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Racing Extinction (2015) : A Commentary

It's really hard to switch on to a different language from the one you have constantly been tinkering with. I grew so accustomed to writing in Hindi in last few days that it started dawning on me that I might never be good again with my English. So this is a tester, ladies and gentlemen.

Yesterday, one of my movie group friends, an American by nationality, questioned my fondness of documentaries. I specifically wrote in one of my columns that documentaries demand your unwavering attention and once you gave 'that' to them, you are rewarded much more handsomely than a proper, narrative, fictitious film. My reasoning for believing so is that a documentary is an experience of a creative process. It doesn't get made to 'entertain' you. They are there to reveal something to you. They teach you something. You get overwhelmed by them.


'Racing Extinction (2015)' was one such documentary. I watched it in last couple of days. I couldn't complete it in one day simply because it left me paralyzed with it's narrative. What was taking place in front of me was the very definition of 'extinction'. Sample this: ther has been 5 mass- Extinction events in the 4.6 billion years of recorded history of mother Earth. Dinosaurs were there once and so did many, many exotic species of mammals, amphibians, mollusks etc. Now, Sharks predate Dinosaurs. They survived four mass-Extinction events in Earth's history. But in only 3500 years of recorded history of 'mankind', their number has been reduced by 90%. Chinese have grown so fond of Shark's fin soup that their has been a whole supply chain in place to satiate their demand from all the way to Australia to Indonesia. People are basically living off Sharks' mass killings. Now, you do know Shark is a fish and if it loses it's fins, it cannot swim and so it goes to the bottom of the ocean and basically calculates it's remaining days of life.

Oceans are the sole provider of largest oxygen reservoir on Earth. They house zooplankton that produce oxygen. Now, due to the increasing temp of oceans' water, these zooplankton are getting marooned. They are no longer green. You must have heard of reduced size of Australia's 'great barrier reef'. So, who is gonna produce oxygen for us then? Also, not only Oceans generate oxygen for us, they also absorb atmosphere's CO2 to the capacity of 30-40%. Co2 has been the only constant of all the 5 mass Extinction events. Whenever there is a massive increase in atmosphere's CO2 level, there is a growing risk of our getting harmed irreparably from it. So when this Co2 reacts with ocean's water, they make 'carbonic acid'. And since there is more and more Co2 is pumped in our atmosphere everyday, more and more carbonic acid is getting made in the Oceans. And if Oceans will get acidified at this rate, in 50-100 years time, all of the oceans' species will exist no more. I hope you have understood the gravity of the situation by now.

Now, there are many more insights from this documentary which I wouldn't risk to reveal here for the sake of being a supporter. You need to watch it if you care for your environment and surroundings. It's as simple as that. It's been produced by an ocean conservation institute and directed by an Oscars winning director with breathtaking visuals which will traumatise you for life. Hey, even Elon Musk is there with his Tesla. Then you will also get to listen to the best original Oscars song nominee 'Manta Ray' by J. Ralph and Anhioni. I cannot begin to describe it's effectiveness. It's just otherworldly and since it was 'that' good, Academy couldn't grasp it and let it go for the sake of Sam Shepard's Bond Film Song from 'Spectre'.

I hope I have made myself clear now. If you could watch it and do something about it, then feel lucky and 'important' for you have done something incredible. It always starts with ONE.

Adios for now!!!

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