When the news that Al Gore was coming out with a new movie, “An Inconvenient Sequel,” came out, questions were raised about why the project was undertaken. To be sure, Gore has not been in the news for quite a while, and the man who still thinks he should have been president needs media exposure as most people need their next breath. Also, a new movie might answer a lot of questions raised by “An Inconvenient Truth,” such as how many of the predictions made in the first movie never panned out. In any case, “An Inconvenient Sequel” is officially a flop, having come in 15th for its first weekend and making just over $1 million so far.
Some in the climate change community are suggesting sabotage on the part of the distributor.
Was ‘An Inconvenient Sequel’ sabotaged?
The basis of the accusation that the movie was sabotaged is that it was only released in 180 theaters during the first week, even though the plan is to expand to 500 theaters in due course. The theory is that the film would build up some excitement through word of mouth which would then justify the expansion.
The climate change community thought that “An Inconvenient Sequel” would pull the same sort of numbers that Michael Moore’s anti-Bush documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.” The theory is that since anti-Trump sentiment is at a fever pitch, at least among certain quarters, the Gore movie would have a ready-made mass audience.
In fact, audiences stayed away in droves, and climate change acolytes are demanding to know why. They are pretty sure that a conspiracy to deliberately tank the movie is afoot.
The real reason why the film flopped
A lot of things have happened since “An Inconvenient Truth” bowed over ten years ago. Climategate, in which climate scientists were caught in emails using dodgy methods to massage data to create the impression of a warming Earth, broke in 2009.
Similar shenanigans have been alleged since. In any case, climate change skepticism is much more pronounced in 2017 than in 2005.
More important, in 2005, when the first movie came out, Gore was still considered a folk hero among some from whom the 2000 election was alleged to have been “stolen.” 12 years later, Gore has become all but forgotten, yesterday’s man for whom time has passed by.
Gore has become a source of ridicule, having been taken down in an episode of “South Park” soon after “An Inconvenient Truth” was released.
Gore apparently wants to be relevant again. He makes the dubious claim, for example, that he was instrumental in getting the Paris Climate Accords off the ground. That the claim is hotly disputed by just about everyone in the climate change community is telling and is part of the reason the movie has flopped.
