The 11th Hour

On Monday, October 18th students and instructors gathered for a film screening of the film "The 11th Hour". This film takes it's audience around the world discussing and bringing environmental worries to the larger public. When we first viewed the film, I thought it was simply because our course is based around the theme of sustainabilty, but now after we have spent time reading and studying different forms of discourse I am aware of a different way to look at the film.

After viewing the film, students were able to ask a group of experts questions and discuss the topics of the film with them. One thing that stuck out to me was a question posed by Matt Auer, Dean of Huttons Honors College. He asked "Imagine someone who isn't sympathetic to the issues in the film. What is the most influential thing in the film for them?" I was drawn to this question, because it was not simply about the content, but how discourse was modified to fit all audience members no matter their environmental cares. It is safe to say that most students were drawn to this question, most likely because it brought up the issue of form as well as content.

This reminds me that no matter the content of any discourse, it is important to make it worth while to everyone reading. "The 11th Hour" was made interesting for those who have no emotional connection to the environment because of the fact that it was focused on not just informing it's audience, but also entertaining them. One major thing disucssed was the fact that it was narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and that it was made into a feature length film instead of a short TV documentary only viewed by History Channel buffs.

While "The 11th Hour" is mainly focused on environmental issues, writers and directors were careful to make it enjoyable for every audience member. This is an important thing to learn in order to make any piece of discourse accessable to a large audience.