In support of Blog Action Day 2010, here are three examples of how movies that many of us enjoy as a simple form of entertainment can also be used as reminders to be grateful for having access to clean water and sanitation systems. These examples are inspired by facts about water provided by the team over at Change.org that are a cause for concern and reason to make better decisions that will improve one of our world's most precious resource. Three questions about water are also sprinkled throughout these examples for those of you who want to answer them in the comments section of this post.
Fact 1: Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people annually than all forms of violence.
In Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts reminds the lawyers of a utility company accused of polluting the water supply that their drinking water was “brought in special” for them...straight from one of their client's wells. The lawyer who planned to take a sip of water from her glass quickly changed her mind and put the glass back down on the table after finding out where the water came from. This lawyer appeared to be concerned about her health despite the fact that she represented a company accused of contamination.
While it was used as a form of entertainment, this particular movie is based on a true story. The behavior of the female lawyer in this scene with Julia Roberts' “Erin Brockovich” character is an example of our unwillingness to be concerned about contaminated water, so long as it does not directly affect us.
Fact 2: Africa is home to many women and children who spend 109 hours walking to get water daily using cisterns that can weigh up to 40 pounds and the water is often times still polluted.
In the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig (who plays Bond) leaves one of his enemies stranded in a desert with nothing more than a can of motor oil and a departing message that the enemy will get 20 miles across the desert before considering drinking the oil. Later in the movie, James Bond's boss reveals that this particular enemy was found shot dead with motor oil in his stomach. Now I don't know about the rest of you all but I have yet to know of anyone in my town or other parts of the country that have walked, drove, ran or carpooled even one mile for access to clean water.
Most of us just turn on the faucet or take a trip to the nearest grocery store for bottled water. Water is so available that many adults and children who have this resource may take their very access to it for granted. The sad part about realizing this is that if it really came down to it, some people in our society would likely fight their own neighbors to steal resources rather than try to work together as a group to obtain and manage the water supply that is available to them.
Question for readers: How far would YOU walk to get access to clean water?
Fact 3: More people have access to a cell phone than a toilet
In Big Daddy, Adam Sandler's character teaches his son how to urinate on the wall outside of a restaurant. Despite the Hollywood element, this type of behavior is all too real in some parts of the world because the people living in these areas have no other choice. Many of us (hopefully) in America would not dare encourage public urination by children and especially by adults. The behavior is usually frowned upon because it is inconsiderate and gross. The unfortunate reality is that some men, women and children in other countries may consider a toilet to be a luxury.....while those of us who have these tools to dispose of human waste consider it to be a basic item that is automatically provided with four walls and a roof.
Limited access to toilets is one of many facts about water provided by the Blog Action Day 2010 team that stands out to me because in our American society, a lot of citizens are in favor of always demonstrating proper etiquette over behavior that may be directly related to survival tactics, such as public urination in tough circumstances. Many homeless people in our country do not have access to toilets 24/7, which causes them to urinate where they can...usually in the streets or subways, but that's another topic of concern in and of itself. According to the Blog Action Day team, over 2 billion people lack access to toilets, which leads to more problems such as bacteria that contaminates the water supply as a result of sewage spilling into rivers and streams.
Despite social norms, it probably wouldn't be necessary for a men, women and children to concern themselves with possibly offending someone if they ended up urinating on a wall like Adam Sandler and his son in Big Daddy due to a lack of resources for sanitation.
Another Question for readers: What would YOU do if you did not have access to a toilet?
Considering all of these facts about water combined, especially the issues of little to no sanitation and access to clean water, it seems like you're damned if you drink and damned if you don't. At the end of the day, those of us who do have access to clean water may want to be grateful that we do have it and try to make efforts to help those that lack access to clean water in their own part of the world, whether that help is given in the form of monetary donations to organizations that help other human beings get , recycling efforts that reduce water pollution or actively participating in methods of conservation so that we don't waste any of the clean water that we use on a daily basis.
What are some movie scenes that remind you of the importance of access to clean drinking water, or clean water period?
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 6:15AM 
