Chip

The financial crisis has never made sense to me, and still doesn't. I'm sorry. I even lived with a financial adviser: my stepdad, Chip.

I think Chip is an amazing person. He is an attractive, soft-spoken Southern gentleman. He loves his dog. He treats my mother like a queen. He does a lot for me too. I can't imagine him acting unethically. But, he probably steals people's money for all I know. I don't really understand what he does. From what I do understand, he helps mega-rich people invest their money. Whatever financial mumbo-jumbo-magic he performs, ethical or not, he makes a crap ton of money. I don't know if his economic status puts him in the same category as the men portrayed in the film though.

After growing up with Chip, it was hard for me to dismiss the "bad guys" in Inside Job as inherently bad people. Once I lost track of the jist of the film, I saw these men through a different lens. I had no idea who was "good" and who was "bad" anymore. To me, they were all just angry, old, wrinkly, overweight men wearing the same suit and tie uniform. The bankers and the attorneys morphed together into this business-man-breed whom I suppose do not act like the people who go home to a family at night.

I think the office environment makes it okay to act unethically. The suit and the tie transforms men and women into barbarians. I think the "bad guys" in the film simply lost contact with reality and their morals. They were so caught up in the game of economics, they forgot to look at the big picture. I don't think they're bad people.

Chip may or may not have his next vacation in mind when choosing investments for his clients; I will never know. But, I do know he got a nice bonus when he left UBS for Morgan-Stanley. He took us to London and Paris that summer.

Sentence Fluency

Before

One account that failed to appear in Herzog’s film, that is mentioned by John Rogers, entails Timothy Treadwell scaring away “major film companies like the BBC [who] came to create documentaries that would educate millions, Timothy disrupted their filming by yelling and charging up and down streams to scare away the bears” (Rogers). While there is zero evidence, it seems to match with the footage of Treadwell’s interactions with the Park Service and hunters that Herzog showed us.

After

John Rogers mentions an account that Herzog failed to include in his film. Treadwell scared away "major film companies like the BBC [who] came to create documentaries that would educate millions, Timothy disrupted their filming by yelling and charging up and down streams to scare away the bears” (Rogers). while the evidence is nonexistent, Rogers' story seems to match with the footage Herzog chose to show of Treadwell’s interactions with the Park Service and hunters.

Art

I was bored out of my mind while watching this film. I was entirely distracted and could not sit still. I caught up on emails and folded laundry while the images danced upon the screen. I didn't feel like I missed too much. I felt the director was wasting my time.
During the film, I began crafting a scathing review about its lack of substance, it's lack of efficient story-telling. I planned on discussing its obnoxious length. I even found this short version of the film that was squished into 5 minutes.

But...

...I found this interview with the director, Godfrey Reggio too. This interview was like an artist statement next to an abstract piece of artwork in a museum.

Reggio seems to be an incredibly intelligent man. I think his experience as a monk gave him a broad, enlightened view of the world that we as humans have created for ourselves.

He says the notion of changing the world is ludicrous. He says we must have "courage to be hopeless about this world, in order to make a more livable world." That viewpoint is refreshing after the many false promises shoved down our throats by politicians activists.

Instead of changing the world, we must understand it and decipher the chaos; I think that's what Koyaanisqatsi and  Naqoyqatsi aim to do.

Reggio says you must "stare at [the world] until it begins to look strange."  He wanted to "make the background, the foreground" in his film and open the audience's mind to the world of technology that we exist in.

I appreciate the film now, but I couldn't watch it again.

Balance

On a recent plane ride back from visiting my dad in Texas, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a flood insurance claims adjuster who was on his way to Long Island to work on the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. He was a seasoned professional, in his fifties, a real Texan too. He talked with a twang about his family, his ranch, Republican politics, and most importantly: his job.

I asked him, rather frankly, if he believed in global warming. He replied quickly, "Yes, without a doubt." That Texan insurance man spoke in detail about the frequency and severity of recent storms. He said he's been doing this for twenty years and has never seen such intense storms at such odd times of the year. He spoke about the devastated families he has consoled in his work and about how poorly those families treated him, with utmost disrespect. He told me about the horrors of Hurricane Katrina too.

*Dramatic reenactment 

That plane ride with that Texan insurance man was enough proof for me. It was enough proof to validate my career choice. Al Gore's film was simply another great reinforcement. Although, as an Environmental Studies major, I'm embarrassed to say this was my first time viewing An Inconvenient Truth. 

The documentary was rhetorically successful and I think has the power to sway any non-believer. Gore is an excellent public speaker and a very passionate man. He used great visuals and pristine logic to present his ideas. The concept that still lingers in my mind is presented below. Before Gore provided his opinion, I accepted the illustration as normal symbolism. Gore could've moved on and the image could've been lost forever in the dark corners of my brain. Instead he pointed out the blatant absurdity of the symbolism presented in this image. The gold comes from the earth.