Internet filmmaker Annie Leonard has struck while the moment is very, very hot.
She’s created a short anti-consumerism movie almost crude in its simplicity, and certainly crude in some of its logic. Yet the very spare nature of her presentation — one woman talking in front of cartoons a child might have drawn — is gaining millions of viewers and prompting thousands of heated discussions.
I encourage you to sit down with your ‘tweens and teenagers and call it up at , or order the DVD from the website and watch it with a group. You may disagree with some or much of what she says — I certainly found myself yelling at my laptop on occasion — but it’s the perfect cultural moment to try out the message. We all feel poorer, and at the same time world leaders and activists are asking us to change the way we use energy and other resources. The story of your stuff is compelling and worth contemplating.
Leonard’s talk has been seen millions of times, and as soon as The New York Times wrote about it, that article hit No. 1 on the NYT website. Your children may be well ahead of you on many of the issues, so let them lecture you for once.
Some of Leonard’s information has been questioned, including the context of a key quote seeming to betray a conspiracy of mindless consumerism at all levels of government and business. She decries all “exploitation” of resources, without acknowledging that it’s precisely the creation of new silicons, films, metals and other goods that will lead to solar- and wind-power breakthroughs.
But her main argument is useful and often persuasive. Do we need a different mindset to negotiate our tricky future? “The Story of Stuff” is a great way to ask the question.
“The Story of Stuff”
Not rated
Best suited for: ‘Tweens and
teenagers who are open to
issues of environment, politics,
business and consumerism.
