By Chris Palmer
A recent speech I gave on comedy and
conservation at the Environmental Film Festival in Washington D.C.
At the end of the speech, I announced the
winners of the 2014 Eco-Comedy Video Competition. I hope you enjoy watching
those as well.
An Evening with Chris Palmer
CAN COMEDY ENCOURAGE CONSERVATION?
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s
Capital
By Chris Palmer
Distinguished Film Producer in Residence
Director, Center for Environmental Filmmaking
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Can comedy encourage conservation? I’ll make
the case this evening that in fact it can, and that paradoxically we can use
humor to encourage people to take environmental challenges more seriously.
We greenies tend to be too serious.
Certainly, there's a lot to be serious about, but zealousness can turn people
off. Humor, on the other hand, is one of the most powerful tools available to
us. Making viewers laugh is an effective (and fun) way to grab their
attention and hopefully hold on to it long enough to get an important message
across. Comedy has so much potential, and as advocates for our planet, we must
learn to harness this potential to do good.
I want to start by showing you a web video
from Greenpeace, which attacks Mattel’s use of virgin paper from Indonesian
rain forests in its Barbie doll packaging. The video worked beautifully. The
company received 500,000 e-mails protesting their packaging. Barbie’s
overloaded Facebook page had to be shut down. The result was that Mattel, the
largest toy company in the world, announced it would stop using
environmentally-damaging packaging.
Barbie, It’s Over (2:55)
That web video from Greenpeace leads me to
the first point I want to make: Environmentalists should use humor more often.
When a person laughs, they become more open to new viewpoints. They are paying
attention and listening. Humor increases likeability of the message source. It
can bring down the natural defenses audiences have around controversial issues,
and encourage them to consider a fresh point of view.
My colleague Mike English from Maryland
Public Television says that laughter dissolves the ego. And that process
affords people precious moments of clarity in which they can see their place in
the world.
When we read humorless, serious arguments, we
tend to be skeptical and read with our defenses up. But when we are laughing,
we relax and become receptive to new ideas.
Here’s another good video, this one about
sustainability:
Follow The Frog (3:10)
That short film on sustainability was
produced by the Rainforest Alliance, which is run by my friend Tensie Whelan.
When I asked Tensie about the public’s reception to the video, she told me that
it has been enormously successful, with over 1.5 million views and having won a
number of prestigious awards.
So the Rainforest Alliance is clearly doing
something right! In Tensie’s words “Humor opens the door.” Conservation is
great, she says, but for many, it can be dull and boring. Humor makes things
more interesting, so people are more likely to listen.
Some of you may feel that issues like
sustainability and climate change are too serious for jokes. My feeling is that
the very severity of these issues requires us to think of innovative techniques
to get people’s attention, and humor is one of the best ways to get heard.
Put audience in pairs for one-on-one
discussion, followed by Q&A
The next four clips raise another point I
want to make tonight. When we do use humor, we must use it effectively. Let’s
watch these four short clips. In my opinion, each has a shortcoming in terms of
effectiveness.
If Animals Were Allowed to Talk (4:30)
If Animals Were Allowed to Talk is funny, but
lacks any message. The humor has no purpose beyond making us laugh.
The Wild Boyz (0:32)
The Wild Boyz provoke a snapping turtle and
suffer the consequences. This is a good example of how comedy can unfortunately
be created by provoking and harassing wild animals, which is clearly unethical.
Don’t Frack My Mother (3:15)
Don’t Frack My Mother, though made with the
best of intentions, will only appeal, I believe, to card-carrying
environmentalists, despite the many celebrities in it.
Sky is Falling (1:00)
Sky is Falling really isn’t that funny; at
least, not to me. It makes an excellent point, but I’m not sure it is effective
at getting its message across. It’s too brazen and unsubtle, and too lacking in
empathy and goodwill.
So, from my perspective, I think all four of
these films lack something.
So that brings me to my second point: when we
use humor, we must use it effectively. It should actually be funny and it
should make a point. Schools like American
University ’s School of Communication
I’m calling for the formal integration of
comedy into the SOC curriculum. We need to teach and research the role of humor
in crafting effective messages that produce real results. We need to understand
why laughing opens a person up to new ideas that they might otherwise reject.
We need to learn how to use humor effectively to bring people together and
inspire action.
Diane MacEachern, one of the leading
communication experts here in DC, suggested to me that we get Second City
in Chicago
My colleague Professor Caty Borum Chattoo at
SOC is using comedy to find new ways to help people around the world to connect
with – and take action on – global poverty. She is producing Stand Up Planet, a
new documentary TV and transmedia project that showcases life in some of the
toughest places on Earth through the lens and experiences of stand-up comics.
Having been a stand-up comic myself for five
years, I think that’s a great idea. Caty believes that dark jokes can shed deep
insight into the tough realities like poverty, and she wants to use the
universal power of humor to change the conversation about global poverty.
Put audience in pairs for one-on-one
discussion, followed by Q&A
Now I’ll show you three clips that, in my
opinion, use humor effectively.
