Cinema - The End of Suburbia

The notion of ‘peak oil’ is a little more complicated than meets the eye, and ‘The End of Suburbia’ is a documentary which succinctly explains a frightening phenomenon which might well force a complete change on the way western society is run, within our lifetimes. Basically, this is the concept. We have reached the peak of production of the oil and natural gas resources which fuel our western lifestyles. From now on, these resources will get increasingly expensive as they become less available, and we will soon have no choice but to dramatically change the way we live.

An American movie, it focuses on one of the main reasons we have used up so much fuel: the post-war suburban boom in the United States, and the over-reliance on the automobile to allow people to get about along the interstate highway network. Director Gregory Greene draws on vintage Prelinger film-clips from the 40’s and 50’s, which cheesily encourage consumerism and the American Dream of setting up home away from the smoke of the city. He segues these with talking-heads commentaries from experts who tell us, eloquently and rationally, how the way of life which subsequently developed is doomed. These are no lefty cranks: one of the prime speakers is Matthew Simmonds, previously chief energy advisor to the George Bush government. Another is US social critic James Howard Kunstler, who argues with some clarity that US citizens will soon have to learn to live in localised agrarian communities in order to survive. AL