At the beginning there is some news footage of how the
world’s population has grown so much in recent years, from five billion in 1987
to six billion in 1999 to seven billion in 2011, and voice over asks, “Is
the world too small, or are there too many people on my planet?” Werner
Boote narrates the film, and makes himself a part of the subject, appearing in
scenes throughout, as he travels to various countries to see how the problem is
being addressed.
He asks Babatunde Osotimehin (director of the United
Nations Population Fund), “Would it be better if there were fewer people on
Earth?” Osotimehin says it’s a difficult question, because we don’t know
the exact number of people the Earth can sustain. It is a difficult question,
and one that has been addressed for much longer than I’d guessed. Werner Boote
gives a bit of the history of the issue, mentioning that the subject of
overpopulation first came up as early as 1789 (that alone should make us take
another look at the issue). It’s also come up in some interesting and rather
frightening ways – such as the Georgia Guidestones, a monument built in 1980
which reads, in part, “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance
with nature.” For that begs the questions, “How do we get rid of all the
other people?” and “Who decides who is to stay and who is to go?” And in 1974,
when Henry Kissinger was Secretary Of State, a memo was issued stating that the
top priority for U.S. foreign policy was overpopulation reduction, and named
twelve countries that should lower their populations immediately. The film
explores the idea that it was an effort for the United States to maintain its
dominance, this reduction of populations in other countries.
Werner Boote visits Beijing, China, where, five years
after the Kissinger report was issued, the one-child policy was introduced. The
film features footage of a wedding, where someone, in his speech, actually
mentions the policy, which is weird and unsettling: “We hope that you’re
committed to family planning and you observe the one-child policy with the aid
of scientific methods in satisfying your parents’ most heartfelt wish.” The
film goes into the short-term benefits and the long-term problems of this
policy, which is some of the most interesting material.
Boote also takes us to Mumbai, India, where in certain
regions women receive blenders or televisions if they have themselves
sterilized. An official there talks about how families with two or fewer
children are able to use certain government facilities, and Werner Boote asks
if that is fair. The official says yes, that families should only have more
than two children if they can afford them. I have to agree with that, but of
course that’s a slightly different issue. And a man in Kenya makes an excellent
point, noting the difference between congestion and overpopulation, and that
the problem is poverty, not overpopulation. “Money buys space,” he says.
There are moments when Werner Boote comes across as a bit
obnoxious, like when he’s deliberately standing in traffic or in front of a
train, or when he stands up in a guy’s boat, nearly tipping it (while the guy
is politely asking him to sit down), but he certainly makes us look at the issue
in a new light and also ultimately delivers a very positive message, that what
matters is not how many of us there are on the planet, but how we treat each
other and how we treat the planet.
Population Boom was directed by Werner Boote, and
is scheduled to be released on DVD on April 14, 2015 through First Run
Features. The DVD contains no special features.
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