The+People+Paradox+-+Helinski


 * World in the Balance: The People Paradox**

1. Title, director and release year? · World in the Balance : The People Paradox · Sarah Holt · 2004

2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film? · . This film is touching upon the growing generation gap and not just the overall expansion of world population. As the youngest generation is now entering their reproductive age, the elderly are also growing exponentially older causing a huge rift in the world population age.

3. What sustainability problems does the film draw out? · One of the first issues that are touched upon is the concept of sex education and awareness in order to inform the public in areas such as India that they have a right to choose to reproduce. o A large issue of this is involved with socially unsustainable aspect in a society that prides itself on reproducing to increase the male population. · On the topic of over population, it opens the gates to the limited sources of food and resources to such a vast growing population · This film uncovers the unsustainable financial aspects in such a poor country where woman are such a valuable resource that are regarded as worthless, yet if taught life skills that they could be a massive force in the financial world in India. · On the opposite end of the spectrum, this film does an interesting thing and shows the strain that is emplaced when population begins to fall and where it begins to cause issues such as the economy and the ability to aid the health of the older generations when it is needed.

4. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? · I find the first few lines of this movie to be extremely compelling because it is the first time that I am hearing about a population decline. Most movies that touch upon population complain about how it is going to grow exponentially and strain the earth to destruction, yet this is the first to expose the generation gap and how many people are going to grow exponentially older and die off. · The way that the narrator addresses such things as plummeting fertility as a stunning success where as some people would view that as an awful thing, but in the state of viewing it as chances of life for the world’s resource supply it is a great thing. o To hear the sides of the stories from the mother Goodie is unbelievable because she wanted to be sterilized to prevent having more than eight children, yet the mother-in-law and husband forbid it because they want more than one son. This shows the huge social issues that need to be overcome for progress to be made. · The pressure to have a son is so high that it gets to the point where something referred to as “bride burning” are such a common occurrence. This disrespect to human life is unbelievable and disgusting. · Moving onto the topic of the declining population in china is unbelievable because it is just something that I have never heard of before. · I find it so interesting to see that over half of the population in India is currently under the age of 25, yet in a society that is not too far away, Japan will soon have one in three citizens over 65. o In order to maintain the workforce to make up for the aging population, Japan needs to take in 600,000 immigrants per year. That is unbelievable. · 5. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? · In the beginning of the film they expresses the issue that the world population is goning to decease to what they portray as dangerous levels, yet the first chapter is about the expanding population growth in India. o They may come back to touch upon it but it is a confusing way to open up such a film. o As I had hoped the film moves on to touching upon the declining population which I am eager to learn about, but I feel as the way that they introduced it in the beginning and then went anouth direction as not as effective as it could be. · A man speaks about making the birth of a female child as welcoming as that of a male, yet he does not go into any more detail about how that can be done. I feel as though this is obviously the number one priority to this issue, yet still do not suggest what can be done to take steps to achieving that. · I feel as though the film is very contradictory in itself. In the portion touching upon India the film referrers to the declining population in south India as a blessing, yet when talking about Japan they are almost bashing Japanese people wanting to persue something else besides reproducing. o I understand that they are different situations but flip flopping like that on the same topic regardless of the area takes away from the overall message.

6. What additional information does this film compel you to seek out? Where do you want to dig deeper and what connections do you want to make with other issues, factors, problems, etc.? · I would like to see population studies over the past 100 years that compare societies of Japan and India. They are both growing in such an extreme opposite direction, I’m wondering what kind of significant events in these societies have happened to cause such polar opposite events.

7. What audiences does the film best address? What kind of imagination is fostered in viewers? Do you think the film is likely to change the way viewers think about and act on environmental problems? · I think that this film would be great to show to a generic audience because it touches on both ends of the population issue. One I have personally have never heard anything about so I am almost sure that it would be an interesting film to show to people that even have background knowledge on the population issue.

8. What kinds of action or points of intervention are suggested by the film? · There is talk about implementing sex education in the younger age group within India to try to change the social stipulations that are currently in place that promote more and more children. o It is a hopefully idea but I feel as though the social hurdles that must be overcome for this to be successful. o In more countries than not, the film continues to push for planned parenthood to cut fertility. Although they explain how it is not completely successful, they are showing more success the failures about cutting birthrates severely is many countries. · In some segments the film tries to express the idea of immigration into countries to make up for older populations, but then goes on to explain how it does not work in all although nothing else is suggested after the idea is shut down. · Developing products such as the gel to block the spread of HIV is one that is expressed to be very effective · The education and liberation of woman is the key solution that is being driven by this film.

9. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? · I feel as though there is too much flip flopping of opinions occurring in this movie. I understand that it is different in societies across the world, but I feel as though is would be much more beneficial to keep all of the negative aspects together instead of moving all around. · I enjoy the way that they are expressing the age pyramids after talking about different countries, yet if they did it according to a timed manner and displayed the years as the population changed I feel it would express the idea even further.