First we found out that the very important scientific data proving WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE FROM GLOBAL WARMING is, um… Well, you see… They sort of lost it. The dogma ate their homework! Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shut up about the sweeping legislation Congress is trying to pass based on that nonexistent data, of course.
Then we had the U.N. Summit on Climate Change, where a bunch of big shots flew into NYC from all over the globe to tell the rest of us we need to stop flying all over the globe.
And now we’ve got the U.S. premiere of The Age of Stupid, the tantalizingly titled documentary featuring none other than… Pete Postlethwaite. Who? Well, he’s best known to American audiences as “That guy in The Usual Suspects who played the Japanese dude who obviously wasn’t Japanese, even though it didn’t matter anyway because Keyser Soze was making up the whole thing, whoops, spoiler.”
These days Postlethwaite has moved on from shaky Asian accents to shaky pseudoscience. Here’s the logline for this no-doubt-compelling bit of cinema:
This ambitious documentary/drama/animation hybrid stars Pete Postlethwaite as an archivist in the devastated world of the future, asking the question: “Why didn’t we stop climate change when we still had the chance?” He looks back on footage of real people around the world in the years leading up to 2015 before runaway climate change took place.
Sounds kind of like The Terminator, except even more… What’s the word? Stupid.
And now we have this delightful clip from documentarian Phelim McAleer (Not Evil, Just Wrong) at the NYC premiere of the planet-saving pic, asking the filmmakers and other celebrities in attendance one simple question: “How did you get to New York?”
As if it’s not cringey enough to listen to Gillian Anderson trying to explain herself — “Y’know, sometimes, sometimes some people have to fly in order to make a stand, in order to get people’s attention for these issues” — they actually kicked McAleer out just for asking that one little question! As he says: “The message is clear. The rest of us are not allowed to ask environmentalists difficult questions.”
If the thesis of your Very Important Documentary is that flying around in airplanes is killing the planet, you’d think it would be legitimate to ask those attending your premiere if they’re still flying around in airplanes. Guess not!
(Hat tip to awesome Deceiver commenter Jenn)
Update: Brendan O’Neill says, “This is one of the worst films I have ever seen. And bear in mind that I have seen both Digby the Biggest Dog in the World and Miss Congeniality II.”
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As Gillian Anderson said, some have to fly. Taking a Ocean Liner may not have gotten them there in time. For sure if that Ocean Liner was named Titanic.
I sure hope we don’t have to look at this turdblossom all weekend.
Whatever you do Simon, please, please, please do not post any Kardlardassian photos for the weekend.
Well, at least they got the title right.
I love Gillian Anderson, so it pains me to read this. At least she answered the question.
Um, yeah Christopher.
She answered it by saying that she’s earned enough brownie points to fly but that the serfy sorts should give up now and start trudging.
Bonus points for honesty?
Half credit for not trying to immediately cleanse her aura of filthy plebidness?
I know, I’m really trying. How’zabout a gold star for her forehead because she didn’t mention the carbon credits she was supposed to purchase but forgot in all the excitement over Masterpiece Theater Classics calling with another Edwardian Constipated Cougar role for her?
Scully, noooooooo, you’re a scientist!
Schmoby, pshbshb. :-p
Makes as much sense as arguing that it would be justified to rob banks to finance a movie about how bad crime is. In an age with the internet, teleconferencing, press-releases, etc, the only reason you need to fly to attend a premiere is self-aggrandizement, to show how important you are.
It is funny to think about the fact that to celebrities, you flying less than twice a year on average, on commercial flights, for business, visiting relatives, funerals, or even vacation is so very less important then them flying around many times a month, usually on private flights, for parties, movie premieres, lavish exotic vacations, or better yet to tell us how to live our lives.
Pete Postlethwaite also stars in Brassed Off, a film lamenting the death of the, er, British coal industry.
http://www.anorak.co.uk/media/global-warming/fake-new-york-post-for-the-age-of-stupid-stunts.html
The “movie” title now sounds rather ironic…I hate documentaries. Especially the pseudo-scientific preachy ones. Or may be I just don’t get this whole “global warming” trend. If only someone could explain to me what global warming everyone is talking about when it’s getting noticeably colder (not warmer) each year…
Crap. This is what I get for wandering away from the computer.
I loved Dana Scully as a character, and I’ve always thought GA was uberbeautiful, but apparently she’s quite the cretin, as are these filmmakers.
Somebody please explain to me how this is any better than catching a televangelist with his pants down, then getting punched in the face and told to shut up about it? Morally, I mean? How are these people one iota different, much less better?
Why on Earth are you plugging the films propaganda by linking to the official website?
Maybe I feel like you can handle it.
LOL..did any of ya’ll watch Rush on Leno last night? He did the little electric car thing sponsored by Ford. At one point in the obstacle course there is a life size pic of Algore and if the celeb hits it they are penalized 3 points, if I remember correctly.
Anyhoo, Rush deliberately hit the Algore, backed up and then hit it again. I laughed so hard. I don’t care for Rush, but he did something I think many of us would have loved to do. ‘Cept maybe hit the real Algore.
