{"id":26640,"date":"2013-04-18T06:30:04","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T11:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=26640"},"modified":"2013-04-18T08:06:21","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T13:06:21","slug":"when-energy-goes-hollywood-a-conversation-with-michael-webber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/04\/18\/when-energy-goes-hollywood-a-conversation-with-michael-webber\/","title":{"rendered":"When Energy Goes Hollywood: A Conversation With Michael Webber"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NmI4zzRbb48?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it\u2019s a reflection of the integral role that energy plays in American life, but energy has also played a big role in Hollywood &#8212; from the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Giant_(1956_film)\">oilfields in &#8216;Giant&#8217;<\/a> to a nuclear time machine in \u2018Back to the Future\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>A new television show premiering tonight takes a closer look at the connection. Associate Professor of Engineering and Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at University of Texas at Austin <a href=\"http:\/\/www.webberenergygroup.com\/people\/bio\">Michael Webber<\/a> hosts \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/energyatthemovies.com\/\">Energy at the Movies<\/a>,\u201d an examination of how film has reflected the energy issues of our past, present, and even future. The show airs on Central Texas public television station <a href=\"http:\/\/www.klru.org\/program\/energy-at-the-movies\/\">KLRU at 9 p.m. tonight<\/a>, and you can also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.klru.org\/episode\/energy-at-the-movies\/episode-details-2\/\">watch it online<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>When you think about movies, energy isn\u2019t the first thing that comes to mind, but you say maybe it should be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>Well it turns out that energy shows up in the movies in a lot of ways. It shows up as a plot line, it shows up as a background context, as a motivation for characters. And we found a couple of hundred movies that have major energy elements in them in one way or another. And if you take all these elements and stitch them together over time, you get a pretty nice historical snapshot of energy in society.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>Let\u2019s talk about a movie that\u2019s obviously about energy, and the effect it had on the country\u2019s psyche \u2013 \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_China_Syndrome\">The China Syndrome<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>\u2018The China Syndrome\u2019 was about nuclear power and it was the first major movie that really focused on nuclear power, and it was really critical of nuclear power at a time when we were building nuclear power plants very quickly. The movie portrays a near miss experience where there\u2019s almost a meltdown that could\u2019ve killed a lot of people and wiped out an area the size of Pennsylvania, and the great irony of this is that the movie came out 12 days before <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Three_Mile_Island_accident\">Three Mile Island<\/a>. And it seemed to be prescient for a lot of people.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26644\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/04\/18\/when-energy-goes-hollywood-a-conversation-with-michael-webber\/slzjtxbwydjopqxcafsawytvjw8wumuw66_wmf5spqyu9b9fm1c16xiwr6jcapquk5dobgshmxaxkcgr33beim\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-26644\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26644\" title=\"sLZJTxbWyDjOpqxcaFsawyTvjw8Wumuw66_wmF5spqY,u9B9fm1C16XiwR6jCApQuK5dobgshmxaXkCgR33BeIM\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/sLZJTxbWyDjOpqxcaFsawyTvjw8Wumuw66_wmF5spqYu9B9fm1C16XiwR6jCApQuK5dobgshmxaXkCgR33BeIM-300x199.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/sLZJTxbWyDjOpqxcaFsawyTvjw8Wumuw66_wmF5spqYu9B9fm1C16XiwR6jCApQuK5dobgshmxaXkCgR33BeIM-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/sLZJTxbWyDjOpqxcaFsawyTvjw8Wumuw66_wmF5spqYu9B9fm1C16XiwR6jCApQuK5dobgshmxaXkCgR33BeIM-620x413.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/sLZJTxbWyDjOpqxcaFsawyTvjw8Wumuw66_wmF5spqYu9B9fm1C16XiwR6jCApQuK5dobgshmxaXkCgR33BeIM.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Photo by Sam Butler<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">UT professor Michael Webber says movies often reflect the energy issues of our time.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>It seemed like it took decades to get over it, and then <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chernobyl_disaster\">you have Chernobyl happen<\/a>, and then decades to get over that, and then <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/pages\/frontline\/japans-nuclear-meltdown\/\">you have Fukushima happen<\/a>. It seems like nuclear energy has really been stalled by the public\u2019s response, even though it\u2019s a zero-emission, relatively clean energy source.<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>The modern conundrum for us is that if we care about climate change and carbon emissions then we have to look at nuclear pretty seriously. Overall, nuclear is pretty safe and it\u2019s really clean, but the high-profile incidents affect our psyche for sure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>I\u2019m sure Homer Simpson<a href=\"http:\/\/simpsons.wikia.com\/wiki\/Springfield_Nuclear_Power_Plant\"> didn\u2019t help much either<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>This is a big point. A lot of people are sort of commenting, \u201cWell I don\u2019t really like nuclear power because there are too many Homer Simpson\u2019s in the world.