The Green Screen – An Eco-friendly Film and Television Review
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We’re introducing a recurring theme to The Sustainable Scribe called The Green Screen where we will write about our eco-observations in film and television. Sometimes they will be given kudos and other times jeers. Our first entry has both.
I’m going to continue the nod to NBC’s Green Week mentioned yesterday in the Green Gazette with an eco-friendly review of their much-hyped “Green Episodes”. NBC brought “Green is Universal” back for its third straight year starting November 15th, 2009. The jury is still out on whether this whole Green Week thing is a pure of heart effort to spread eco-awareness or a shameless bandwagon, ratings grab. I tuned in tonight to watch the Green Episodes of both The Office and 30 Rock and I still don’t know the answer unfortunately.
The Office
The opening scene had Dwight as Recyclops – an earth loving super hero trying to save the planet through education and awareness. Recyclops gave tips on how to minimize consumption and waste and encouraged recycling. He also called people out on their eco-infractions. Every year he returned angrier at the lack of awareness and activism until he was almost taken over by Polluticom and became an earth enemy. Angry Recyclops returned spraying aerosol, drinking from pop cans with a straw and throwing them away in the garbage and basically causing destruction wherever he went. That was the opening scene. I was hoping for more but that’s where the “green” ended. The very next scene Michael was preparing to go to an awards ceremony and waiting for his gas-guzzling limo (not an eco-friendly choice) to pick him up and that was pretty much the end of the green. I’m a fan of The Office but why bother? Jeers.
30 Rock
30 Rock set their green episode up with Jack telling Kenneth that TGS had to reduce its carbon footprint by 5% across the board – basically setting up a theme for the entire show. The rest of the episode had Kenneth interacting with all the characters (including a guest appearance by Al Gore) in an attempt to get them to consume less to reduce their waste. Jack declared he loved the earth as demonstrated by the Sri Lankan blossoms he has flown on his private jet every day. Kenneth understands we have to protect the future of the children for they make our shoes and wallets. Liz was hesitant to give up her fridge and asked if NBC was going to do more than showcase a green peacock. Frank turns out to be the greenest employee as he wastes nothing – he eats trash from the garbage, does not do his laundry, saves his urine and uses it to water the garden on the ledge of the building. Al Gore made an appearance (he’s really pimping for that book) to say it takes more than a lightbulb change to make a difference. He then had to rush off – a whale was in trouble. It was a witty episode that got an ecofriendly message across while mocking the green initiatives of NBC. Totally entertaining. Kudos.
I think they would have had a greater impact with simple subliminal acts of green. It would be refreshing to see water being consumed in reusable stainless steel bottles rather than plastic, eco-efficient cars being driven rather than Hummers and food being composted rather than thrown in the trash. That would truly be spreading an eco-friendly message.
I’ll leave you with an ecofriendly African Proverb by Al Gore, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We need to go far and quickly. Recycle.” Gotta love 30 Rock.
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