New Movie "The 11th Hour" Serves as Latest Round of Silly, Self-Righteous Hollywood Environmentalism

No longer satisfied playing the role of vacuous teen dreamboat, actor Leo DiCaprio now presumes to play the role of meteorological expert on all things climate-related. 

Joining that vast herd of self-righteous Hollywood global-warming hysterics, DiCaprio last week opened his new "documentary" entitled The 11th Hour, which he both narrates and produced. 

No word yet on whether DiCaprio dons a white lab coat or horn-rimmed bifocals to fabricate that extra little sense of legitimacy and expertise. 

According to a fawning summary in the reliably-partisan Los Angeles Times, DiCaprio peppers the film with "traumatic images of destruction" to advance his theme that "everyone and everything on Earth is linked and it will take a collective shift of individual determination to save the planet." 

Unfortunately for the dinosaurs, sabretooth tigers and Neanderthals, there was no prehistoric Leo DiCaprio to save them from similar destruction. 

But this silliness is merely the tip of Leo's iceberg, assuming that icebergs still exist in our supposedly-sweltering sauna of a planet.  And speaking of icebergs, isn't it also tragic that DiCaprio wasn't around in 1912 to stop that deadly wave of global cooling that doomed the Titanic?  After all, his starring role in the movie of the same name should have been sufficient to raise his consciousness to that little climate cataclysm.  Global warming, global cooling — what matters is not climatic reality, but the ability of well-meaning celebrities to morally preen before an adoring audience of clueless young minds. 

Regardless, DiCaprio, who apparently also moonlights as a socio-political expert, aims to do much more than merely whip up a meringue of typical environmentalist hysteria.  Rather, his ultimate goal is apparently nothing less than complete worldwide socio-economic reconstruction.  According to DiCaprio, "the collapse of the environment is not the problem — it's a symptom.  The real problem is industrial civilization and how we organize society." 

Can you say "Karl Marx?" 

The mind boggles at the possible degree of social upheaval that he seeks.  Does he actually intend to abolish all worldwide industry?  Is it "goodbye manufacturing industry, and hello homemade sandals and garden sustenance?"  Will pretentious Hollywood actors still be able to fly private jets and drive convoys of giant SUVs with blackened window tinting? 

Levity aside, DiCaprio's bald partisan vitriol is nothing short of pathetic.  On the movie's official website, DiCaprio narrates the usual tripe about "irreparable damage" to a supposedly-fragile Earth while sinister images of the White House, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice roll. 

The official movie trailer subsequently trumpets the standard doomsday hyperbole, such as the claim that "the U.N. estimates that by the middle of the century, there may be 150 million environmental refugees."  But don't hold your breath on that.  DiCaprio and his silly army of associates in this nonsense would be well-advised to recall 1970s climate-change alarmist Paul Ehrlich, who boldly predicted worldwide starvation due to oncoming global cooling — yes, cooling. 

Undeterred, the trailer then boldly pronounces that, "the tragedy is the potential extinction of humankind."  A straight-faced DiCaprio then appears to appoint "our pivotal generation" (more pivotal than the World War II generation, Leo?) as responsible for "creating a sustainable world in time."  Obligatory images of cute penguins and ridiculous contraptions such as ugly windmills and grass-covered buildings follow, creating a cavalcade of self-parody. 

But never mind the facts.  Years from now, when the utter absurdity of these enviro-economic fascists comes to light, such claims will be conveniently swept under the rug.  By then, a new bogeyman will be fabricated by the Left to advance their collectivist, anti-freedom agenda. 

In the meantime, however, this isn't all fun and games.  It's easy to mock DiCaprio as the foolish airhead that he is, but the damage that he and people like him create is very real, and it's no laughing matter.  Schoolchildren who will naturally be subjected to this nonsense are likely to swallow it wholesale, as will adult dupes who are unaware of the facts regarding natural climate fluctuation and the consequences of environmentalist orthodoxy. 

Accordingly, everyone should do themselves a favor and read Christopher C. Horner's fantastic book entitled The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism.  It's the perfect antidote to the lunacy of Al Gore and Leo DiCaprio.