The story-telling style of Story of Stuff reminded me a lot of School House Rock. The videos use simplistic animation and explanation to tell a more complex story. Unlike School House Rock, these stories are more than information, they are also meant to influence. The idea in explaining where stuff comes from is to influence consumers and producers to change their ways in the creation and use of “stuff.”
Annie Leonard is the school teacher, informing us of the way the world works. The Story of Stuff didn’t necessarily tell us things that somewhere in the back of our minds we didn’t already know, but it brought all the information together and put it in our face. It’s hard to ignore when it’s spelled out in simple hand-drawn characters – we are on a one-way path to planet destruction.
While the Story of Stuff brought to light the problems with our current production and consumer patterns it didn’t offer any concrete solutions. Yes, I can reduce, reuse, recycle. These are concepts that have been driven into many of us since we were little, but that won’t fundamentally change our system. I went to look for more answers in the Story of Electronics, where Leonard outlines the need to end the “design for the dump” attitude held by many countries. From light bulbs and batteries to computers and other household appliances, it seems everything in our world is built to fail eventually. It’s something that has simply become a fact of life. Financial planners tell you to save so that you can be ready to replace these items when they fail.
And while we can wish things weren’t this way, it seems almost inconceivable that things can be any other way. What business would want to sell an appliance that never broke? Once they did, and once everyone had one, they would no longer be able a business. There would be nothing left to buy or sell. While the videos don’t necessarily give concrete answers, they at least succeed in starting a conversation.
The Story of Stuff series is a compelling way to spread this information and raise awareness. It’s clearly working on reaching a wide audience based on the Youtube viewer numbers. However, I wonder if they would be more compelling if we didn’t see Annie Leonard herself. The animation itself is powerful and Leonard’s school teacher vibe can come across as patronizing.