Mother: Caring for 7 Billion (2011)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I had a biological mother, but I've never met her, I'm an adoptee. I was two months old when I was adopted, so my mom is my mom. Nowadays, some people can watch video of themselves being born; not sure if that wouldn't creep me out a bit. Some things should be left in the realm of the mysterious.In the early days of the environmental movement, a key plank in the platform was ZPG, or zero population growth. As I've said on my blog,the Hazard Hot Sheet, we wouldn't have the enviro problems that we do if there weren't just too damn many of us. We're depleting aquifers, energy sources, the soil's capacity to feed us, you name it. The so-called Green Revolution was going to feed everybody (yeah, right)…that's when we had only about half the everybodies we have today.Barry Commoner's book, "The Closing Circle," Paul Ehrlich's "The Population Bomb," and Andrew Goudie's "The Human Impact" pointed out that we don't have an infinite carrying capacity, and the Club of Rome's "Limits to Growth" report, and its two sequels, fleshed it out. Politicians of a different stripe from mine decry and condemn that attitude as negative, and that it's all about economic growth, growth, growth. But, dammit, there are only so many resources to exploit. I know some fatalistic conservatives who figure that humans won't be around much longer, so let's just use up everything we can while we can. That's not my approach, obviously.The nice thing about "Mother" is that it ties in all the old ZPG ideas with the current women's issues and reproductive health ones. AND drags Ehrlich out of mothballs, lol. I wish I had a teaching gig at Stanford. My brother-in-law does.I have no kids, that I'm aware of, anyway, so my impact is low. Chairman Mao tried to impose limits on China's population, with mixed results. (I'm working on a blog post on the pros and cons of Chinese medicine…I'm a fan of the culture, but some of their "remedies" are way toxic, and wiping out endangered species to make "aphrodisiacs" for an overpopulated country isn't a plan I'd write.) What I liked about the film is the message, and how viscerally it was delivered, through fine cinematography and narration. It's visually and aurally arresting, and I think anyone who sees it will GET the message. Great job by all involved.Gaia = Mom.

In a world plagued with innumerable and seemingly insurmountable problems, it's nice to view a film that tackles a formidable problem (i.e. population growth) in a positive manner. While the film certainly describes the many challenges that are associated with population growth, it leaves the viewer with a clearer understanding of what can be done to lower fertility rates while respecting individual choice and also improving the lives of people in the developed world. I particularly enjoyed the scenes that were filmed on location in Ethiopia. They gave me a far greater appreciation for the benefits that can be derived from educating girls, empowering women, and giving couples access to modern contraceptive methods. I was particularly interested to learn more about the role that entertainment media is playing in Ethiopia.

In 1970, world population was 3.7 billion which was then regarded as a major contributor to the global environmental crisis. By 2011, world population has risen to 6.8 billion and technology has proved to be a double-edged sword: on one hand, increasing life expectancy, food and goods production; on the other, resulting in unsustainable population growth with concomitant major problems for humanity's continued existence. Infrastructure in most countries has failed to keep pace with the growth being relentlessly promoted by various pressure groups, and in some countries, aspirational middle classes that previously did not exist, all wishing to live at the massively unsustainable consumption level of the United States, have been created.Empowerment and education of women is seen as the primary solution to this impending disaster. Despite advances in contraceptive methods, many pregnancies are unplanned even in advanced societies. However, population growth is greatest in patriarchal societies where women are uneducated and disempowered. If fertility rates can be reduced and the present insatiable urge for growth be curbed, the concepts of Mother Earth and women as agents of global survival are twinned.

It will probably take about 100 years to reach population equilibrium on Earth, and then only if we consciously seek it, starting now. "Mother" starts the discussion by pointing out, first, that we have a very serious problem, and then through the voices of experts and visionaries Mother tells us what will happen if we don't address the problem. Then the movie focuses our attention on the one and only way to peacefully and painlessly decrease the population -- through family planning. And family planning requires female empowerment. The movie tears away the curtain of despair and denial, eschews violent and unethical reactions, avoids placing the blame, and shows us how to navigate though these uncertain times by empowering women. I wish I could see a sequel. It would cover the technology of contraception, the demographic pyramid, and the belief systems that stand in the way of controlling our reproduction rate. To answer the question of the previous reviewer, yes, zero population growth could be attained today if no pregnancies were unplanned.