\u201d And they\u2019re all worried that all of our nuclear power plants are being operated by guys eating donuts in the control room, and that shows up in these other movies \u2013 The China Syndrome, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Silkwood\">Silkwood<\/a> and others. There\u2019s always food in the control room in the movies that portray nuclear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>Well let\u2019s talk about a type of energy we\u2019re seeing in the movies less and less in our energy mix these days in this country but has provided some dramatic moments and stories from Hollywood: coal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>Coal is a great backdrop for movies. So, you have coaltowns and the coalmines and there seems to be running themes in every coal movie. It\u2019s almost always about a son\u2019s desire, or daughter\u2019s desire, to leave the coalmine to leave the coal town. So, most coal movies are about leaving coal behind and going on to a better world and in some ways that\u2019s sort of symptomatic of the national conscience, of leaving coal behind for some other energy choices. And one of those movies, \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0080549\/\">Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter,<\/a>\u2019 captures this with Loretta Lynn, a real person who was the daughter of a coalminer who escaped the coalmines to go on to be a famous and successful country music singer, and that\u2019s the theme: leaving coal behind. That\u2019s always the way it\u2019s been in movies. I can\u2019t think of movies that are really positive about coal.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26645\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 225px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/04\/18\/when-energy-goes-hollywood-a-conversation-with-michael-webber\/gu2xoti3zoiafovpwiz3fl08vq4yjbnn-2iv1hdxb0y\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-26645\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26645\" title=\"Gu2xOti3zoIafoVPwIZ3FL08vq4YJbnn-2iV1HDxb0Y\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/Gu2xOti3zoIafoVPwIZ3FL08vq4YJbnn-2iV1HDxb0Y-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/Gu2xOti3zoIafoVPwIZ3FL08vq4YJbnn-2iV1HDxb0Y-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/Gu2xOti3zoIafoVPwIZ3FL08vq4YJbnn-2iV1HDxb0Y-620x826.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/04\/Gu2xOti3zoIafoVPwIZ3FL08vq4YJbnn-2iV1HDxb0Y.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Photo by Holly Port<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&quot;If you take all these elements and stitch them together over time, you get a pretty nice historical snapshot of energy in society,&quot; Webber says.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>And it seems like as we\u2019re using less and less coal we\u2019re probably going to see it less and less. I think the last time I saw it in the movies was \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=6&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CE4QuAIwBQ&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKC9OeOG9pnQ&amp;ei=2SVvUfu2OOWN2gXGwIGoBA&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfR6Nna6yklt6H4NIVnhop74tUDg&amp;sig2=53IPSgJlFTjWK2KOmylG_g&amp;bvm=bv.45368065,d.b2I\">Zoolander<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>It showed up in \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Billy_Elliot\">Billy Elliot<\/a>.\u2019 It showed up in \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0132477\/\">October Sky<\/a>.\u2019 So there\u2019s a few movies in the last 20 years or so that talked about coal, but not that many.<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>Let\u2019s talk about the future. Specifically, let\u2019s talk about \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yosuvf7Unmg\">Back to the Future<\/a>.\u2019 You say in your show that this film, and the kind of mini-nuclear reactor he has in the DeLorean, might be an indicator of things to come.<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>This movie was made in 1985. This scientist comes up with a Mr. Fusion energy reactor that\u2019s the size of a coffee grinder that gives us the power we need to go back in time. And it\u2019s basically predicting the future of small, distributed nuclear reactors for our power sources, which seems crazy in 1985 standards. But then, sure enough, in the last few years the biggest news story for nuclear has been the rise of small nuclear, micro nuclear \u2013 small nuclear power plants that are distributed that will be smaller, cleaner and more reliable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>Well, when can we expect the<a href=\"http:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/2013\/feb\/08\/business\/la-fi-tn-back-to-the-future-hover-board-13000-ebay-20130208\"> Hoverboards<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>I don\u2019t know when we should expect the hoverboards, but we hope to get those in decades. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>We\u2019ve been <a href=\"http:\/\/gizmodo.com\/5967983\/the-back-to-the-future-hoverboard-is-2012s-worst-toy\">waiting a long time.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>Exactly. I\u2019ve been looking for mine to place on order, but Home Depot doesn\u2019t carry them yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>So, do you ever get asked about \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0133093\/\">The Matrix\u2019<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>I do get asked about \u2018The Matrix.\u2019 [It\u2019s] interesting. This idea that humans are power plants is not completely\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"question\"><span class=\"abbr\">Q: <\/span>I think you just spoiled it for whoever hasn\u2019t seen \u2018The Matrix.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"answer\"><span class=\"abbr\">A: <\/span>Spoiler alert: If you haven\u2019t seen the movie \u2018The Matrix\u2019 yet, you need to go see it. But this idea that we\u2019ll use forms of bioenergy to power society is not ridiculous. In fact, most major policy implementations in the last few years have emphasized bioenergy. We\u2019ve been trying to grow our way out of this problem. Biofuels and bioenergy and switch grass and corn \u2013 but these hit moral dilemmas when you start getting in competition between food and fuel, or farmland that needs a lot of freshwater to compete with other things we might need as humans. So, I don\u2019t think people are really advising that we should become the power plants, although historically, over millennia, we were our own power plants. So, that would be a return to nature, so to speak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps it\u2019s a reflection of the integral role that energy plays in American life, but energy has also played a big role in Hollywood &#8212; from the oilfields in &#8216;Giant&#8217; to a nuclear time machine in \u2018Back to the Future\u2019. A new television show premiering tonight takes a closer look at the connection. Associate Professor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":26644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57],"tags":[229,22,55,21],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}