”The 11th Hour” and Generation Z

Reportedly, Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary film, “The 11th Hour,” has yet to take the box office by storm. That is a shame because it is a valuable film and everyone who can get to a theater should go and see it. However, it is not terribly surprising that it hasn’t really caught on yet, because despite its cliffhanger title, it lacks the kind of dramatic tension that pulls people into theaters. Even Al Gore’s slide show had more grab, because Gore himself is such a story – the leader cheated of his victory, come back as a prophet of the age.

But “The 11th Hour” is only one slice of a complete story. It is a parade of talking heads set in a swirling background of Koyaanisqatsi-like images of planetary beauty and destruction. Co-director Nadia Conners calls it “an experience.” The images evoke various moods: horror, sublime reverence, fear, love and longing. The speakers voice words of wisdom and profound insight into the science and psychology behind our predicament. Bioneers founder Kenny Ausubel defines the quest at the beginning: It is to understand how the two most complex systems on earth – nature and the human mind – can coexist.


If “The 11th Hour” is not a complete story, it is deliberate, because the intent is to involve and motivate the viewer as an actor in the ultimate story – a story to be written by the current generation. Throughout the film, DiCaprio as narrator returns to the idea that his generation will be the “pivotal generation” that “will heal industrial civilization.”

Joseph Campbell, in his explorations of the power of story and myth, often referred to “Star Wars” as the archetypal myth for our times. If that is so, then “The 11th Hour” is that piece of the story where Luke Skywalker encounters Obi Wan Kenobi and learns from him how to fight the Empire. If Luke Skywalker represents DiCaprio and his generation, then the more than 70 scientists, historians and thinkers interviewed in “The 11th Hour,” ranging from physicist Stephen Hawking to Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier, are a collective embodiment of the wise Jedi swordmaster.

TruthOut