A History of the 5 Cent Bag Tax (2:00)
A History of the 5 Cent Bag Tax delivers a
conservation message with unexpected slapstick humor. The fictitious Department
of the Environment is on a mission to rid the city of its plague of plastic
bags.
Clean Coal (2:31)
Clean Coal by AU alum Alex Lucas describes a
brainstorming session at the fictional Bituminous Marketing Agency for a new
campaign to combat growing concerns about the environmental effects of the use
of coal as a primary energy source. Both this video and the 5 cent bag tax
video won the Eco-Comedy Video Competition in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Song of the Spindle (4:00)
Song of the Spindle reminds us that it is
okay to give insight into serious issues through comedy and that humor can be a
way of saying something very serious. Communications strategist Peter Stranger
says what is really effective is a lightness of touch, a voice that isn't
ponderous, a message that doesn't come from a place of self-righteousness. He
points out that Song of the Spindle may not be laugh-out-loud funny, but its
non-preachy, engaging, light, intelligent tone invites us to relate to the
message more deeply.
Put audience in pairs for one-on-one
discussion, followed by Q&A
So far, I’ve made two points: First,
environmentalists should use humor more often, and second, we must use humor
effectively.
My third and final point it that humor alone
may not change behavior. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use it—it just means we
need to use it as part of a broader message. We must combine humor with strong
conservation messages. Humor gets people’s attention, increases sharing, and
starts conversations. Humorous conservation videos should lead an audience to
websites and other resources where they can find substantive articles about the
issues and become more involved.
Let me end by showing you two examples of
using humor to advance a cause:
The Daily Show with John Oliver criticized
the Discovery Channel for its fake documentary Megaladon which opened Shark
Week in August 2013. To me, this is a good example humor being used in a great
cause—this time to keep broadcasters honest and ethical. It makes you think
about the issue and want to learn more.
And my second example is from Greenpeace.
This short film graphically draws attention to the corrupting relationship
between lobbyists and legislators:
My friend Melissa Thompson, Senior Video
Producer at Greenpeace, told me that the most gratifying comment she received
about that video was when someone wrote, “I hate Greenpeace, but I love this
video.” Such can be the power of humor.
So, can comedy encourage conservation? Yes,
it can play an important role in getting people’s attention, and when it is
part of a larger campaign, it can more deeply engage people in conservation
messaging.
Believe it or not, sometimes the best way to
instigate and catalyze change is to get someone to laugh. And that’s no joke.
In the words of my colleague Caty Borum Chattoo, “Laughter opens our ears and
our hearts—and once people are listening, who knows what they might be inspired
to do?”
Thank you.
_______________
Now I want to segue right into announcing the
winners of this year’s Eco-Comedy Video Competition/
To encourage environmental and wildlife
filmmakers to use more humor, six years ago the Center for Environmental
Filmmaking, EPA, Mill Reef Productions, Eco-Sense, and the Sierra Club banded
together to launch an annual Eco-Comedy Video Competition open to everyone.
Tonight I want to announce the winner and
runners up for 2014, but first let’s applaud all those here who submitted a
video. Please stand up if you submitted a video? (Applause)
We had about 40 submissions from all corners
of the globe.
The winner receives a $1,000 prize from the
Center for Environmental Filmmaking.
I thank the judges: Adrienne Bramhall from
the Sierra Club, Janice Canterbury from EPA, Josh Kaplan from AU’s Office of
Sustainability, Fred Grossberg from Mill Reef Productions, and Jamey Warner (my
Teaching Assistant) for serving as the judges. (All stand and be recognized).
I especially want to thank Jamey Warner for
running this year’s competition and doing such an excellent job. (Stand and be
recognized.)
Show the finalists and winner:
In third place: “Earth Copz”
(Written by Patrick Flynn, Directed by Matthew Lucas and Patrick Flynn,
Produced by Matt Sharpe)
In second place we have a tie: “Joe Wakes Up”
(Written, Directed, and Produced by Nick Brown), and “Go Green with Eloise”
(Directed by Theo Schear, Produced by Tierra Forte and Steve Schear; and
Starring Eloise Mae Simons)
And our winning video is “Be a Better Roommate”
(Directed by Patrick Gilmore, Written and Produced by Paul North)
The winner receives a $1,000 prize from the
Center for Environmental Filmmaking.
On behalf of all the judges, I congratulate
the winner and finalists, as well as all those who participated.
And let me end with wolf credo by Del Goetz:
Respect the elders
Teach the
young
Cooperate
with the pack
Play when you
can
Hunt when you
must
Rest
in-between
Share your
affections
Voice your
feelings
Leave your
mark
Thank you and goodnight.
Professor Chris Palmer
Author of Shooting in the Wild
(Sierra Club Books, 2010)
Distinguished Film Producer in Residence
Director, Center for Environmental Filmmaking
palmer@american.edu; 202-885-3408; cell 202-716-6160
Center website: environmentalfilm.org
Profile: american.edu/soc/faculty/palmer.cfm
President, One World One Ocean
oneworldoneoceanfoundation.org
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