Gore (Al, That Is.)

One of the most interesting things about "An Inconvenient Truth" is that in it we see Gore as Gore, not as the media wished us to see him in the 2000 campaign.

The media lied back then about Gore. He is not poll-driven. He is not a flip-flopper. He is not a stuffed shirt. He is not robotic. He never claimed to have invented the internet, though it is well-established that he supported political initiatives that led to its widespread use.

He is well-spoken and he presents an easy intelligence that comes off as common-sense, which of course is exactly what he suggests we use in our confrontation with global warming. Common sense, because this issue affects all of us, rich and poor.

Perhaps this was an underlying impulse for the creation of this movie: it shows us Gore, and his primary issue, unfiltered through the media bullshit grinder.

By sidestepping the media and viewing the movie, people can actually see the threat of global warming for what it really is, and see its best spokesman for what he truly is: an expert with a Carl Sagan-like ability to communicate scientific concerns to a wide audience.

Even people who are too thick-skulled, propagandized, or just plain unable to understand spoken words can just look at the pictures and see that Gore has a good point.

We were fools not to have elected this man.

It was also just a fine example of movie-making. To take what was essentially a college lecture and make a great film out of it reminded me of, say, 'Stop Making Sense' or perhaps another wonderful concert film by Jonathan Demme, 'Storefront Hitchcock.' The film-making facilitated the message and the messenger with a breezy competence and clarity.

I knew I'd like it, but it was even better than I expected.