Nature is the mother of us all. And if momma ain’t happy, we’re f*#&@d!
-Jason Momoa, Common Ground
Since the beginning of cinema, film has been used as a commentary on or lens into society. Film has covered racial disparity, religious persecution, political conspiracy, and the World Wars. In last two decades, a lot of film has been inspired by environmental threats. And while most filmmakers try to evoke strong emotions so that you’ll remember them and encourage your friends to buy a ticket, there are those that hope it will do a lot more.
Fictional stories like The Happening, where trees start giving off a chemical that causes people to violently off themselves, are attempts by the writers to make a societal observation. The message beyond the thrill and the gore in this case? We’ve mistreated the living things on earth that we are meant to co-habitate with. We don’t treat them well, and if we stay on this path, they may turn on us.
Interstellar, with Matthew McConaughey, was an apocalyptic story about how the mistreatment of our soils causes a devastating Dust Bowl scenario, almost destroying our civilization. This then leads the main characters to seek livability on other planets. Some of these films we simply store in our memory banks for recall to share with friends when they ask what good movies we’ve seen lately. But some of these fictional stories spark conversation.
While these nightmare scenarios starring blockbuster actors are simply the conjuring of creative writers, they aren’t always so far from the truth. I’m not saying the trees are out to get us. But if you recall, on May 1, 2023, IRL there were 7 deaths and 37 injuries when a massive dust storm, coming off nearby farms, blinded drivers on Interstate 55 in Illinois. And that “dust” was precious, and disappearing, topsoil. May in the midwest is typically around the time of planting the new crops . . . after the soil has been plowed, a practice that many believe is contributing to a number of crises. And that’s beyond just deadly duststorms.
Film also reaches people by just telling true stories. Documentaries like Food Inc., Fed Up, Forks over Knives, and Kiss the Ground discuss how our food system is not good for our bodies or the planet. And movies can resonate. Kiss the Ground, without hyperbole, changed my life. It was entertaining, dramatic, lively and silly, frightening and inspiring. It had recognizable film stars, but also scientists and farmers that soon became celebrities to me, as they are forging the path to regeneration. The film didn’t give me all the information, but it inspired me to seek out more.
In January (2024), people in my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan will have the opportunity, to see a special screening of the new film, Common Ground, a sequel to my beloved Kiss the Ground. It touches on the incredible potential of our soil to enrich our food, sequester carbon, reverse food-related disease, clean our water, replenish our water, and cool our planet. It could do ALL of those things, if we treated our soils right (which we, being humans, have not). If only… What the filmmakers of Common Ground are hoping for is a secure future for the next generation. And they hope that their film will inform and inspire, as much as it will entertain and delight. For the film to accomplish what the creators are hoping for, we must watch, then talk, then act. And the film will lay before us just how we can do that.
We’re not working with nature. All agriculture today is mankind trying to impose his or her will on nature. Nature is always self-healing, self-organizing, self-regulating. We need to get back to that.
-Gabe Brown, Regenerative Farmer and Activist
Film has the power to reach millions and touch the lives of even more. For those who spend their lives harnessing that power for good, we can be grateful. If you are interested in seeing Common Ground, visit their website for a screening near you. Send a request to Netflix to buy the film for their viewers, and then you can watch it from home. But don’t forget – watch, talk, act.
