How to Let Go of the World: and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change (2016) User Reviews (11)

Target For Tonight.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 10 July 2016]

It's a nicely joined documentary illustrating the recent and not-so-recent progress of global warming and tying it convincingly to carbon emissions.

But it's a sad program too, because the people most in need of this information are the least likely to watch a program like this. Somehow the notion of anthropogenic global warming has been politicized. It shouldn't ever have become a "liberal" position because it's no more partisan than the solar system or Ebola or the Black Plague.

It's sad too because I'm tempted to argue in favor of recognizing AGW, as almost all respectable scientific organizations have, including the American Meteorological Association. I visited the Columbia Ice Fields in Canada as a child in 1953 and again in 1988, and the edge of this miniglacier had retreated the length of about two football fields in that period. It's irritating to feel that an observation like that still needs to be brought up.

It's sad too that America in general is so far behind the curve on the acceptance of scientific evidence, that we seem to be shackled to a faith-based and political perspective. AGW isn't such a critical problem elsewhere, as nations finally bind together in an attempt to dampen the effect.

Nope. The ultimate problem has to do with psychology, not atmospheric physics. How can anyone deny AGW and natural selection, yet believe that inoculations lead to mental retardation? Finding the psychological solution would ease the way for the solution to the atmospheric problem.

Great Music

[fjalphawolf · 7/10 · 25 July 2016]

Especially liked the closing credits song. Worth watching for sure, brings up a variety of informative happenings in recent history worth taking notice of.

Whether you believe in Climate change theory or not, good emotional views from people all over the world that otherwise would not have a voice. Watch and see and make draw your own conclusions. The ideas are not new but presented in a new and interesting and factual way. Quite relevant since there are many recent events weather related that effect the immediate environment. Especially with the new political climate in tow.

Scientific consensus supports the tenets of this documentary

[drtimothybrewerton · 10/10 · 9 July 2016]

I don't understand the hostile reviews about this very powerful documentary or the guy who made it. There is nothing fake about it, as it takes us on a world journey demonstrating the devastating impact that climate change IS HAVING on the planet. The people are real people and the 97% of scientists who have evaluated the data, the facts, concur that the earth's climate is warming at an unprecedented rate but that it is man-made. NASA has published its own statement on this crucial topic and has made a list of all the scientific societies and government agencies that concur with this irrefutable position: "Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal." - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change See: http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ People are hostile to this position, not because they have studied the facts, but because they are attached to a way of life driven by corporations (oil industry, meat and dairy industry, consumption) that they selfishly refuse to give up. In the face of the data, it is hard not to lose hope, but this documentary shows that hope remains alive!

Despite some grim reports, keep moving & creating says this doc

[SJFlann · 10/10 · 29 January 2016]

What can you say about a documentary of the planet, by the planet (its peoples) and for the planet? How can we prevent life perishing from the Earth? Find personal time or even better, a community organized viewing, to take in Josh Fox's wide tour of our planetary address. It also includes a tour of emotions ranging from fear to the realization that we're not giving up. Why? Because, as said in this work, we have the inventions to move beyond burning fossil fuels and it's time to get them working full scale. Two stellar sections (among many) include dialogues with Tim DeChristopher; (while you and I are recycling, he's blockin' illegal oil and gas leases – yeah,) and Ella Chou, a Chinese environmentalist who places the term Moral Imagination right in front. Thank you, Ella Chou. The doc puts it out there;'Hi people, get un-afraid. Work together to protect the ecosystems of our brilliant, one- of-a-kind home called Earth.'

Find a city or town where this is being shown during the tour

[heyerflowers · 9/10 · 17 March 2016]

We went to see this documentary in our town this week during its tour and found that the content is motivating. We saw that we must make a commitment to speak out to our government representatives and become a community of people that are willing and able to fight oil and gas industries which have no conscience. This documentary made me get up and dance in tribute to the earth. The documentary tells us that green solutions are attainable; our nation has all the technology to do. This documentary helps us to see we are not alone in the fight against gas, oil, and fracked-gas infrastructure that we do not want or need, that those industries do not care that they are causing our planet great harm, and that we need to unite our nation toward going green. The documentary is long but worth the time spent watching it.

Director tried to hard to always interject himself in the film

[meghanwhite8 · 5/10 · 11 July 2016]

I like the premise of the documentary, but it seems as though the director wants to be in front of the camera instead of actually directing. For instance, a story of a woman drowning in her house somehow becomes him discussing his own integrity for not asking her husband to relive it. This happens pretty often throughout the film and is usually unnecessarily taking away from the real story. This made it hard to watch without getting annoyed at the attention seeking director. The other subjects in the doc were great and had intriguing stories. I wish there was more focus on how their actual stories rather than the director interjecting himself in everyone's story.

