David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet - Grant Hiskes
Picture from Vegetarian Society of South Jersey
If there is one topic that my understanding has increased drastically over the last couple of months, I would certainly say it’s climate change. One of my classes this semester at the University of Texas is Earth in 2100, in which we examine earth’s changing physical features and the evidence that they have changed as a result of human’s contribution to carbon emissions into the university. It’s safe to say that this class has definitely brought the climate issue to the forefront of my thinking space though. What has been most shocking to me is how much of a dispute some western countries believe human-induced climate change is when the international scientific consensus is greater than 98%.
This is clearly an issue that the world needs to devote more attention and resources too if we would like to survive as a human race for centuries to come, and I think this film did an excellent job of hitting that message home. David Attenborough is just the kind of guy skeptics in America and other western countries need to hear from, and I’ll get into more of that in just a second. Perhaps we will also discuss the strategic move of Netflix to release this documentary on their streaming platform almost exactly a month before Election Day in the US.
I want to start by talking about why David Attenborugh is the perfect guy to actively narrate this documentary. First of all, it seems like this documentary was just a film he really wanted to release before he died as he says at the beginning, “This film is my witness statement and my vision for the future, the story of how we came to make this our biggest mistake, and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right”. And this is a pretty close parallel to the storytelling structure of the documentary. For those of you who do not know him, Sir David Attenborough is an ‘English broadcaster and natural historian’ according to his Wikipedia page. He was born all the way back in 1926 and came out with his Life on Earth television program in 1979. If you still do not know who I am talking about, you would certainly recognize his voice if he came on over any documentary.
Attenborough intertwines a loose story of his life with an abbreviated history of the deterioration of our environment and the loss of our biodiversity over his lifetime. He effectively leverages the longevity of his life and his experiences traveling the world in a very modest way that brings credibility to the message he is trying to hammer home with the viewers.
He makes subtle remarks throughout the documentary that convey to the viewers he just may no more than anyone else on the planet about what’s going on. However, he does it in such a way where it does not feel pompous and turn the viewers off. Just before his story reaches 1954, Attenborough discusses how lucky he was to be born “at just the right time” when international flight was really ‘taking off’ … hah, get it? … which he says enabled him to be one of the first people to see the whole world. Again, as the film transitions from the second to third phase (which I will get into in a minute), the documentary shows Attenborough presenting in front of recognizable world leaders at a UN conference on climate change. These scenes are imperative to the viewers adhering to his credibility and faithfully taking action on what he is trying to encourage them to do.
And now, the ‘three parts’ that I have been getting at. It’s pretty clear that this film is divided up into three parts, which all take up roughly the same share of time. After the opening scene where Attenborough is seen at an area in Chernobyl that still looks like it has not completely recovered from the nuclear meltdown, he goes into some fascinating aspects of natural history along with recalling fond memories he had as a boy. Then, Attenborough transitions into the horrors of global warming, and the havoc it has wreaked and will continue to wreak on our environment and biodiversity. Fortunately, he ties up the documentary for what we need to do to prevent these horrors from occurring and gives examples of how these practices are already being utilized across the world.
This layout is executed masterfully in my opinion. The first part shows breathtaking footage from all corners of our planet, exotic plants blooming, beautiful animals going about their lives, and serene views from the treetops of luscious rain forests. Attenborough also incorporates footage from his early travel shows here. He is cultivating a sense of ‘nostalgia’ and warm wishing on the ‘good ole days’. This part is intended to establish a personal relationship with the audience and nature or at least some sort of connection. In other words, nature is made out to be the protagonist.
That makes the second part of the documentary all the more soul-crushing. Every couple of minutes we see a slide with the Year (some year between 1937 and today) and the world population, carbon in the atmosphere, and remaining wilderness in that year. It’s a little intense and certainly evokes a reaction in the audience. As the years go by, we see the figures for population and carbon in the atmosphere go up, and the figure for remaining wilderness sadly dropping. We are shown footage of trees being cut down, seals falling to their deaths from melting icebergs, lonely polar bears swimming alone in the icy arctic, and primates climbing branchless trees that they once called home. It’s heartbreaking, Attenborough has you right where he wants you and then starts pouring salt into the wound.
“Science predicts that were I born today, I would be witness to the following”, which he proceeds to give all of the environmental outcomes scientists are predicting we are going to expect in the next century if we do not change our behavior. We see the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, loss of the polar ice, increased release of methane gas, oceans becoming more acidic, and soils becoming overfarmed. All of which would obviously be detrimental to Earth’s biodiversity. And what’s the human reaction here? We want to act. Just like we saw with the BLM protests, people want to act on something right away, and Attenborough gives it to them in the third part.
“So, what do we do? It’s quite straightforward. It’s been staring us in the face all along. To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing that we’ve removed. It’s the only way out of this chaos we have created. We must rewild the world.”
The specific changes he says the world needs to make are slowing population growth as seen in Japan, which can be achieved by improving girls’ access to education. We also need to phase out fossil fuels by transitioning to renewable energies, preserve biodiversity in the oceans, and halt deforestation.”
The documentary then closes with the camera panning out of Chernobyl where we can then see is inhibited by greenery and plants once again. This serves as hope that change can come quickly if we act now, and it’s the perfect end to the documentary.
Stepping aside from the movie itself now, I would like to offer some personal commentary. The world is a big, beautiful place. Individually, we are one iota in the big picture. We need to make this world sustainable for future generations and learn how to live in harmony with the other nature that we share this Earth with. Do not forget to vote next Tuesday, participate in democracy, and use your voice.
