devastated by the spill, with beaches that are still oily, and salmon and herring runs that have never recovered. The thing that shocked me was that Exxon was able to clog up the legal proceedings against them (a $5 billion punitive damages finding) for 15+ years...ya, 15 years, during which they were collecting almost 300million/year of interest on the $5B. And here's the real shocker...the supreme court eventually reduced the damages to $500m, less than 5 days worth of profit from Exxon (who profits > 40 billion / year). Yay Justice.
The Cove: Similar to Sharkwater, this is a documentary about Japan's capture and killing of 23,000 dolphins a year, mostly in a small town called Taiji, and the inaction of the international community to stop the slaughter. It's really pretty upsetting to see how cruel and inhumane the whole thing is, and how Japan's government defends/ignores it. Makes me second guess Canada's seal slaughter, and is yet another movie in a long chain that makes me think twice about even just eating meat.
Blood Diamonds: movie about the illegal diamond trade, focused on Sierra Leone. Child soldiers, rape/pillage/destructions of villages, and complicity by the major diamond companies. Conclusion: Happy I gave Laura a "pre-loved" engagement ring.
Nature of Things: Exxon Valdez - Watched the Nature of Things last night, which focused on the environmental and civil impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Mostly looked at one fishing town in Alaska that was (and continues to be) devastated by the spill, with beaches that are still oily, and salmon and herring runs that have never recovered. The thing that shocked me was that Exxon was able to clog up the legal proceedings against them (a $5 billion punitive damages finding) for 15+ years...ya, 15 years, during which they were collecting almost 300million/year of interest on the $5B. And here's the real shocker...the supreme court eventually reduced the damages to $500m, less than 5 days worth of profit from Exxon (who profits > 40 billion / year). Yay Justice.
The Cove: Similar to Sharkwater, this is a documentary about Japan's capture and killing of 23,000 dolphins a year, mostly in a small town called Taiji, and the inaction of the international community to stop the slaughter. It's really pretty upsetting to see how cruel and inhumane the whole thing is, and how Japan's government defends/ignores it. Makes me second guess Canada's seal slaughter, and is yet another movie in a long chain that makes me think twice about even just eating meat.
# posted by Greg @ 4:52 AM 
