StephanieCaouetteFilmAnnotation4

The name of the film is “A World in Balance: China Revs Up” directed by Chris Schmidt and released in 2004
 * 1.** **Title, director and release year?**


 * 2.** **What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**

There were two main arguments that found themselves intertwined with all the little aspects touched on in the film; overpopulation and consumerism (the “American dream”). The film opened up showing an air quality test on the West Coast of the United States that found pollutants that had made the 2,000 mile trip from China to the US. China is quickly becoming the world’s largest polluter because of the amount of people they have and the 19th Century technologies they are running their country on.

China is not yet advanced enough in the industrial equipment and technologies they use to accommodate for the pollution they are emitting into the atmosphere. China is moving towards a culture much like the United States, where the more you have the higher your status, and their infrastructure and technologies are lagging behind causing irreversible effects on the environment.

There are no laws or regulations set in place yet to control the emissions in industry or cars, which is propelling China into the world’s leading polluter. China is developing so fast and exploding with people and the legislation is slow to remodel China’s industry to use cleaner, more sustainable technologies.


 * 3.** **What sustainability problems does the film draw out?**

Coal energy was the sustainability problem that got the most attention in “China Revs Up”. In the film most of the environmental issues stemmed from China’s dependency on coal and the effects coal is having on the environment when used in industry. In China 1.3 billion tons of coal is used each year and it provides over 70% of the energy, yet has no pollution controls.

Overpopulation and land availability have always been a sustainability issue in China. There has been a shortage of food because farmers do not have enough water to use for crops (as it is being sent to big cities for manufacturing) and the feasible farmland is being farmed inefficiently leaving it stripped and worthless. Another sustainability issue brought to fruition was the effect of money on consumer behaviors. The Chinese citizens have always seen the way Americans live and aspire to have the luxuries that we enjoy each day because of this, shopping malls are springing up and there is a movement towards personal vehicles and away from bicycles.


 * 4.** **What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?**

There were a lot of aspects of the film that were shocking to me like the fact that China is home to 7 of the world’s 10 most polluted cities and that they have little to no regulation on pollution despite these facts. The images of Beijing and other cities where you couldn’t see the skyline of the city because of the smog made you realize the severity of the problem. It is interesting to think about what is going to be done to fix this problem because the countries like the United States that have already polluted on par with China cannot blame them for wanting to develop and are helpless to fix the problem themselves. It is also scary to think if no regulations are developed the rate that China will grow and the effects that growth will have on the rest of the world in terms of irreversible pollution and ozone depletion.


 * 5.** **What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by?**

I was not as moved by the statistical information they gave comparing China’s consumption patterns and pollution patterns to other countries. Most people know that the United States is currently the biggest polluter and that if given the tools to do so, China could beat us quickly. The bar graphs took up time in my mind that could have been put to better use giving more information on current regulations in the works or maybe some of the obstacles that need to be faced in order to pass environmental regulations in China.


 * 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.?**

As previously stated the film made me want to know why China has not taken initiative to put environmental regulations in place. Is it too hard to pass regulations? Is the public unaware or uneducated on the effects of using coal on the environment? Or are they more concerned with advancing and growing that they don’t care about the effects of their actions?


 * 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?**

The film could be aimed at Americans or Chinese people who do not feel the impact of their daily actions on the environment. The film made it clear that China is polluting at an alarming rate and will soon surpass the US. I don’t think that the film will change many views on the subject as Americans will still want their own car and consume just as much, but it will at least plant the seed in the mind of a few to reduce their consumption and clean up their act a bit.


 * 8.** **What kinds of action or points of intervention are suggested by the film?**

As an American I didn’t feel like there was anything that I personally could do for the Chinese people to stop the problem but it did bring to light the little things everyday that you could do to decrease your impact like carpooling and choosing to bike instead of drive. For the Chinese people the film seemed to be directed more towards coming up with regulations and governmental action to decrease pollution rather than giving the average civilian an outlet to help.


 * 9.** **What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?**

The film could have paralleled what the US has done and what China is doing now more. Most of the problems that China is seeing now the United States has worked through in the past, if they would have compared the two it could have shown more hope that China can dig themselves out of this polluting rut.