Study: Hollywood Missing Film Moments about Climate Change

Study: Hollywood Missing Film Moments about Climate Change

A non-profit group recently announced an effort to get movie and television writers to use climate change more often in their stories and productions.

The group, Good Energy, is a not-for-profit advising organization. It recently announced the release of "Good Energy: A Playbook for Screenwriting in the Age of Climate Change."

Good Energy found although many Hollywood stars talk about the issue, climate change-related words are not used a lot in movies. The group helped financially support research of words used in American films and television shows.

Researchers looked at the words, or transcripts², used in 37,453 films and TV shows from 2016 to 2020. They found that 2.8 percent of fiction films used words related to climate change.

The transcript¹ research was carried out by the Norman Lear Center's Media Impact Project at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Part of the study has not been released. Researchers looked for links to 36 words and phrases like "climate change" in TV shows and films released in the United States.

Anna Jane Joyner is the head writer of the "Playbook" and founder³ of Good Energy. She said the "Playbook" was created with advice from more than 100 film and television writers.

She said it was a problem that writers were linking climate stories with disaster. She said the main purpose of the "Playbook" is to expand the possibilities for writers to show how climate change would show up in real life.

Joyner said her group is asking writers and industry leaders to consider stories that are less disaster-related. She said they also should include examples and resources.

Joyner said the group's website has a "spectrum⁴," with everything from the effects of climate change to possible answers. As an example, she said movies could include shots showing solar panels⁶ on the outside of a building. Casually⁷ talking about climate change can also be effective, she said.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Sierra Club and the Walton Family Foundation are among those providing financial support for the project.

Dorothy Fortenberry is a TV writer. She wrote "The Handmaid's Tale." She said the industry needs to write about different kinds of people not just different subjects.

"Climate change is something that right now is affecting people who aren't necessarily the people that Hollywood tends to write stories about. It's affecting farmers in Bangladesh, farmers in Peru, farmers in Kentucky," Fortenberry said.

She added that if writers told stories about different kinds of people, there would be chances to easily include climate change.

Joyner says she has worked on communications related to climate change in different industries for 15 years.

She said for the first 10 years, it felt like "screaming into the void⁸" because nobody answered. But there is evidence of increasing concern among Americans about climate change, she said. That includes those in Hollywood.

"We've all gone through a kind of awakening," she said. There are a number of documentaries⁹, films based on true events, and news programs about climate change she said.

She expressed hope that fiction creators will make progress.

Words in This Story

fiction – n. written stories about people and events that are not real; literature that tells stories which are imagined by the writer

spectrum – n. a large group of possibilities; a wide range

solar panel⁵ – n. a large, flat piece of equipment that uses the sun's light or heat to create electricity

casual – adj. happening by chance: not planned or expected

tend – v. used to describe what often happens or what someone often does or is likely to do

scream – v. to say (something) in a loud and high voice because you are angry or afraid

void – n. a large empty space

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

5 panel   

n.面，板，专门小组，控制板，仪表盘

参考例句：

• The unusual control panel on the walls caught our attention.墙上不同寻常的控制板引起了我们的注意。
• The panel of judges included several well-known writers.评判小组中包括几位知名作家。

6 panels   

镶板( panel的名词复数 )； 面； （门、墙等上面的）嵌板； 控制板

参考例句：

• One of the glass panels in the front door was cracked. 前门的一块方玻璃破裂了。
• Make sure the panels are treated with a wood preservative. 确保镶板用木材防腐剂处理过。

7 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

8 void   

n.空虚，空白，真空；adj.空的，缺乏的，无效的；vt.清空，释放，取消，离开；vi.排泄

参考例句：

• Suddenly the street was void of people.街道上突然间空无一人。
• The treaty has been declared void.条约被宣布无效。

9 documentaries   

n.纪录片( documentary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• As for 'documentaries', these too are not altogether new. 至于“资料性文学”那也并不完全是新鲜事。 来自辞典例句
• These are not just animations live-action films, comedies, dramas and documentaries. 这些不仅仅是动画片，还包括表演摄制影片，喜剧，戏剧以及纪录片。 来自互联网