Wampum

Today is the opening of the new Al Gore movie, An Inconvenient Truth. The opening of the movie will allow a test of the accuracy of years of media and pundit spin about Gore.

After all, for years we have been told over and over again that Al Gore is stiff. He has a wooden persona and a pedantic speaking style. He is not authentic. He lacks passion. You need another cup of strong black coffee just to make it through one of his talks. He is known in some circles as AlBore.

If all of that is right, the movie will be a great big flop. The movie is just Al Gore giving a PowerPoint presentation about global warming. If the pundits and the alpha girls have been right all along, no one is going to go to the movie and if anyone actually does see it, they will be bored to tears.

If, on the other hand, the film is a success, the alpha girls need to get a different mantra about Al Gore. What will constitute success? Well, first of all the movie is a documentary. It should not be compared to The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. A more relevant comparison will be the success of other politicians promoting their pet issues. George W. Bush has spent innumerable hours on our TV screens promoting the Iraq war. How popular has that been? Being the guy people want to have a (non-alchoholic) beer with doesn't seem to have helped the popularity of that issue. How many people would plunk down seven bucks to watch John McCain talk for two hours about his pet issue, campaign finance reform? Those are the appropriate comparisons.

If the movie is a success, what new mantra should the alpha girls adopt regarding Al Gore? He has been a journalist, a successful politician, a best selling author, a teacher, a visionary businessman, and (perhaps) a movie star. Instead of portraying him as the boring nerd with the pocket protector, perhaps the alpha girls should consider him "most likely to succeed" in the class.