Film review "Planet of the Humans"

April 24, 2020 and more, May 19, 2020

film review

Planet of the Humans

          Jeff Gibbs

Michael Moore, Exe. Producer

“Humankind is challenged, as it has never been challenged before, to prove its maturity and its mastery – not of nature but of itself.”   Rachel Carson 1962

New film, available for free, you tube, worthy. Harsh. Very harsh, especially now that we add covd19 to the truth of our existence in April 2020. As they put this film together, they could not have known what was to come. As I watched it this afternoon, I kept thinking about another new source of environmental facts, a book just released a few days ago, Carbon Criminals, Climate Crimes by Dr. Ron Kramer, WMU Professsor, Criminology, specializing in State Crime. His book takes a deep dive into the factors and greed that put us here, kicking Mother Nature in the gut.  Carbon Criminals is a soul mate to Planet of the Humans. Kramer’s book, Chapter Six, Vietnam, USA, why. Who. What. All about the $, eh?

Here in Kalamazoo, now, see date above, we ‘stay home’ to avoid getting or giving covd19. Tough times and often death for any who do get it, and weird strange anxiety times for everyone else.  Michigan dead count for covd19 as of this morning - 2,977.  May 19, 2020 Michigan covd dead 4,891. Many people are freaking out in many ways, some forced to be trapped with violent family, some die for all the normal reasons, but no one can properly comfort the grieving, and impossible to directly comfort grievers of covd19 victim. And now this film.

I’ve had some threads of what is fully exposed in Planet of the Humans, after all, I was social companion to Sherman Skolnick in 1968-69. He broke the back of the Illinois Supreme Court by proving that 3 of the 5 judges were corrupt and taking bribes in 1965-67. I think I have eyes wide open, but seeing this film this afternoon, the pain and the shame are filling tissues. I’m ashamed that I’ve been so fooled.

NOTE: I stand corrected, Sherm’s work mentioned above happened in 1969, while David Hoffman, my good friend, was Sherm’s friend, driver, assistant for a few years. David let me know I was wrong about the above, here’s more:
      "proving that 3 of the 5 judges were corrupt"
Two judges, one was the Chief judge.

      Illinois Justice,The Scandal of 1969 and the Rise of John Paul Stevens
Kenneth A. Manaster. With a Foreword by Justice John Paul Stevens
      https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3632637.html

My bad to place Sherm’s work a couple years wrong, ugh. 1969? So the facts say, ok. What I do remember is going w/Dave and Sherm to restaurants occasionally, 1968-69, was people, mostly Polish people, who recognized Sherm and would shyly come up and thank him profusely, something about how some bank was about to go belly up and those folks would have lost their money, but Sherm’s work saved their savings. Geez, I thought the IL Supreme Court thing was a year or two earlier. My bad. Sherm’s life is amazing in several ways, as he was a young victim of polio and was totally wheelchair bound through his life. Yet he took care of himself, no personal assistant for his personal care. David was his helper for errands, appointments, etc. Sherm stayed in the house his parents bought many years previous, they were dead as I met him. That house, in a nice mostly Jewish neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago, was caught in another crime that Sherm endured. That being realtors hiring young black men to cause ruckus in Sherm’s ‘hood, and 99% of the homeowners sold out, and of course, same homes were sold to striving Black families for huge profit. Sherm watched all that, stayed in same house, and became a legal investigator as a result. Oh, speaking of housing, at that time, David and I lived in a condemned building! $37.50 a month rent, no repairs, no anything from landlord, who was UIC Medical Campus, they had plans. And for me? 1969? Whew, I was a straight young woman, just dropped jerk hubby, started a happy time with David, I worked full time at UICC, Head Receptionist at the College of Engineering! Me! Yep, and here’s another fact I do really know – I wasn’t smoking THAT stuff in 1969. It looked exactly like smoking a cigarette, no thanks. I was actually a bit shocked at how folks my age and younger were starting to dress, hmmm, they must not need jobs, as their choice in clothing was a 10-alarm signal to any employer. I needed my job, all that. However, I had come to a decision that aligned with the hippies, I was also opposed to the Vietnam War. Why? My brother was there, 1967-68, and wrote a letter to me then, “this whole country isn’t worth one GI’s life.” He liked the whole Army thing, until he was expected to shoot real people. Now back to this little film review.

Biomass? Biofuel? WTF? Now I’m soooooooo pissed. Al Gore? Rat. Green New Deal? New green for mega corporations, and I ain’t chattin’ up green grass – no, the green that has pictures of other winners of the power&money game. Seeing what’s happening in Vermont, esp. at Middlebury College, home of environmental activists - - sickening. McKibben is busted. The map of the thousands of biomass plants all through USA, then map expands to show many other countries with theirs, methinks we’re fucked.

          Note to film viewers – watch to the end of the end credits, some more facts pop into view.

One aspect of the film I dislike – occasionally the screen goes blank black. Really, Michael, did you have to add this annoying element? For one split second my hair stands on end – WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY SCREEN? – nothing. I do not appreciate being alarmed for viewer consumption. Don’t be manipulating me, Michael. Two can play that game. 

