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The Greening of Al Gore

Last night we attended the opening New York screening of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's well-hyped, slow-burning documentary about global warming. We flirted with the idea of pulling up in a fleet of hybrid cabs (of which there are — get this — just 27 operating in NYC) but decided the 8-block trek from the office was walkable. But that didn't stop us from spraying 17 cans worth of aerosol and clubbing an oil-dipped baby seal to death on the walk over.

In general, the documentary was scarier than Al Gore on the cover of Wired. But we figured it would be.

A few things we didn't know before the movie:

Al Gore is a borderline PowerPoint expert.

There are computer-generated polar bears swimming near the ice caps right now, helplessly searching for the next ice chunk raft to float on.

Gore doesn't like to refer to George W. Bush by name, opting for "the President" or "this administration."

If we don't change our wasteful ways, it is gonna suck to be a relative of someone living in Florida — 'cuz they're moving into your guest room when this sh*t goes down. Lower Manhattan is f*cked, too.

Scratch that "borderline" comment — Gore is a PowerPoint pimp. He's the David Byrne of ex-politicos.

Even in front of a small group, Gore does not have a dynamic stage presence, relying on an Ali-like rope-a-dope method of lulling you into a point.

If Apple didn't give the film's producers funding or sponsorship, then Apple is getting what is perhaps the cheapest 100-minute advertisement in the history of advertising, courtesy of Gore and his omnipresent iBook.

Theaters that show An Inconvenient Truth will be the cleanest theaters after a movie you've ever seen.

We're buying a bike tomorrow.

An Inconvenient Truth
EARLIER: The New Magazine Cover Aesthetic: Scare Us
Al Gore and Wired's Art Director Ruin My Grape Nuts

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