The Story of Stuff, and Judith Helfand's work to change the ending...

The Story of Stuff and Blue Vinyl complement each other quite well. The Story of Stuff give a macro view of the toxic and unsustainable manufacturing system and Judith Helfan's Blue Vinyl serves as a trenchant example of the argument. The Story of Stuff is quite short, about 21 minutes and 25 minutes; engagingly animated and succinctly explained. In short, the video tells the story of how our stuff gets manufactured and sold and what happens to it when it is thrown away. The story is not edifying. The environment and many people are hurt especially during production and disposal, and sometimes even during the use of the product itself! And yet, the reason why people keep on buying those products is that they are cheap. Of course, the reason why they are cheap is because… tada! They ARE destroying environments and people!

The Story of Stuff (2007) - Teaser #1


And in the current way in which the economy is set up, green, sustainable manufacturing products are not very affordable, as Judith Helfand found out in Blue Vinyl.

Blue Vinyl Trailer


Ms. Helfand had an unfortunate encounter with dangerous chemicals in a product that was considered safe, which left her unable to have children. Therefore she became suspicious when her parents decided to change out their wooden shutters for cheap vinyl ones. She made a documentary which followed her investigations across America and the world, and decided to not only start a campaign to deal with the vinyl problem, but to work on helping films concerned with social justice get funding when they needed it through Chicken and Egg pictures. Her efforts have been incorporated into the social justice sphere of filmmaking , in which activists try to make films specifically to help fight for a particular topic. These films tend to come with websites that not only showcase the film but also the activism surrounding the film, so that viewers can do something if the film moves them. Blue Vinyl’s website, for instance has a link for screenings and events and “My House is Your House”, the name of her No Vinyl campaign. One thing I appreciated was the fact that the viewer had a choice between a low bandwidth and high bandwidth versions of the site, which is a boon for people with low dial-up.


The question I have after looking at My House is Your House and PVC the Poison Plastic’s websites though is: How sustainable are these campaigns? The websites dont seem to have been updated for a couple of years now although there have been some victories against the PVC industry. I hadn’t thought of the fact that if I were to make documentaries and build campaigns around them, I’d need to make a choice at some point between following that campaign or going out to make other movies, among other things. So what happens next? The websites are still up and the information is still available for those who search. And My House is Your House contains information on Green Building Practices, which, if they keep it updated, should also have practical use. But I am somewhat uncomfortable about them just being left there. Something to think about for me: Seriously consider how to make my future films and campaigns self-sustaining so that they can continue without me as a figure-head. In any case, Ms. Helfand decided to leave the film and its campaign as an artefact of the fight and turned towards doing other complementary things.

Everything's Cool (Bullfrog Films clip)


A look at Ms. Helfand’s other enterprises reveals that the fact that she made a sequel to Blue Vinyl which chronicles her parents move to a vinyl-sided over 55 retirement community, thereby illustrating that change is very very hard when it racks up against convenience. She also co-created a company called Working Films which helps social justice films with making campaigns to help effect change alongside the showing of the film, basically a complement to Chicken and Egg Pictures which funds the films’ production. I think that those moves were very fine ideas, especially if we are in the business of using films to change the world. Maybe, with the proper combination of marketing and activism, the answer to that vexing question will be yes! She also has her own film company Toxic Comedy Pictures, whose goal is to make entertaining and informative social justice films. A documentary on climate change in 2007

Everything's Cool (Bullfrog Films clip)

was her last physical environment-related film after which she produced a short documentary on a foot soldier of the civil rights movement. The film was called the The Barber of Birmingham.



The Barber of Birmingham highlights one of the many people who fought and suffered in the civil rights movement, but whose contribution was not wellknown outside of his local community. James Armstrong was interviewed about his life and struggle against the background of the historic presidential elections. As someone who has serious issues with Mr. Obama’s performance since then, I found the film somewhat heartbreaking to watch. I remember that time, though for me the feeling was one of guarded optimism rather than uncomplicated joy. We could have a whole ‘nother essay on the business of what happens when the results of fighting and not quite what we are looking for. However, I enjoyed the history lesson, and I hope that more projects like this spring up to document the lives and struggles of the activists who were not in the limelight. After all, Martin Luther King could not have led if there was no one to follow.

And while Ms. Helfan herself continues to led, I will cheer her on, and follow in at least some of her footsteps.