    

We see one environmental activist, Vandana Shiva, who does have her eyes wide open, does not trust “green new deal.” She says, “We’ve been manipulated to give power to an illusion… We now measure growth by how life is destroyed.”

Bloomberg & buddies “Beyond Coal” – LOL through my angry tears.

It gets worse. Wait until you see who finances Treehugger.com.

Oh, those scenes of a huge Earth Day rally, all the lies right from the stage! WTF? Are we all fools for a sweet lie? Looks like everyone in that jumbo crowd was on board. Sickening. By the way, original Earth Day, by founder John McConnell, was intended as a worldwide solemn tribute to Earth through the UN. Not an American college show. Area author Robert Weir’s book, Peace, Justice, Care of Earth is an authorized biography of McConnell. Wonder why we don’t see MConnell’s name with Earth Day now? Weir gives press to who took the idea and pissed on McConnell.

Now that I think about it, I’ve been cool to Earth Day for years, as I saw sponsors list grow and grow, hmmm, good time for a walk in the woods. Yes, lovely locals doing GREAT things for Mother Earth, but who pays the bill for all this Earth Day hoopla? I smelled a rat. I must have been a rat terrier in my last life. Arf.

Now I finally see – I’m not a liberal. Did you know that the anchor magazine of capitalism is “The Economist” and they champion liberal values because liberals will keep capitalism rolling along? Shit. All these long years I thought “liberal” meant this:

“...The radical right sarcastically criticizes liberals as “bleeding hearts,’ characterizing compassion as weakness. Liberals believe in the brotherhood of man, and consider it their duty to fight for ‘the least of these,’ those people without a voice.”

Elisabeth Reuther Dickmeyer

Putting the World Together, My Father Walter Reuther: The Liberal Warrior.

Did Walter Reuther’s daughter get it wrong? Did I get it wrong? I’m afraid to look up formal def. of the word, if it’s 1) do anything and everything for capitalism while smiling    2) be nice to people getting kicked in the teeth by capitalism – if Webster’s or google gives me these, for sure I’m not a liberal. Brotherhood of man and mo’ money at ANY cost? Huh?

One of my fav NYer cartoons years ago: two, 3-piece suit corporate guys with heavy briefcases on elevator, one says to the other, “I’ve had a dream of buying an 80-acre farm. And sub-dividing it.”

Gratitude to Michael Moore for this film, he most likely brought some serious weight to a serious project of Jeff Gibbs. Michigan folks! People who LOVE our piece of Mother Earth. In the film, we hear the name Enbridge, just a little, not near enough, but here’s what I know – Enbridge, the company who can’t supervise their pipes or staff well – remember the oil mess on the Kalamazoo River a few short years ago? Enbridge pipe crapped out, but staff didn’t deal with it for many hours. And then many hundreds of people, and many thousands of critters dealt with it/died for it for years. Enbridge, same company that has the oil pipe on the bottom of Lake Michigan, new file permit request for digging under Lake Michigan for another pipe, and oh, they are corporate sponsors of Ann Arbor NPR station. Guess dirty money is still pretty to some. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamazoo_River_oil_spill

The quote to start this, Carson’s, was of course before covd19. It’s the last element of the film. I think of a thing floating around facebook, re: covd19: “Mother Nature sends us to our rooms until we can play nice.” What I take from Planet of the Humans is that it’s too late.  The film barely touches the topic – too many humans. Well - China did do something about this very thing when they severely restricted family size for  35 years and still have strict birthrate policy. Gibbs and Moore don’t bring this into their work here, interesting. I don’t blame them for this, as if they would have, moneyed voices would dismiss the film for this truth. For that matter, I bet this film will get very little attention from most mainstream media. Little or none, can’t bite the hand that feeds...

I’m glad they left in a small piece, chatting on film with Bill McKibben, asking him who funds his 350.org, his very popular environmental work. “Oh, oh, I don’t have that right in front of me, oh, oh,” well, ah, fumble, mumble, and then he gives one name! A MUST-SEE piece of the film.

This film, with Moore’s assistance yet not his biting humor, will break the hearts of millions of environmentalists, it’s crushing. Yet, somehow, could this be THE best time to re-consider our direction? Gratitude to Michael Moore, he and Gibbs share serious voices and let us look behind the curtain.

My fav visual: we see a clever speed-up segment of the many chemicals being mined, harvested, then turned into “green energy” products like solar panels. Laugh and cry thing.

Most shocking? Someone  in film says, “without major human die-off, no turning back from our end.” This was filmed before covd19. Oh shit.

Enbridge? Entergy? I live down wind, 1 hour at 50 mph., from Entergy’s Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. Covert, Michigan.  Make an escape plan. When that shit goes down, time to run as far as I can, as fast as I can. Covd 19? Minor shit compared to Palisades. That face mask ain’t gonna do it. Think Chernobyl.

I would find value in watching the film with folks like Ron and Jane Kramer, and stopping it at any point to discuss what we see. Hmm, probably a many hour deal, I’ll bring some good Bell’s brews. Well, when we can get out of covd prison. Hopslam.