Storytelling through Science: Trashed the Documentary
Images such as this one taken by Fabi Fliervoet on Saint Martin Island in 2009 show where the concerning overflow of trash that we create every day ends up.
Watching the documentary Trashed (2012), I was tapping my foot the whole time. When it comes to the environment and human impacts on the natural world, it does not take much to convince me that we are the cause of so much degradation and harm. I know that an increase in non-biodegradable plastics in the environment due to our “throw-away” culture is causing severe damage in all parts of the world and in every ecosystem. Yes, it is important to learn about the harmful effects of dioxins and how little plastic it actually takes to ruin the entire ocean biome, but I am already on board with the message and don’t feel as much an urgency to learn why I should act, but rather how I should act and what can I do to help solve this issue right now. Documentaries like Trashed begin, and I am already wanting to skip ahead to the end when they tell me what is being done and what can be done to counter all of the horrific scenes of mountains of trash and toxins in the environment.
But then, I take a step back and remind myself that I am privileged to be pursuing an environmentally-focused education and that many people are not so lucky and simply do not know. Many people need convincing that these are issues that are relevant, serious, and pressing. When thinking about Trashed in this way, I can better appreciate how they walked people through the reasoning and brought the issue to the forefront.
The documentary opens with images of a pristine earth, which, as we zoom in, quickly devolves into mountainous landscapes of trash. The film follows this trend of zooming in in scale to show the impacts of plasticides on animals and then, on human beings. Yes, even we are not exempt from the consequences of our “throw-away” culture. The film weaves insights from scientific experts among flashy infographics and concerning scenes of trash heaps beside residential towns.
Payatas dumpsite in Manila, Philippines (2007)
I think the documentary achieved its desire to appeal to a wider, perhaps non-science oriented, audience in two ways: having a non-expert as the host and shock-value. Though I was not familiar with Jeremy Irons before watching this film, I could appreciate that he was not an expert in plasticides sitting on screen and telling me what was wrong with the way I live my life. He was simply an observant individual who was questioning the upsetting and alarming things he was seeing in his own backyard and wanted to investigate further. In that sense, he was relatable and seemed to be learning right alongside the viewer. In terms of shock-value, I still cannot get those images of deformed babies in jars of formaldehyde at the hospital in Vietnam out of my head. Simply horrific. Disturbing accounts such as those from people all over the world make the viewer perk up and listen when they might have been eased into a lull by the science.
It was highly satisfying to watch this documentary alongside my boyfriend because, though he is also versed in human environmental impacts, the reality relayed in the documentary was new to him. He was angered and saddened by the trashed state of the world and it was great to see that fire for alternative solutions ignited in someone else.