Josh Fox expands to the world

[AfterShare · 10/10 · 9 August 2016]

I have been a fan of his style since Gasland. I had no idea where this would take me. It is an emotional journey told in many locations. It helps give a world view of the problems we face. Anyone calling this fake or bashing Josh Fox clearly has no sense of the enormity of the problem. It is good as an introduction to expanding environmental concerns, but also good for someone who knows quite a bit, but either wants to learn more through different angles or global beauty and alarm. My most admired activists are in it, plus very new ones adding their own view and work from around the globe. I love that Josh "interjects" himself. It is like you are on this journey with a friend. There is beauty, danger, fear, calm, pain, tragedy, and dancing. All interwoven with facts. It is the kind of journey where you appreciate a friend.

Self Absorbed Troll

[starseed-86998 · 1/10 · 14 February 2016]

Is there really a guy out there who is so arrogant, so conceited, so self absorbed, and so redundant like this sentence? Yes there is. Josh is not a leader, he never has been. In fact, there are so many great people around the world that are leaders fighting for the environment and humanity that are not self-absorbed. This is a lesson Josh must still learn he's still an infant in the world of great humanity. I couldn't stand watching the film because of his creepy low droning, non-sensical voice. If you want a spoiler, I can't give you one, other than you're going to be bored out of your mind listening to the self promotions and lack of environmental coherency.

My hat is off, and salute every real activist out there who has been on the ground who has suffered, who still suffers, and who are still fighting for everyone and not just themselves.

And the title of this film should be given an award for the "dumbest film title of the year."

A must see even for the ones who have lost their hope.

[dor_tokyo_2007 · 10/10 · 2 May 2020]

I've saw Josh's "GasLand" and it was really inspiring, this one however had something more. It showed me, at least, that giving up to despair it's not an option. Yes, the situation is dire...it's catastrophic ..it's how you want to say it,but it's not an excuse to stop doing something, you have so manny people who are fighting for their land...for their forests ...for their HOMES, and didn't stop and some actually won, why would you stop when they fought such a hard battle and you are staying and watching it from your comfortable sofa ? This films gives you...an impulse to keep going, keep the fight on, for a better world, for a better future.

Nothing new here

[saccitygrl · 3/10 · 4 July 2016]

There is almost nothing in this movie that couldn't have been said or filmed over 20 years ago. Not one bit of the science presented or the signs or symptoms is newsworthy. Its a retread of everything we knew in 1988 when this issue took center stage in American politics. And the fact is, it has all been said and printed and published over and over again. Fox adds nothing to this discussion.

So, if you're interested in witnessing another latecomer come to grips with the dire predicament we are in as species by espousing his undying love for solar panels and social justice causes and pinning the entire thing on consumerism even though the record is very clear that this issue has been in the works for well over a century long before the advent of madison avenue, then I guess this may be a worthwhile hour plus spent of your very short life. However, for me, I don't find the navelgazing of latecomer hipster activist all that riveting or enlightening. In fact, it's rather annoying to be preached to by someone who decides to do a climate change movie by galavanting about the globe. Its even less appealing to hear this from someone who in 2010 put out a movie discussing fracking and never once could be bothered to mention how long this had been going on in the USA or why. You know the root causes. Spoiler--Fox does the exact same thing in this film too, ignores root causes.

Propaganda for Small Minded People

[chas437 · 1/10 · 13 August 2017]

I'll start off by saying Fox's 2011 documentary 'Gasland' was reasonably well made and raised some fair concerns about fraking.

"How to Let Go...' on the other hand, is little more than a hodgepodge of present day leftist mantras with little in the way of supporting evidence. Fox is trying to strike an emotional response from viewers with this material, and his target is really Western Civilization as much as it is actual climate change. We get a glimpse of rainforest destruction in Amazonia, beach erosion in the South Pacific, toxic air pollution in large cities in China,etc. Climate change is of course to blame for all these ills.

The problem here is that beach erosion is a natural process, and Fox never makes the case that climate change caused the specific erosion he shows in the film. Again, the message I get is that we're meant to ignore facts and reason, and to let emotion sweep over us.

The biggest fallacy in this sprawling mess of a documentary comes when Fox attempts to make the case that income and wealth inequality are driving forces in the creation of climate change. He goes on to provide no concrete evidence of this absurd claim.

He ends with this "moral imagination" nonsense. I imagine Chairman Mao and Stalin had tremendous moral imaginations, given Fox's logic.

Its hard to know what the exact takeaway is from such a sloppy, disjointed work. My best guess is that Fox wants Western Civilization to die off, and that humanity go back to primitivism. We should emulate the virtue of primitive Pacific Islanders and Africans living in mud huts.

This is documentary filmmaking at its very worst, its riddled with unsubstantiated claims, logical fallacies and hippy-dippy, contrived feel good moments. This callow, low-minded material is garbage aimed at uninformed millennials, which, unfortunately, there are a lot of...