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The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream
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Product Description
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia ?
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #51975 in DVD
- Published on: 2004
- Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Formats: NTSC, Color, Widescreen
- Original language: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Running time: 78 minutes
Customer Reviews
Interesting, but terminally one-sided and negative.
I am not sorry I watched this; it was very thought provoking and I am still thinking about some of the points it raised. The problem I have with the film, however, is that it is so profoundly negative and thoroughly one-sided. The people being interviewed all shared identical political beliefs, economic beliefs, and future predictions. Basically, everyone interviewed was unanimous that America is headed for doom and gloom because of the issues we are going to face. Call me an optimist--or call me something worse if you like--but I have much more faith in the American people. I do, for the most, agree with the predictions that life as we know it will be radically altered in the decades to come. I fundamentally disagree that Americans are going to panic, destroy each other, and otherwise become violent and/or helpless. I think we will pull together, create a new kind of community and way of life, and things will be even better than before. I truly do believe this. I simply have too much faith in the American people to believe that we are not capable of making lemonade from lemons. Unfortunately, everyone in this documentary not only predicts nothing but negativity on the horizon, but there seems to be a sick sort of gleam in their eye of glee when they make these predictions, almost as if they want it to happen and/or think we deserve it. This is major flaw in this documentary that takes it from a 4/5 to a 2/5. Hopefully in the "new America" that these commentators speak of there will be a return to making objective documentaries. Remember those? Pretty much, well, every documentary ever made up until a few years ago when documentaries became about espousing a single opinion and not simply "documenting" what is going on.
Couldn't have ended soon enough.
Really, everything that was said in this documenary probably could have been said in about a half hour if it was a very well thought out and structured half hour.
Here's the upside:
A brief but very interesting history of how suburbs came to exist.
A ray of hope in "new urbanization".
A really cool short cartoon called "Destination Earth". It was way more entertaining than the documentary itself.
One ironic observation that made me laugh. Yes, it really does seem that housing developments are named after what they destroyed in order to build the houses. Ha ha.
Now the downside:
A lot of cliche and patronizing file footage of typical suburbanites of the WWII generation. What were they thinking? (Maybe, "hey, we survived the great depression and saved the world from fascism and now we'd like to have a nice little home and raise a family.")
Continual alternating between file footage of suburban life and talking heads of haggard looking academics and authors I've never heard of saying over and over things like: this surbia can't last; it's doomed; it's awful anyway; they're gonna get it; and on and on and on. I thought to myself that some of these guys seem to actually want the United States to fail as a nation and be reduced to subsistance living.
Typical cliche attack on those "neocons" who just want to fight an endless war to keep this awful suburban lifestyle going. It's all just that simple.
Anyway, it's no surprise to me that gasoline keeps going up in price, and I'm sure there are some unpleasent times ahead, but I have faith that we as a culture will adjust when the time comes. Well, back to my empty suburban lifestyle.
Disappointing
The film is boring was waiting and waiting for the climax and nothing. It is obvious that if gas prices are sky high that suburbia will in fact be affected. What amazes me is that the "experts" in the show ignore the fact that the US has two hundred years of coal reserves (more to be discovered). Sure it is "dirty" but will do the job just like natural gas. Electricity to homes and business are not the issue. Gasoline and Oil are. The documentary also missed the point as energy prices go up alternative life style changes will happen such as people working from home. One of the experts indicated that he was a writer. Well I think he can write from anyplace in the world and get the job done. The US has financialized its economy our manufacturing capability is minimal. The majority of jobs today are about services that could in fact be done over the phone. The experts forgot a fundamental law of economics that still in place today Adam Smith "The invisible hand" the market will have an immediate impact on supply since people will look for alternative and use less. The proof the reaction to the "Oil Shock" of the 70's resulting in lower demand and for the first time in history lower production of oil. Dismissing alternative fuels was another big mistake; history graveyards are filled with nay Sayers on how something is impossible like going to the moon, breaking the sound barrier etc. Oil is a miracle of nature and its energy output is incredible, today nothing can touch it, but the point is not to replace 100% but through a combination of alternative additives such as ethanol or others to extend the life and supply of oil until the new alternative has taken over.
A better documentary is A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash
