Joe writes, "Although I’ll never forget the experience and the film was well received by critics and audiences (see Rotten Tomatoes averages, above) it never rose to the level of a transformative moment, despite aggressive promotion, screenings and all our best efforts."
The film was a transformative moment for me, truly it was.
But after educating myself on the subject for awhile, I came to the conclusion that no piece of media will be able to overturn the pervasive culture of nuclear weapons denial. That denial is not built of reason and facts, and thus can not be overturned by them. That denial is not limited to the uniformed and ignorant, it permeates the entire culture all the way to the top.
Example: About a year ago I was chatting with a well known scientist who was previously prominent in the nuclear weapons expert/activist arena. He was telling me about a letter 1,000 scientists had signed warning of the existential threat presented by nukes.
I applauded the letter, but suggested there was little hope it would make a difference. As an alternative I suggested scientists might go out on strike for a month, that is, apply real leverage. He found that idea ridiculous and said there was no chance that would ever happen. And I had to agree.
So... This highly informed and involved expert and his very well educated peers felt that nukes were important enough to sign a letter, but not important enough to go out on strike for a limited period of time. Nuclear weapons denial goes all the way up the society from the least informed, to the most informed. A lack of information is not the problem.
As best I can tell, there is only one thing that has any chance of breaking the pattern of denial. The next detonation. Hopefully such an event will be large enough to explode the culture of denial, and small enough to allow us to learn from the event.
I really enjoyed reading about this, especially as I hope to collaborate with the creative industries myself! I do, however, think there are lots of examples of a film creating a moment (not just capturing it) - for example, I don't know if you've seen the huge stir that ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs. The Post Office' has caused this side of the Atlantic?
You do red carpet well! And thank you for your happy moment in this time of madness
Well done, Joe. Keep on posting.
Joe writes, "Although I’ll never forget the experience and the film was well received by critics and audiences (see Rotten Tomatoes averages, above) it never rose to the level of a transformative moment, despite aggressive promotion, screenings and all our best efforts."
The film was a transformative moment for me, truly it was.
But after educating myself on the subject for awhile, I came to the conclusion that no piece of media will be able to overturn the pervasive culture of nuclear weapons denial. That denial is not built of reason and facts, and thus can not be overturned by them. That denial is not limited to the uniformed and ignorant, it permeates the entire culture all the way to the top.
Example: About a year ago I was chatting with a well known scientist who was previously prominent in the nuclear weapons expert/activist arena. He was telling me about a letter 1,000 scientists had signed warning of the existential threat presented by nukes.
I applauded the letter, but suggested there was little hope it would make a difference. As an alternative I suggested scientists might go out on strike for a month, that is, apply real leverage. He found that idea ridiculous and said there was no chance that would ever happen. And I had to agree.
So... This highly informed and involved expert and his very well educated peers felt that nukes were important enough to sign a letter, but not important enough to go out on strike for a limited period of time. Nuclear weapons denial goes all the way up the society from the least informed, to the most informed. A lack of information is not the problem.
As best I can tell, there is only one thing that has any chance of breaking the pattern of denial. The next detonation. Hopefully such an event will be large enough to explode the culture of denial, and small enough to allow us to learn from the event.
I really enjoyed reading about this, especially as I hope to collaborate with the creative industries myself! I do, however, think there are lots of examples of a film creating a moment (not just capturing it) - for example, I don't know if you've seen the huge stir that ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs. The Post Office' has caused this side of the Atlantic?
Keep writing!