Re Algore – I feel quite certain in my beliefe that that’s the only way Jrod would hit it.
I already loved Rush. And now I love him more.
I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but that guy, Phelim McAleer, to whom you link, actually cut out parts of the original video to manipulate what the celebs really said. Gillian Anderson gave a very honest and modest response. She never said “you, the plebs” aren’t supposed to fly. She said she consciously cut down on the number of flights after watching the film and that everyone could do a little bit to reduce the carbon footprint. I like Gillian Anderson: she is a fine actor and a decent celebrity, deeply involved in several charity projects, and certainly no cretin. Lay off her. We are all guilty of unecological practices (that blog of yours is possible thanks to the Internet, no?), but at least she tries to do aomething about it.
I have a tough time believing in global warming (we’re all gonna die), but I have an even tougher time believing Gillian Anderson is still a celebrity.
Now Ann Jillian…THERE’S a hot potato. Hubba hubba. Wait. Is she still alive?
Very true, DRM, would it not be a huge statement for the celebs to not show up for the premier personally, to set an first-hand example? Of course it would. And of course they wouldn’t.
Where was this?
Do edumacate us. How many trees does a blog kill every day? And considering the fact that even after “cutting down”, Anderson and her fellow ecocult members STILL have carbon footprints like Yetis compared to the rest of us, maybe less preaching and more practicing would be good on their part, no?
Man, now I’m really sad that I missed Rush on Jay. I’ll have to find that clip on YouTube. Maybe I’ll loop it, and watch it over and over and over and…what were we talking about?
Does anyone REALLY think that some celebrity sound bite from the red carpet is going to inspire enough people to change their consumption practices enough to offset the energy expended for that red carpet appearance? Even Mulder and the Lone Gunmen wouldn’t buy that one.
If Gillian Anderson is trying to say that we should only fly if absolutely necessary, then her hypocrisy is compounded by the fact that flying in to watch a friggin’ movie is about as necessary as wiping your ass after you take blow your nose.
Flying from one state to another just to watch a movie isn’t exactly one of life’s necessities. It’s just an opportunity for her to pontificate in front of the camera about how much she “cares”.
Gillian Anderson can take her “green” lifestyle and shove it up her lily white ass. Sideways.
Blogs kill all the trees, you know, from all the electricity the internets are using. That otherwise wouldn’t be used, you know, if we still shared news via Pony Express.
Oh, definitely, Pearce. It’s a lot better to make a movie and travel all over trumpeting about it. Because famous people do that, and they’re so smart they can see around corners and stuff.
Just as an aside, Momus, you are correct in mentioning the internet, i.e. computers, as very ungreen. I’m surprised none of the greenie-weenies have looked into the big business of manufacturing computers, their heads would explode in finding so much excessive waste and toxic materials to devote their entire lives to kvetching about — I’m retired from a computer company, so I’ve seen it. BUT, no one here is preaching to not use computers, and then creating this blog to talk about not using computers.
nobody every brings up this stuff either, when preaching global warming. How does THIS affect us breathers? huh? Way more than any ‘global warming’ bs, i’ll bet.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind121.htm
Jannah don’t forget that one of the computers that is used for Climate modeling is a huge polluter, “…the computer draws 1.2 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 1,000 homes” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/27/tech/main5269610.shtml
And Polar bears seem to be central to the global warming cult.
A polar bear expert has been asked to stay away from a global warming conference because he is not drinking the ‘kool-aid’.
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2009/09/exile-for-non-believers-polar-bear-expert-told-to-stay-home/
kinda like trying to ask Michael Moore a question about any of the inconsistencies in his (doc)umentaries….
Wow D, that’s wild! Unfortunately there comes a point where efforts negate themselves when people start splitting hairs, like the fact that we would not even know about a hole in the ozone if no polluting rockets launched satellites into orbit that took images of the atmosphere in the first place. Now those satellites and rockets are a part of a dymnamic monitoring system of the fluctuating atmosphere. Six of one, half dozen of another. But that’s not to say that celebs can’t ratchet down their private jetsetting all over the globe, while telling us unwashed masses that we have to live like cavemen to save the planet. We’re mad as hell, and we’re not listening to them anymore.
Very interesting Jenn.
Or Marquis, the fact that Moore doesn’t exactly let poeple in for free to view his anti-capitalism movie. Now there’s a statement I would defend.
Wow, so many derisive comments, ad personam remarks. Guess what? Computers are not exactly eco-friendly. And Anderson didn’t fly all the way from London only to support “The Age of Stupid” film. She was shooting “Moby Dick” TV series just after the event. She was WORKING. She wasn’t patronizing,she wasn’t scornful like people on this website. She said (in the uncut clip you can still find on Youtube) that she reduced the number of flights and opted for a more eco-friendly attitude in general. The 10% effort anyone can take. No harm in that, and no reason to call her a hypocrite – yes, she flies sometimes – for professional reasons, just like millions of people, including you. But feel free to continue the largely uninformed bashing, because you’re so much better than celebrities, and because commenting on something that has already been manipulated is so awesome. Cheers.
Thank you for this farewell note. Good luck with the Pony Express.
Tell the Amish folks hi, too.