Green and Gore-y

It all stared with the beard.\nI never used to be a fan of Al Gore. To tell the truth, during the fiasco of the 2000 presidential election – that unfortunate bit of American history that introduced us to the “hanging chad” and the proverbial “lockbox” – Gore completely rubbed me the wrong way. The man whom I now idolize as an ecological savior then seemed to me a pompous, arrogant crybaby with the personality of a hermit crab.\nStill, when he made his comeback as environmental guru, I decided to give him another chance. It seemed that by sprouting a facial mullet, he had undergone a complete metamorphosis, and, when he finally did shave the rodent off his face, emerged as a different Al. He seemed newly empowered – a dynamic environmental bad-ass who preached the gospel of green for all the right reasons – and this time, he had a worthy cause other than convincing the public that he invented the Internet. \nWhen “An Inconvenient Truth” arrived in theaters, I was, needless to say, itching to see it. I was expecting to be wowed, to see climate change in a way that would dramatically alter my perspective of a world in crisis. Gore had become a sort of hero to me – proof that a victim of circumstance can rise above defeat and change the world. \nWhen I finally did manage to catch the last few minutes of “An Inconvenient Truth,” suffice it to say that my world came crashing down around me. Despite his bearded catharsis and his noble efforts and high ideals, he was still ... dead ... boring. Guiltily, as I watched, my eyelids began to droop, and with every yawn, I thought, “Wow. I am a horrible environmentalist!” True, I was running off a limited amount of sleep, but that didn’t stop me from feeling a gut-wrenching remorse for having betrayed our “fearless leader.” \nAs a society, we are often only interested in what is alluring and eye-catching. We have trouble separating what is presented from how it is presented, and by whom. I can guarantee that if Brad Pitt had given Gore’s PowerPoint instead, I would have stayed awake for the duration of the film, and that the theaters that showed it would have been packed as tightly as an A bus on a rainy day. \nWhat I am getting at here is that just because a cause isn’t “sexy,” even if it doesn’t immediately capture your attention, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of your time or your consideration. Some of the world’s greatest tragedies happen passively. There is no one at the vanguard calling it to our attention; rather, the victims, whether they are people, animals or the planet itself, are afforded little representation and cannot cry out themselves.\nSo listen a little more closely. Don’t discount something because it doesn’t flaunt its merits on the exterior. Even though they may change their appearances – or grow a beard – the essential qualities of anyone or anything are to be looked for on the inside.