‘Life is beautiful’

Brian Malone’s photo-essay Intelligent Life examines how our comfort and convenience contribute to the greatest causes of suffering and destruction in contemporary world. In this interview Malone talks about simple behaviour adjustments that can ‘turn this world around’ by Kamila Kuc

Kamila Kuc: In the beginning of your ironically titled Intelligent Life, a child’s voice says: ‘Life is beautiful.’ This is contrasted with an image of a homeless man. Throughout the whole film images of destruction are played against depiction of calming nature. What were you trying to achieve by building your film on such opposites?

Brian Malone: Well… yes, this was an intentional message of the film. The first act of the film mirrors modern life as it is. These are observations of our impact in order to live our lives with modern convenience. I’ve found in America, many people… maybe even most people here don’t want to be inconvenienced with the ugly and horrific truths behind their modern lives… Where their food comes from and how living things are treated in order to create it… how much waste and pollution we create around us. So, the contrast is really based on the beauty of the Earth without human influence versus what human beings have done with our “intelligence.”

KK: How do you expect the viewers to feel like after watching your film? What would be a perfect reaction/comment from a viewer?

BM: I hope viewers will walk away with a sense of what we have done and continue through every decision we make. I hope they also realise that we have the power to change everything. It is our choices that cause all of these problems. If we choose to make better choices, we can turn this world around.

Think about it from a bigger perspective. There is a sequence in which we fly through the origins of the Universe and end up on Earth… Out of all of the chances… out of the billions of stars and other raw materials on the Universe, only Earth (as far as we know) can sustain life. Now look closer… out of all of those other life forms that have evolved and become extinct over 6.5 billion years, only humans have the ability of intelligent choice.

What is undeniable is that the Earth is finite. I don’t know what the mathematical equation is to calculate the tipping point for humanity, but there is ample evidence that suggests we are either there… or very close to it. So it is really up to us to move humanity forward.

KK: What you are presenting in the film is not just an American problem but do you think that the US Government is doing enough to encourage these new solutions?

BM: Not yet. But I’m now hopeful.

KK: In her documentary The Age of Stupid, Franny Armstrong touches on a very similar issue of saving the environment. And both films imply that only us, humans, can stop this. What do you do in your everyday life that adheres to your new way of intelligent life?

BM: I’m not familiar with the other film…  me and my family do things like recycling. We recycle almost everything. Our trash service only takes certain recyclables, so we have found a place to take the recyclable materials that our trash service won’t take. We also look for things that don’t have so much packaging to begin with.

We also almost never eat meat… not that I am a true vegetarian… But until we can all figure out how to treat other living things with kindness and respect instead of as “products” then I don’t really want to participate in eating meat.

In terms of transportation: we own two hybrids… not the most financially responsible thing to do at the time, but we traded in our gas cars and bought two Toyotas. I also try to drive in the slow lane… plan my car trips better so as not to drive everywhere every day. I’m currently getting about 42-43 MPG when I drive.

We also hang our clothes out to dry.

What really amazes me is how unwillingly comfortable Americans are to adjust their lives to make these simple changes… simple behavior adjustments… not wholesale lifestyle changes. It tells me things aren’t bad enough yet here… which is frightening for me personally. How bad will things have to get? Will it be too late by then?

KK: In the old days, men lived in a symbiosis with nature, which changed drastically with the emergence of technology.  In your opinion, when was the exact point when things got out of hand? When did our society turn into this greedy and consumerist mass?

BM: Western dependence on oil can be easily traced to the British Navy’s efforts to convert from coal-powered ships to oil powered ships in 1912. This was due to the growing German threat, which, of course played out in World War I. After WWI there was no turning back.

But really, I think more applicable are the consumer-driven choices we have all made in the post World War II era. After WWII, we (the US, the UK and others) enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. This was accompanied by unprecedented modern technology… washing machines, autos, air conditioning, dishwashers, televisions… cheap food… all automatic and electric and/or convenient. For the past 65 years, most everyone in the Western world has grown up with these modern conveniences… Now, two or three generations into this, these devices are ingrained in our culture. The novelty is gone and convenience is now an expectation. The problem is that every single one of those technological conveniences came with a heavy price that we are just now beginning to accept.

We are now at a very important time in humanity… this is the time where we can choose to live beyond our own technologies. We’ll need to step back and re-evaluate every component. Every decision of our modern lives and see if we can make adjustments that don’t carry such a heavy impact on our world and other living things around us.. after all… we need a living world to survive. What’s very cool is that it’s definitely a topic that a lot of people finally want to talk about… but talk is cheap. We need to shut up and start doing something.

I want to ask you to do an experiment. One day out of your life… I’d like you to keep a tally of everything you do and think about the direct impact that your choice has on the Earth. Here are some examples:
You wake up… you take a shower… where does the hot water come from? How was the heat generated to create the hot water.. from a coal plant? How much pollution did you emit into the air by taking a shower that morning?
Solution: Take a shorter shower. Out of the shower, you get dressed. Where were your clothes made? Under what conditions? Who made them? Were they made in a third world country? Were they made by child labor in deplorable and polluted working conditions? Solution: Don’t buy clothes from third world countries (India, Pakistan, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, etc.) until you are sure they were made humanely produced.

You go to the kitchen and eat breakfast.. maybe you eat an egg. Where did the egg come from? What is produced in a cage free environment or a factory farm? Apart from the animal cruelty, factory farms are a major contributor to greenhouse gases. Solution: Eat only meat and eggs that are certified humane, cage free and naturally and humanely raised (hint: read the labels).

Those are just a few things you can do in your day… at the end of the day, take a look at your list and evaluate to see if there are things you are willing to do to change your life. At that point, you will have to choose… either to accept the consequences that you inflict on the world and ignore them… or adjust and be a kinder steward. Either way, the choice is yours. That’s the entire point of the film.

KK: To me America has always constituted this strange place, where consumerism is at its highest level yet you have people like the Amish and many eco-friendly organisations. It is a country of such contradictions…

Well… that’s all true. I would definitely say the Amish are in the minority. But they do have the right idea.

KK: Some sequences in the film are shot in black and white (the sequence with a big garbage dump). Why did you shoot it in black and white?

BM: Much of the first act is edited with muted and de-saturated colors. Also, I added quite a bit of contrast to some shots. It was deliberate… to accentuate the harshness behind the scenes of modern life.

KK: The scenes that particularly moved me were the ones of animal slaughter. Partially because of the way they were shot – with a minimal use of sound. They made me think about the nature of documentary. Where do you think lies the crucial difference between documentary and fiction filmmaking? Is there any?

BM: I have to thank the Humane Society of the United States for providing me with that incredible undercover footage. Their investigators revealed a horrific reality in the way we get most of our meat. As far as non-fiction vs. fiction filmmaking, I think we, the audience, decide to a large part what is valid. There are no rules necessarily. But if done well, a film has an incredible amount of power to change minds. For me, if I can help change minds for the better, then I have succeeded.

KK: Do you really think that if we owned half of what we do and were less materialistic and more considerate, society would be better?

BM: I think that if you go back to my experiment where I asked you to keep tabs on yourself throughout the day, I’d like to think most of us are “intelligent” enough to find our own solutions. I can tell you, I’m pretty happy hanging out my clothes… even if it takes a little more time. It makes me feel good that my footprint is walking just a little lighter on the earth.