Jenn and I went and saw this play called ‘Cynical Weather’ put on by Victory Gardens Theater. The main motivation for seeing this particular piece of drama is that Tom Amandes played the starring role. Yes, this is the same Tom Amandes who played Dr. Abbott in one of Jenn’s all-time most-obsessed-with TV shows, Everwood.
Well, I thought the play was pretty bad. The acting was fine, I guess, but it felt like it was written by someone who had no idea what they were talking about. It’s the story of a Texas congressman who is trying to do something about global warming but is torn between his liberal scientist wife and his evangelical chief of staff. I don’t personally know many evangelicals, but I do know scientists, and the wife’s character came across as a complete stereotype (and a heinous bitch). Based on the way the rest of the characters were written, I’m even willing to say that the Armageddon-embracing side got unfair treatment.
So I spent a little while today looking at reviews of the play. Sure enough they are fairly positive (which Jenn used to reassure me on our way to the theater). But one of them, at least, struck me as really odd for the way that it dealt with the global warming issue. Here are some quotes from the Chicago Tribune review…
Let’s assume for a moment that Al Gore is right about the danger of global warning. And — bear with me here — let’s further stipulate that catastrophic, life-altering climate change happens very, very quickly.
…
If — if — climate change quickly undoes American civilization as we know it, the country quickly will divide between those who see only the consequences of human folly and those who see the natural movements as part of a masterly plan.
I guess I’m just confused by the incredulity shown here about global warming. Another review, which I swear I read but I can’t find now for the life of me, described the accounts of drowning polar bears and displaced arctic residents, plus the Category 5 hurricane coming off the Gulf of Mexico, as science-fiction type events. Well, I didn’t take me very long with google to find these events in real life. I’m going to go with this review.
