Remember that furore in the Indonesian media a few months ago about actor Harrison Ford being rude to Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan? What was that in aid of, you ask? An all-star TV documentary series about climate change made by James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger, due to be released in the US next year.
Look, I understand the arguments about using famous faces to sell an issue. Who's going to watch another high-minded doco about melting glaciers if it doesn't involve Matt Damon and that girl from Ugly Betty? But to me, this trailer looks like an example of the environmental movement making the same old mistakes: a lot of moralising and condescension from obscenely rich celebrities telling us we've been too profligate and that we will all have to make do with less.
Frankly, I'm a little surprised with Schwarzenegger's involvement. He's never struck me as a moral scold. He's a practical environmentalist, an optimist who wants to find ways to lift living standards while addressing environmental issues. He's the anti-Gore.
So maybe I'm wrong about this one. Let's hope the Terminator lifts this series out of mediocrity so that it can have a real influence on US public opinion rather than preaching to the converted.
