"The Age of Stupid" -Two Showings At The Firehouse PAC in Fairhaven

[Rob Olason]

"The Age of Stupid" is a simple but profound story. Humans one-hundred years in the future look back in time to a critical "tipping point" in our history as a species. They focus on a generation where a great choice needed to be made, one that would have an impact for generations to come--indeed the very survival of our species and that of our fellow species would hang in the balance of the response to this tipping point issue.

This historical look into the past labeled the era when critical decisions needed to be made as "The Age of Stupid." As you might guess, the recipients of this tipping point decision were not pleased with the choice--or that they had to live with the outcome.

Who have they focused their critical assessment on? Which generation of humans is deserving of this future scorn? The "deciders" who earned their era the descriptor "The Age of Stupid," from future generations, is our generation--the first generation to discover the cumulative effects of limitless consumption, but chose to continue "business as usual," instead of facing the global challenge their generation had created.

"The Age of Stupid" is the ultimate grassroots film. Thousands of individual contributors from across the globe provided the financing to make this film. It is not distributed through normal corporate channels, to be made available in shopping mall cineplexes across the country. It is distributed via a non-profit internet based system and shown in non-commercial venues. Whatcom County is one of the few places that this film will be shown in Washington State. Transition Whatcom is delighted to be the organization that can bring this important film to our area. TW will offer two showings on Saturday March 27, 2010 at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center (1314 Harris St) in Fairhaven. Showtimes are 7 pm and 9 pm. A $5 suggested donation is requested.

"The Age of Stupid" is from the director of "McLibel."

View the preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZjsJdokC0s

[Steve Mach]

I'm not sure "stupid" is going to change anything other than allow some to pride themselves for being "not stupid" - think of and refer to folks as family if you want to provide for generations. - Just a thought...don't be defensive! - Steve Mach

[Glen]

This looks awesome! Is there any way I could get this to come to Oberlin, OH? Or a way I could get my hands on a copy to do a film screening here? I would really like to make this film available to the Oberlin student body somehow.

[David MacLeod]

Steve,

You make a good point. I haven't seen the film yet, but I understand it is a good movie well worth watching. The Transition Network supported this movie. Rob Hopkins wrote "Transition Network is supporting the film and the campaign, this is because we support pressure to bring about a good result in Copenhagen, and feel that the drawing of more attention to the issue is urgent… also we support the way the film was made and the impact it is having… albeit with the caveats outlined above. Transition Network supports the film and the aims of the campaign, but will not be putting ‘Stupid’ or ‘Not Stupid’ labels onto anything or anyone…."

The caveats Rob H. has about the film are similar to yours Steve. Rob's blog post about it is posted here:
http://transitionculture.org/2009/03/20/im-with-stupid/

Rob writes: "However, what concerns me is the introduction of the polarity that goes with starting to label things ‘Stupid’ and ‘Not Stupid’. Yes, it is easy to label Kingsnorth stupid, and also the third runway at Heathrow Airport. They are, by any rational consideration, pretty daft, indeed suicidal. But is my friend going to Hong Kong for Christmas more stupid than me? Possibly, but the reality is that most peoples’ lives are a complex mesh of compromise, insecurities, social pressure, enticement from advertising, the daily struggle just to keep their head above water and so on.

I don’t feel that labelling certain things ‘Stupid’ really addresses the complexity of our situation, and may indeed do more harm than good. If someone were to label me stupid because of something I was doing, something I may be attached to in my life, it would boost my ’sod off’ response, rather than my ‘hang on a minute, perhaps these people have something I need to listen to here’ response. Although my personal perception of the decision that was taken, say with regards to the third runway, is that it was stupid, that decision-making process involved a lot of thinking and weighing up of factors, and we may learn more by trying to understand those, than just by dismissing the whole thing as ’stupid’."