DeepSummary
The episode features a conversation with Anna Jane Joyner, a climate story consultant and founder of Good Energy, and Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, an associate professor at Colby College. They discuss their new report titled 'Climate Reality On-Screen: The Climate Crisis in Popular Films, 2013-22,' which examines how often climate change is portrayed and characters are aware of it in popular films.
The report analyzed the 250 most-watched films from 2013 to 2022 and found that only 9.6% passed the 'climate reality check,' meaning climate change existed in the story world, and a character acknowledged it. Interestingly, films that included climate change performed 8.8% better at the box office on average.
The guests offer recommendations for storytellers to better incorporate climate change into their narratives, such as having more diverse characters discuss it, mentioning it across genres, and portraying climate-positive behaviors. Overall, the discussion highlights the importance of popular entertainment in raising awareness about the climate crisis.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The report 'Climate Reality On-Screen' found that climate change was rarely portrayed or acknowledged by characters in the most popular films from 2013 to 2022.
- Films that included climate change themes and characters aware of the crisis tended to perform better financially at the box office.
- Popular entertainment can play a crucial role in raising awareness and prioritization of climate change across different audiences.
- The demographics of characters shown as concerned about climate change in films do not accurately reflect reality based on polling data.
- Recommendations are provided for storytellers to better incorporate climate change themes, such as having more diverse characters discuss it, mentioning it across genres, and portraying climate-positive behaviors.
- Storytelling is a powerful tool for shaping how people interpret information and understand complex issues like climate change.
- The climate movement has been lagging behind other industries in leveraging the influential power of Hollywood storytelling.
- Portraying the reality of who is impacted by and concerned about climate change in popular narratives is important for increasing awareness and action.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Climate has a lot to catch up on, and it's because the government and the oil industries understand the power of Hollywood.“ by Anna Jane Joyner
- “If we're not given information through a story, we're either attaching it to a story that we already have, which is why the right and the left can look at the same set of facts and come up with dramatically different stories about what they mean, or we're just totally blocking off the information and not receiving it.“ by Anna Jane Joyner
- “Among the 220 films with theatrical releases, films that included climate change earned on average 8.8% more at the box office than those that didn't. And films that included at least one character that's aware of climate change actually performed 10% better at the box office than those that didn't.“ by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson
- “We need to show that reality on screen.“ by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson
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Episode Information
The Climate Pod
The Climate Pod
5/1/24
Popular films have massive influence over our culture. It's where we go to see the biggest stories on the biggest screen. It's where we go to see Nicole Kidman do that weird commerical before the film starts. Movies are really, really important.
So, why isn't the climate crisis, one of the defining issues of our time, on the silver screen more often. That's a question Anna Jane Joyner and Matthew Schneider-Mayerson are investigating. Together, they put together a new report, Climate Reality On-Screen: The Climate Crisis in Popular Films, 2013–22, which outlines how often the climate crisis is showing up in famous flicks and how often we see characters aware of its existence on screen. This week, Anna Jane and Matthew explain their findings, what it means for the industry, our politics, and how filmmakers can do better going forward.
Anna Jane Joyner is a climate story consultant and the founder and director of Good Energy. Matthew Schneider-Mayerson is an associate professor of English and environmental studies at Colby College. Read their report, Climate Reality On-Screen: The Climate Crisis in Popular Films, 2013–22 here.
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