Green history packs punch, but lacks inspiration

    Signs of a growing environmental consciousness are increasingly evident across America — and the Tufts campus is no exception. On the Hill, recycling receptacles are available in almost every corner of every building, teachers use the Blackboard Web site to minimize extraneous printouts and innovative projects like the Solar Decathlon are commonplace.
    One might wonder exactly when this concern for a green lifestyle began. This year's documentary "Earth Days" is a thoughtful reflection on the origins of the American environmental movement but ultimately one that fails to motivate viewers to take action.
    British filmmaker Robert Stone takes audiences back to the mid-20th century, to explore the inception of environmentalism. Stone highlights the shift in societal ideals, exemplified by the thriftiness of the Great Depression and the middle-class prosperity of the '50s, to show how the '20s norm of unemployment and food lines gradually led to an age of grandiose mass production and conspicuous consumption.
    Stone depicts this post-depression extravagance through flashy lines of Model T cars and home refrigerators large enough for Dewick-McPhie Dining Hall, tying modern American wastefulness back to the these historical images.
    The documentary features interviews with nine influential Americans who participated in the environmental enthusiasm of the '60s. The interviewees range from a woman named Stephanie Mills, who spoke of the dangers of population growth in her college commencement speech, to Denis Hayes, a chief organizer of the original Earth Day in 1970. All of the interviewees convey a strong sense of passion for the environmental cause, but the audience cannot help but register a sense of disappointment — the dogged efforts of these past pioneers have proven to be mostly ineffective.
    The film incorporates incredible aerial footage into its hour-and-a-half narrative. One panoramic view of the development of Los Angeles is truly astounding, as it emphasizes the city's gross industrialization. Stone uses breathtaking views from outer space to juxtapose the immediate, fast-paced world of consumption with the serene and vulnerable vista of our home planet as seen from orbit. If nothing else, the film is a testament to the inherent beauty of the natural world.
    Throughout the film, Stone exhibits his frustrations with large corporations and fickle governments. He showcases several presidential speeches, including one by President Richard Nixon. In his speech, Nixon promised to support renewable resource projects and legislation promoting environmental safety. Stone then notes how, immediately after the speech, Congress instead appeased big businesses. To underscore the way this capriciousness relates to consumer culture, Stone cleverly transitions environmental protection logos to larger business logos, featuring the notorious brands of GM, Ford and ExxonMobil.
    In his director's statement, Stone said he hoped the film would enhance general understanding of the origins of environmentalism. He writes, "In all the contemporary agonizing about climate change, so much of the environmental movement's past successes have been almost completely forgotten, particularly by young people, most of whom see their efforts at environmentalism as starting from scratch. They have little or no knowledge of their own history."   
    The film does give a rough history of environmentalism, but it is clear that the sustainability of those early efforts is problematic. The individuals interviewed were active within the green movement in the past, but many of them now pursue careers that are not related to environmentalism; one man is building a clock in the cave of a mountain, while another is designing plan to prevent stray asteroids from hitting earth. As the credits roll, the audience cannot help but feel as if the film interviewed burnout environmentalists. They ask themselves, "Is the goal of environmental balance simply too lofty?"
    Unfortunately, the film does not adequately address the difficulties and frustrations associated with enacting environmental change, making it hard for audiences to connect with the overall message. "Earth Days," despite Stone's high hopes, misses an opportunity to motivate the young generation to take up the work of their forebears.