Manufactured Landscapes

Britain's national newspaper, The Guardian, started off their review on "Manufactured Landscapes" by describing the film as "a magnificently handsome documentary, worth watching alone for the re-creation of massive-scale works by Edward Burtynsky." However, even as I watched this documentary with a room full of classmates, I felt really taken aback and "alone" without having the heed The Guardian's advice of viewing the film alone--just me, myself, my popcorn, and I. As I watched the camera capture the seemingly never-ending factory aisles and mountains of waste that showed that the sky really was the limit, I realized how a landscape could be manufactured.

When I first thought about the title of this documentary, I thought it was a total paradox. How could people manufacture a landscape? I suppose that this made me realize all of the previous inclinations I had about nature; the fact that I did link "landscape" with the "ideal" form of nature where beauty was hidden behind the palm tree fronds and embodied in the towering waterfall that escalated down a soft beige rock that was free of blemishes. However, just sitting there and digesting the photos that Burtynsky captured made me realize that China was manufacturing, among numerous other products, landscapes. The grandeur of the factories and the scale the labor force reminded me of nature as a force to be reckoned with.

Also, I noticed the beginning of a long string of ironies encompassed in this documentary. For example, despite the obvious economic progress that China is making, the rising country is producing an immeasurable amount of byproduct that felt like it is actually going backwards in terms of the environmental goals that the general global community has been setting out. In addition, after realizing what these third world countries have to do with recyclables, it blew my mind to think that China produces the same products that goes back to them as waste. It's as if one man's trash is the same man's treasure. They are producing so many consumer products on such large scales and probably making a lot of profit, but these products comes back full circle to them as toxins to their citizens and communities. I also never thought that I would ever feel even slightly guilty about recycling. I had never given an afterthought to what happens to the bottle that I simply toss in the recycling bin. Instead, I assumed that I was doing my part and helping the environment. Now that I have seen it from the perspective of the people receiving these recyclables, it makes me think that we are just passing our burden onto these less fortunate countries.

After viewing a segment of this documentary, I really appreciated the different perspective it gave. I saw a larger part of the big picture and how some of the assumptions I made regarding environmental responsibility and sustainability doesnt fit so well with what really happens. Even with this realization I feel like there are still so many unanswered questions. For instance: does progress always come with such a high price tag? how can we make sure that fulfilling our responsibility doesnt impose a negative burden on others?