Blind+Spot

Audrey Newcomb Sustainability Problems

Film Annotation: “Blind Spot” Directed by Aldolfo Doring and released in 2008 “Blind Spot” tells viewers that oil is a finite natural resource and that the world is dependent on it. “Blind Spot” established oil’s ubiquity with an old animated Shell Oil commercial. Experts then established that the rate of extraction of oil is decreasing while the demand is growing.

The image that sticks with me from “Blind Spot” is a comparison of humans to wine yeast. William Catton described how yeast is put into a vat of grape juice, they consume the sugars, their population grows, and eventually they consume all the sugar and the yeast population dies. The image of micro-organisms in a contained environment growing to the point that they’ve exhausted their food sources and then die is a simple. Albert Bartlett later says that “civilizations collapse if they grow beyond the capacity to produce food…it’s just plain common sense.” If oil itself was our food source then its limit supply would dictate the demise of humans. Oil is closely united to our food supply but the relationship is not insoluble; we still had food before the petro-revolution. However, because of oil’s great contribution to food production, a decrease in the supply of oil will cause a decline in population.

I was not convinced of the actuality of peak oil from watching “Blind Spot.” The movie was composed of people talking in a calm voice. I specifically remember that the music was not creepy and ominous (which at the time of viewing I appreciated because sometimes these movies can be over dramatic with their music choices). The movie cited a lot of facts and many experts on peak oil related issues but a sense of urgency was not conveyed. The facts spouted in the film really culminate to that fact that within my lifetime our industrialized society will be destroyed. If I live to the year 2030, or the end of the range marked as “cliff” in the following picture, then I will have survived many catastrophes as the human population is drastically reduced. Perhaps the anti-alarmist quality was intentional. The director could have wanted to simply convince viewers of the concept of peak oil and the magnitude to which society is dependent on it and being alarmist could have turned off viewers. Or not being alarmist could really be a survival strategy for all of these experts that already know about peak oil. On Matt Savinar’s website a person can buy survival supplies such a bulk food, tents, and backpacks. This movie did not convince me that any of these survival supplies are necessary. Perhaps there is a difference between the audiences of “Blind Spot” and Savinar’s website.

(Savinar)

“Blind Spot” could appeal to anyone interested in a current environmental and political issue. Scientists, politicians, lawyers, writers, and social scientists were featured. The interdisciplinary cast makes the movie appealing to a wider audience than if only one type of profession discussed peak oil. This film doesn’t present solutions. It offers knowledge about our society and makes extrapolations about what will happen in the future but leaves viewers to decide what to do. One man admitted that people who comprehend the problem of peak oil are in a unique and psychologically taxing situation. Digesting the ideas presented in “Blind Spot” places a person outside of their culture; the person thinks their culture is crazy and their culture and rest of society reciprocates the sentiment. “Blind Spot” requires the most imagination out of all of the movies we have watched. “Blind Spot” predicts a grim future for industrial society and its population and it’s not a fun thing to think about.

Again reinforcing the difficulty in pinpointing a specific intervention for the problem of peak oil one expert exclaimed that “no one’s really driving the train.” This person meant that no one specifically is responsible for the problem and that there is not a conspiracy. Some people who read about our environmental problems or the issue of peak oil like to dismiss the ideas as part of a conspiracy, and doing so absolves all responsibility other than bashing the political/social/ religious faction they believe is perpetuating a scientifically fallacy as a means to an end of their increased control of society. The idea that “no one’s really driving the train” further reinforces the “matrix” theme of this course.

There are many factors that contribute to the problem of peak oil. William Catton asserts that people have a “pre-occupation with routines of life.” This is obvious and expected; focusing on the moment is the only real thing in life and people would go crazy if they continually attempted to visualize the future of society. However, in terms of creating a sustainable future our present moment (and its stark contrast to “Blind Spot’s” envisioned future) is an obstacle. Another problem with the issue is that peak oil is related to our population size, and talking about birth control is an intimate issue that easily offends people. When Roscoe Bartlett says that “7 billion cannot be supported without as much oil” some viewers misconstrue the implications of this statement and conclude that governments are going to actively reduce the population. I browsed a particular website that likened the “liberals” concern with population to the holocaust. The experts are asserting that as the oil supply decreases so will the human population with no planning required. Decreased food production will cause famine, decreased medical supplies will increase death from diseases, our increased pressures on the environment will increase natural disaster, and increased demand for the limited supply of oil will increase war. The experts are talking about peak oil in attempt to formulate a plan (if possible) in order to save lives. The advertising industry contributes to sustainability problems by leading consumers to believe always buying more is necessary and normal. Terry Tamminen, a former head of the EPA, discussed the “automobile alliance” that lied to regulators and “stifled newer, safer technologies.” Howard Baker identifies the “American way” as a sustainability problem because instead of attempting to organize a solution to the problem peak oil we believe that we will find more or simply exert brute force in order to control more oil. A novel question was posed by Bill McKibben that identified another piece of the matrix. He wondered why “more people are in prison than working on a farm?” As machines replace labor jobs, how does idleness contribute to crime rates? How could the people in prison help help a sustainable society? Another expert believed that the transition of a society based on partner relations to complex social structures and hierarchy complicates sustainability problems.

In order to increase “Blind Spot’s” educational value they could have interviewed more people than just men in suits. Matt Savinar appeared to be the least pretentious and most lay-person like. Even just a couple minutes featuring “average” people and their belief in peak oil could have made the movie more convincing. On Savinar’s website there is a book by Dolly Freed called __Possum Living__ that supposedly describes how to live happily on little money. I think people are more likely to be convinced of peak oil if alternative lifestyle is presented to them. If viewers had some alternate lifestyle to look towards then they might not walk away from the movie feeling doomed, resentful, and in denial about the problem.

[|This is the Amazon peak inside Possum Living]

The advantage to featuring experts is that after viewing “Blind Spot” I was motivated to find out more information about them. I was motivated to look up more about Derrick Jensen’s philosophy and works. When I have time I would like to read some of his works. He has a degree in mineral engineering physics but then got a masters degree in creative writing and is now a famous published author. This was reassuring because despite or because of his scientific background that could have easily assured him a place in industrialized society he chose to question that society. I found an article that talked about how widespread use of electricity was a mistake. I have not come to a full conclusion about how this affects my goals, but I am an electric power engineer and this is what the article said: “The second goal is threefold: 1) electrical power is crucial end-use energy for industrial civilization;2) the big blackouts are inevitable; and 3) the proximate cause of the collapse of industrial civilization, if and when it occurs, will be that the electric power grids go down and never come back up.” (Duncan, 1) “ [|The Olduvai Theory,” source for above quotation] Another fun website is Matt Savinar’s website [|Life After the Oil Crash] References: Duncan, Richard. "The Olduvai Theory." //Social Contract// Winter 2005-2006: n. pag. Web. 13 Mar 2010. [].

"Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money (Paperback)." //Amazon//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar 2010. .

Savinar, Matt. "Dear Reader." //Life After the Oil Crash//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar 2010. 